Article: Audit committee involvement in resolving contentious accounting issues: perceptions of chief financial officers, audit committee chairs and external auditors in Malaysia Journal: International Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Performance Evaluation (IJAAPE) 2013 Vol.9 No.4 pp.326 - 343 Abstract: This paper reports the results of a survey of chief financial officers, audit committee chairs, and external auditors of Malaysian publicly listed companies to elicit their perceptions of the involvement of audit committees in resolving contentious accounting issues. A total of 98 usable responses were received. In general, we find that issues arise on a regular basis, with the main reason for contention being that the issue involves judgement or subjective evaluation. The audit committee is involved when the issue is very material. Respondents agree that the audit committee does help to resolve disputed issues, using various techniques including listening to the parties, making recommendations and raising queries. However, we find some differences in perceptions of the three respondent groups about the frequency of contentious issues and the extent of audit committee involvement. Auditors perceive that disputes occur less frequently while audit committee chairs perceive greater audit committee involvement compared to the other two respondent groups. Inderscience Publishers - linking academia, business and industry through research

Title: Audit committee involvement in resolving contentious accounting issues: perceptions of chief financial officers, audit committee chairs and external auditors in Malaysia

Authors: Zalailah Salleh; Jenny Stewart

Addresses: Department of Accounting and Finance, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, 21030, Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia ' Department of Accounting, Finance and Economics, Logan campus, Griffith University, University Drive, Meadowbrook, QLD 4131, Australia

Abstract: This paper reports the results of a survey of chief financial officers, audit committee chairs, and external auditors of Malaysian publicly listed companies to elicit their perceptions of the involvement of audit committees in resolving contentious accounting issues. A total of 98 usable responses were received. In general, we find that issues arise on a regular basis, with the main reason for contention being that the issue involves judgement or subjective evaluation. The audit committee is involved when the issue is very material. Respondents agree that the audit committee does help to resolve disputed issues, using various techniques including listening to the parties, making recommendations and raising queries. However, we find some differences in perceptions of the three respondent groups about the frequency of contentious issues and the extent of audit committee involvement. Auditors perceive that disputes occur less frequently while audit committee chairs perceive greater audit committee involvement compared to the other two respondent groups.

Keywords: auditor-client interactions; contentious accounting issues; audit committees; external auditor; Chief Financial Officer; CFO; Malaysia; audit committee chairs; dispute resolution.

DOI: 10.1504/IJAAPE.2013.057521

International Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Performance Evaluation, 2013 Vol.9 No.4, pp.326 - 343

Received: 12 May 2012
Accepted: 09 Nov 2012
Published online: 30 Jan 2014 *

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Title: Audit committee involvement in resolving contentious accounting issues: perceptions of chief financial officers, audit committee chairs and external auditors in Malaysia

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