Newsletter February 2021

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In this newsletter

• Reminder online FAR Masterclass by Prof. dr. Ann Vanstraelen and Prof. dr. Ganesh Krishnamoorthy on "The drivers and impact of audit committee involvement on audit quality", on 5 March 2021
• Recording of the online FAR Masterclass by Prof. dr. Jeroen Suijs (22 January 2021) available
• FARview podcast #13 with Prof. dr. Jeroen Suijs (Dutch)
• Summary online FAR Masterclass Prof. dr. Mark Peecher (4 December 2020)
• Announcement Call for Research Projects 2021
• Upcoming events – save the dates!

Reminder online FAR Masterclass by Prof. dr. Ann Vanstraelen and Prof. dr. Ganesh Krishnamoorthy on "The drivers and impact of audit committee involvement on audit quality", on 5 March 2021

On Friday, 5 March 2021, from 3:30 - 5:00 pm CET, FAR will organize an online Masterclass on "The drivers and impact of audit committee involvement on audit quality".

Registration is still open via Eventbrite, via this link and closes on 4 March 2021, 11:00 pm CET.

What is this Masterclass about? 
The key objectives of this research project are to understand, in the Dutch context: (1) the determinants of audit committee involvement with a particular focus on audit committee leadership, social cohesion of the audit committee and its fit in the overall board; (2) the impact of audit committee involvement on audit input, audit process, and audit output factors; and (3) the impact of audit committee involvement on pre-audit financial reporting quality and the difference in financial reporting quality pre- and post-audit.

Please note that this Masterclass will be in English.

Register now

Recording of the online FAR Masterclass by Prof. dr. Jeroen Suijs (22 January 2021) available

On Friday 22 January 2021, Jeroen Suijs (Professor at Erasmus University Rotterdam) presented an online FAR Masterclass on “Does the private owner-managed firm audit market serve a different purpose?”

The edited version of the Masterclass is now available; you can watch it here.

You can read more about his project here.

FARview podcast #13 with Prof. dr. Jeroen Suijs

The 13th episode of our FARview series is now online. In this podcast we talk to Prof. dr. Jeroen Suijs (Erasmus University Rotterdam) following his online FAR Masterclass of 22 January.

Much existing research in the field of auditing looks at the outcomes of the audit, such as audit quality. In their FAR research, however, Professor Jeroen Suijs and his team look more at the 'production side' of the audit, at the inputs: what services does the auditor perform and how are they linked to the mix of work the auditor performs and to the audit fee? 

The basic question underlying the research is whether different types of companies require different audits.

The first results show that the time spent within PIEs is relatively larger at the end of the year compared to DGA companies (Director Major Shareholder) where more time is spent during the year. Further analyses will follow after all data have been collected. The findings potentially touch on Auditing Standards and the training program.

You can find the full Masterclass recording here.

More information on this research project can be found on our website.

Summary online FAR Masterclass Prof. dr. Mark Peecher (4 December 2020)

On December 4^th, 2020 Professor Mark Peecher presented a FAR Masterclass concerning the auditor’s role in fraud detection and particularly concentrated on the use of earnings calls as evidence for assessing and addressing fraud risk. It seems that asking auditors to focus on signs of ‘cognitive dissonance’ in earnings calls results in better alignment of their assessments of fraud risk and their plans of how to address fraud risk, as opposed to asking auditors to look for fraud. Cognitive dissonance is the uncomfortable emotion people experience when engaging in behaviors that run counter to their underlying beliefs, such as when a person says something that he knows or believes is not true.

You can read the full summary here.

Announcement Call for Research Projects 2021
We would like to inform you that the Call for Research Projects 2021 has not yet been finalized. We hope to be able to publish it late spring / early summer 2021, so please keep an eye on the website for further information.

Upcoming events – save the dates!
Online FAR Masterclass – Prof. dr. Ann Vanstraelen and Prof. dr. Ganesh Krishnamoorthy
On Friday 5 March 2021 FAR will host an online Masterclass on “The drivers and impact of audit committee involvement on audit quality”.
Registration is now open. You can read more in the first item of this newsletter.

Online FAR Masterclass – Prof. Dr. Christian Hofmann
A while ago, we informed you that this Masterclass is scheduled for Friday 28 May 2021. However, we decided to reschedule as on that date the EAA is organizing its annual congress. The new date for the Masterclass is now set for Tuesday 18 May 2021, please save this date in your calendar.

FAR International Conference 2021
As the circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic have not improved enough, we have decided to organize another online FAR Conference like last year, on Monday 21 June. Last year turned out to be a successful event, so we are very much looking forward to this years’ edition. More details will follow soon. Please save the date in your calendar!

Do you have suggestions on how to improve our newsletter or news you would like to share with us? Please let us know by sending an email to info@foundationforauditingresearch.org