The relationship of the auditor’s conclusion of the interim reviews and auditor’s opinion of final audits of listed petroleum companies in Vietnam

Abstract

Along with the sharp volatility of the stock market, fraud in the financial reporting of large numbers of listed companies is on the rise. However, the truth and fairness of financial reports are one of the most concerned issues for users. The Ministry of Finance is aware of this issue and has issued Circular No. 155/2015/TT-BTC aims to guide and require listed organizations and large listed companies to publish the reviewed semi- annual financial statements and the annual financial statements audited by independent auditors. Why include reviewed semi-annual financial statements in the publication process? Are the auditor's conclusions of interim reviews useful for final audit opinions? Is there a difference between an auditor's conclusion of interim review and an auditor's opinion of final audit? What are the reasons for this? These issues will be discussed in this research. It has used the Stata 17 to analyze and look for the relationship of auditor’s conclusions of interim reviews and auditor’s opinions of final audits. Data were collected from all listed petroleum companies on Vietnamese stock exchange in 5 years period (from the fiscal year 2018 to 2022). The result has found that kind of audit firms positively influencing the audit time lag and the difference of audit opinions between interim and final audit reports. Moreover, audit firm switch and profitability also has positive impact on the difference of audit opinions between interim and final audit reports. Finally, the author eventually acknowledged some research limitations and suggested future research derived from present research.