Does Audit Matter in Earnings Quality of Indonesia Banks?

This study investigates and analyzes the difference in Indonesian banks’ earnings quality in the pre-audit and post-audit period. This study also investigates the difference in audit quality done by public accounting firms. This study employs time series data taken from the unaudited and audited financial statements of banks listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange in 2012-2016. Sample selection is made by using a purposive sampling method. The population of this study is 43 banks, and after checking the data for validity and reliability, the final sample size was 26 banks. Audit quality is operationalized with the size of the auditor. Earnings quality is proxied by accruals calculated using the Beaver and Engel (1996) model. The data analysis method used in this study is the paired-sample t-test and chow test. This study shows that there is no difference in earnings quality in the pre-audit and post-audit period. This study also reveals no difference in audit quality between the big four and non-big four auditors. These findings mean that independent auditors do not play a useful role in increasing the reliability of accounting information presented by management to stakeholders. Besides, this study’s results do not verify the agency theory regarding auditors’ role to minimize opportunistic management behavior in preparing financial statements.