فصلنامه بررسی های حسابداری و حسابرسی
پیاپی 107 (بهار 1401)

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of commercialization of audit on the Subjective well-being of auditors in auditing firms of the Iranian Association of Certified Public Accountants.

This research is applied research in terms of purpose and is descriptive-survey research in terms of method. For measuring commercialization (market- customer and process-oriented) we used the summarized questionnaire of Broberg et al. (2018) and for measuring Subjective well-being including the component of mental happiness from Lyubomirsky and Lepper questionnaire (1999), job satisfaction from Wright and Bonett questionnaire (2007) and the psychological environment of the work of Mattila et al. Data were collected from 392 questionnaires completed by auditors working in auditing firms in 2020 and structural equation method and PLS software were used to analyze the data.

The results show that all components of commercialization (market-oriented, customer- oriented and process-oriented) of audit firms have a significant and positive effect on the subjective well-being of auditors. Also, the size of the auditing firm (Category A auditing firms) and the gender of the auditor have a positive moderating role on the relationship between commercialization and Subjective well-being. This moderating effect reflects the higher psychological well-being of large audit firms and evaluates the gender factor as a positive component.

The results show that the growth of commercialization and increasing the tendency to it has an effect on strengthening the psychological well-being of auditing professionals and consequently can be expected to affect the quality of auditing and also reduce the incentives to leave the auditing profession as outputs. Strengthening job satisfaction, mental happiness and psychological work environment is possible due to the commercialization of auditing, and therefore moving towards commercialization and increasing the tendency to this issue can lead to important events in the entire audit profession and ultimately its sustainable development. Therefore, the suggestion to move auditing firms towards commercialization and related mechanisms is based on modeling the process of the world's largest auditing firms, which can be a starting point for the positive consequences of this issue.

Providing a model for financial control according to the legal basis and environmental characteristics of activities in metropolitan municipalities of Iran is the main purpose of this study. Developing a model of financial control in the municipalities provides the necessary basis for evaluating the receipt and consumption of resources based on the approved goals and in the anticipated destinations.

In this study, the dimensions, components and indicators of providing financial control model in metropolitan municipalities has been identified by using library studies and fuzzy Delphi method. After screening the indicators by using scree test, Fuzzy hierarchical analysis method has been used to determine the weight of each factor and provide a model of financial control in Tehran municipality and other Iranian metropolitan municipalities. To collect data, questionnaires had distributed in two stages between 40 financial managers of Tehran Municipality and 20 financial experts of Mashhad, Isfahan, Shiraz, Kerman and Urmia municipalities. Finally, the proposed financial control model has been validated through structured interviews with 5 independent experts and Spearman test.

This study has been provident a model of financial control in the municipality of Tehran and other metropolises.  This Financial control model consists of four components: Predict and identify the Financial Supervisors, Predicting the provisions of financial supervision in laws and regulations, designing procedures and methods for exercising financial control in executive processes and Establish financial control infrastructures. Audit Committee, financial controller, External and Internal Auditors are among the most important financial supervisors within the city administration. Also, The National Inspection Agency and the Ministry of Interior are the most important Financial External Supervisors of municipalities. Clear determination of accountable and levels of accountability, separation and explanation of the relationship between authorized spending authorities and oversight agent, oversight of resource and revenue earning are also among the most important variables related to the legal requirement of financial control in municipalities. Control procedures and financial supervision in municipalities can be divided into six main areas: design and implementation of budget controls, use of accounting control methods, evaluation of internal control systems, financial and compliance audits, design and measure financial performance, transparency and open access Citizens. According to the results of this study, transparency and open access to information for citizens is the most important indicator of this sector. Development of a strategic plan to combat fraud and corruption in municipalities, emphasis on the use of information technology in transactions and the use of computer-assisted audit and inspection tools and methods are among the most necessary infrastructure in the implementation of financial control.

Financial and performance controls are two main dimensions of control model of Tehran Municipality and other metropolises that together provide the ground for fulfilling the responsibility of urban management accountability. Designing a model of financial control in the municipalities of Iran's metropolises ensures receipt and consumption of resources to achieve the approved goals.

