The Effect of Audit Committee Characteristics on the Relationship between Audit Report Timeliness and Auditor Task Complexity

Abstract

This paper is aimed to review the effect of audit committee characteristics on the relationship between audit report timeliness and auditor task complexity in the Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE). After analyzing the theoretical foundations and research hypotheses through systematic sampling, 39 companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange were selected in a 6-year time-period 1391-1396 (i.e. 234 observations) as a statistical sample. The hypotheses have been tested within the sample by using the classic assumptions and multivariate linear regression. The results show that increasing the size, independence and the financial expertise of the audit committee would not weaken the intensity of the direct relationship between audit report timeliness and Audit Task Complexity

Keywords

• audit report lag
• timeliness of auditor's report
• auditor's complexity
• audit committee characteristics