Auditor's Opinion about the Effect of TFRS for NPAEs Accounting Standard Adoption on Auditing Procedures and Financial Reporting Quality

Abstract

As the Federation of Accounting Professions (FAP) realizes the importance of Non-Publicly Accountable Entities (NPAEs) and the differences of Non-Publicly Accountable Entities (NPAEs) from those Publicly Accountable Entities (PAEs), so the FAP sets up the Thai Financial Reporting Standards for Non-Publicly Accountable Entities (TFRS for NPAEs). The standard is effective for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2011. Main purpose of the standard is to reduce the financial reporting burden of NPAEs. Thus, this study gathers opinions of auditors on the application of the TFRS for NPAEs in order to assess potential effects on audit procedures and quality of financial reporting. The study shows that auditors believe the introduction of the new financial reporting standards will have a direct effect on audit procedures. The effect is especially on the planning process which requires more time for understanding the standards and training staffs on the changes. This process is believed to incur extra cost to audit firms in order to develop their staffs to meet a required standard of auditing and have working efficiency. For the effect on quality of financial reporting, the study reveals that most auditors agree that the quality of financial reports is in accordance with the definition of the Accounting Framework which states that financial statement is subject to be understandable, reliable, comparable, and relevant.