This is the main idea that we investigate earnings management using the approach of Markov stochastic processes. Using Markov processes, the persistence of earnings management - the continuity of earnings management over time - can be determined. Thus, this research initiates a new discussion in the field of studying earnings management behavior and intends to analyse the effect of leverage on earnings management with the help of Markov processes. The main question was whether the leverage affects the persistence of earnings management, followed by the ability to predict earnings management and the impact of current situations on the likelihood of future earnings management.

The data of 104 companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE) during the 2013-2019 has been used to test the research hypotheses. Also, The Jones model to determine the earnings management index and Markov stochastic process method using MATLAB software used to test the research hypotheses.

Our Findings showed that earnings management is likely at any level of leverage to occur. On the other hand, there is no regular forecast of earnings management in both leveraged and nonleveraged companies. The results also show that the impact of earnings management persistency in leveraged and nonleveraged companies decreases over time. Finally, the results showed that there is no significant difference between the persistency of earnings management in leveraged companies and nonleveraged companies.

The use of probabilistic processes helps to clarify the hidden aspects of different subjects such as earnings management. In this study, we found that leverage has no significant effect on the persistence of earnings management. The method used in this study, regardless of the limitations caused by the assumptions of regression models, helps to better understand the nature of earnings management, however, findings show that theories about the relationship between leverage and earnings management at least with the examine method in this study could not be confirmed and factors such as leverage may be affected over time by other key factors, such as increased transparency and close oversight by regulatory agencies.

With the advent of the knowledge economy, physical assets have given way to human capital as an important strategic resource for companies. The company's workforce is considered to be one of the most important intangible resources and assets of the company that have a direct impact on the process of value creation for the company. On the other hand, managers, especially CEOs, play an important role in running a company. Therefore, the present study investigates the relationship between CEO power and firm labor productivity.

A sample of 104 firms listed in Tehran Stock Exchange during 2011-2018 was selected and the research hypotheses were tested using multivariate regression models based on panel data technique.

The results of this study showed a positive relationship between CEO power and labor productivity. In other words, according to tournament theory, firms with stronger CEOs are associated with increased labor productivity. The results also showed that CEO power is positively correlated with labor efficiency and negatively related to labor cost, meaning that more powerful CEOs increase labor efficiency and reduce labor costs. In addition, the results of supplementary analysis showed that the research results are not sensitive to changes in estimation methods and are robust.

According to tournament theory, strong CEOs are recognized as the best workforce and receive more rewards for their performance than other employees. Therefore, a significant difference in the amount of payment can motivate the lower-level workforce and help them in their efforts and better performance to obtain career advancement, and this will increase the productivity of the company's workforce.

The main purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of learning methods including STAD, JIGSAW and virtual education on achieving students' cognitive goals of financial statements based on Bloom's classification.

In this study, the extent of learning is divided according to Bloom's classification into six levels of knowledge, understanding, application, analysis, composition and evaluation. Pre-testing and post-testing techniques were used to collect data and analysis of covariance and Scheffe post-hoc test was utilized to examine the hypothesis. The statistical population of the study includes all students of accounting at Islamic Azad University of Jiroft, taking intermediate accounting 1 course, during the first and second semesters of the academic year 2019-2020. The study sample includes four intermediate accounting 1 course groups, namely 105 people (80 in three experimental groups and 25 in control groups), all four groups are taught by one of the researchers and the final grades of the students were considered as their learning index.

The results of analysis of covariance showed that pre-testing scores did not have a significant effect on post-testing scores. On the other hand, the analysis of covariance significance level for knowledge, understanding, application and analysis in groups was zero; Therefore, it is proved that there is a significant difference between the post-testing scores (learning scores) of the groups in these four levels. The results of Scheffe test revealed that the learning methods of STAD and Jigsaw have a significant effect on students' learning levels; but there is no significant difference between virtual education and lecture classes.

