Purpose – This paper aims to hypothesise that demographic characteristics of managers play a significant role in performing their duties amongst which is financial reporting. This study aims to examine whether CEO characteristics, namely, tenure and financial expertise, are associated with audit report timeliness. Design/methodology/approach – Data from companies listed on the Oman capital market between 2007 and 2011 and three proxies for audit report timeliness are used. Findings – CEO tenure and CEOs with financial expertise are reported to be associated with timely audit reports. Supplementary tests also confirmed this result. In addition, it is suggested and documented that there is an interaction effect between CEO tenure and financial expertise concerning the timeliness of audit reports. The use of a two-stage least square analysis also supported the main results. Research limitations/implications – Hypotheses were tested using data from Oman with a relatively small sample size. Therefore, only a few characteristics of the CEO were considered and a more sophisticated approach of testing managers’ effect on company policies was unable to be used. In addition, the generalisability of the study findings should be made carefully. Originality/value – This paper differs from prior studies, in that it extends the audit report timeliness literature by examining whether the CEO tenure and CEOs with financial expertise are associated with audit report timeliness. Findings demonstrate that CEO characteristics are important factors for a timely audit report.

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The main aim of this study is to provide empirical evidence examining how outsourced internal audit function (IAF) providers are associated with audit efficiency, and how such providers interact with high‐quality external auditors. We use a sample of 711 observations for companies listed on the Muscat Security Market during the period 2005–2014. Based on pooled regression, we find that audit efficiency is significantly improved when the IAF provider is from a Big4 audit firm, whereas a non‐Big4 audit firm IAF provider is associated with reduced audit efficiency. Furthermore, we find evidence suggesting significant interaction between the external auditor and IAF in relation to audit efficiency if the outsourced IAF provider is from a Big4 audit firm. In additional analysis, we construct a new measure for audit efficiency, dividing the IAF providers into Big4, second tier, and other non‐Big4, and consider the time of connection between such providers and their clients. We still observe that Big4, as an outsourced IAF provider, is more significantly associated with audit efficiency than other types of IAF provider. This paper is important because there is currently little evidence concerning the type of outsourced IAF provider; it contains useful information for auditors, companies, and regulators.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether the characteristics of the audit committee (AC) chair affect audit report timeliness. In particular, the direct association between AC chair accounting expertise and audit report delay, and the moderating effect of other characteristics of AC chair on this association are examined. Design/methodology/approach To achieve the purpose of this study, the characteristics examined by this study are AC chair expertise, shareholding, tenure and multiple directorships. Furthermore, a sample of Malaysian companies during the period 2005–2011 and the fixed effects panel data method are utilized. Findings The results suggest that an AC chair with accounting expertise is associated with a reduction in audit delay. The reduction is more obvious when the chair holds shares in the company, but is weakened by longer tenure and multiple directorships. These results are robust after conducting several robust tests. Using mediating analysis, the authors also document that an AC chair with accounting expertise can enhance the timeliness of audit reports even when the quality of financial reporting is lower. The reported result is supported by additional analysis that finds that AC chairs with accounting expertise and AC chairs with accounting expertise and shareholding are significantly associated with shorter abnormal audit delay. Originality/value This study provides comprehensive analysis concerning the association between AC chair and audit report timeliness using a unique setting. It is among the limited evidence that reports the moderating effect of AC chair characteristics on the role of such chair on audit report timeliness.

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