CFO characteristics and audit report timeliness: the moderating role of audit partner tenure

Many studies have focused on the impact of corporate governance mechanisms on audit report lag. However, the influence of the chief financial officer (CFO) on audit report lag has been neglected. Therefore, the present study aims to examine the impact of CFOs' characteristics, namely gender, age, ethnicity, tenure and financial expertise on the audit report lag based on the upper echelon theory. Furthermore, in light of the recent updates on regulations pertaining to the extension of audit partner rotation in Malaysia, this study investigates the effect of the moderating role of audit partner tenure on the relationship between CFO characteristics and audit report lag. The study accomplished the objectives by utilising a sample consisting of 1,352 firm observations of non-financial companies that were listed on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia for the period from 2017 to 2020. The feasible generalised least square regression of panel data method was employed to analyse the data. As expected, the results show a negative and significant association between female CFOs and audit report lag. However, it is revealed that the ethnicity and financial expertise of CFOs have a positive and significant relationship with audit report lag. Nonetheless, the study does not find a significant relationship between the age and tenure of CFOs and audit report lag. With respect to the moderating effect, the study indicates that the audit partner tenure moderates the relationship between CFO gender, age and tenure with audit delay. Conversely, audit partner tenure fails to moderate the association between CFOs' ethnicity and CFOs' financial expertise with audit lag. The result provides evidence to policymakers, investors and practitioners in enhancing audit timeliness. Policymakers can utilise these results to recognise the crucial role of CFOs in enhancing audit timeliness among public listed Malaysian companies.