These results generally indicate that current E-Learning programs are not of the required quality; but using the capacity of STAD and JIGSAW methods can provide a favorable context for learning and strengthening the dynamism and promoting the culture of teamwork among students.

Low audit fees and low balling are among the most important concerns of audit firms and authority bodies, since low audit fees can result in low audit effort, low audit quality and finally low financial reporting. Consequently, the Iranian Association of Certified Public Accountants (IACPA), for the first time in 2015, enforced the Regulation of Audit Services Fees (RASF) (audit pricing based on budget of each project and by taking in to account the overhead costs of the audit firm) for its members. In the absence of sufficient theoretical and empirical evidence on the consequences of the regulation, the purpose of this study is to investigate the role of RASF on audit fees.

To test the research hypothesis, we employ both first difference and fee level regression models. In addition, data (1046 firm-year observations) were manually collected from the annual financial reports of firms listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange as well as the OTC of Iran from 2012 to 2018.

The results of estimating the first difference model show that there is no significant relationship between audit fees and the regulation of audit fees. Such a finding is also supported by the audit fee level model. In addition, sensitivity tests reveal that there is no significant association between RASF and abnormal audit fees employing both first difference and fee level regression models.

Despite the prediction of the IACPA, RASF, as a driver to increase the bargaining power of auditors in audit fee negotiations, does not led to an increase in audit fees. This finding implies that de jure compliance with the regulation occurred instead of de facto compliance, since it seems that the cost of de facto compliance with this regulation (losing a customer) is more than its benefits (increasing audit fees). This research, based on the bargaining power view, for the first time, provides empirical evidence about the outcomes of RASF. It is expected that this study has significant implications for policymakers in Iran and other countries. That is, contrary to the expectation of the IACPA, findings of this study suggest that, in an audit market where supply of and demand for quality audit services are weak and competition among auditors is high, increasing the bargaining power of auditors by simply enforcing a regulation is less likely to be possible. Hence, the emergence of positive consequences of RASF is more likely to need more comprehensive changes.

Corporate reporting, in its general sense, refers to all the communication channels between companies and stakeholders and is the main mechanism for sending information to the users. There has been an increasing concern in recent years with the insufficiency of traditional corporate reporting. Professional accounting institutes have proposed the concept of a business model to mitigate the weaknesses of the current reporting mechanism. Disclosure of business model information can reduce the information gap, enhance the validity of financial reports along with the contents of financial statements. The mission of the present study is to conduct an analytical explanation of business model financial reporting using fuzzy logic.

The present study is of applied and survey-descriptive nature in terms of purpose and methodology, respectively. The statistical population consists of university professors and executive experts who have sufficient knowledge and experience in the fields of financial reporting and business model. Due to flexibility, higher content validity, and applicability of the research in interdisciplinary studies, the methods of Fuzzy Delphi (FD) and Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP) were used for the evaluation, ranking, and prioritization of various aspects and components of business model financial reporting. Therefore, a researcher-made questionnaire consisting of 43 items was prepared using the 5-point Likert scale, and the items were evaluated through the dispatch of questionnaires among experts and the application of Fuzzi Delphi (FD). The ranking of the validated components was done through the dispatch of pairwise comparison questionnaires between 18 experts and the application of the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process.

The findings of the present study showed that all the components and aspects of the business model financial reporting – including transparency and narrative, social accountability, stakeholders, key stimuli, justice and fairness in the distribution, and methods of representation and disclosure – were approved by the experts. The results revealed that the proposed theoretical model for the business model financial reporting has acceptable validity and can be cautiously extended to further applications. Moreover, the results demonstrate the importance of transparency and narrative, and social accountability. Overall, practitioners must pay specific attention to the role, importance, and weight of the aforementioned components for the successful implementation of business model financial reporting.

The expert's views on the validity and priority of various aspects and components in business model financial reporting demonstrate the role, importance, and ranking of reporting parameters. Practitioners in the field of accounting and financial reporting must consider the aforementioned elements in their plans for enhancing the validity of financial reporting and richening the content of financial statements.