ABSTRACT
External auditors conduct an independent examination of a firm‟s financial statements, records and supporting documents and give opinion about the truth and fairness of the reports, and that the report is free from material misstatements and errors. While, this can be considered as a good control mechanism for ensuring the quality of corporate financial reporting, there is a great concern by the regulatory authorities and other stakeholders in view of the corporate scandals and failures that adversely affect corporate entities in recent times in Nigeria.
This study examined the impact of audit firms‟ attributes on financial reporting quality of quoted building material firms in Nigeria. The study employed correlation research design using a sample of four listed building material firms for the period of ten years (2002 - 2011). Ordinary Least Square (OLS) multiple regression technique was employed in the analysis of the panel data collected for the study. The study found that audit compensation and audit firm independence have significant positive impact on the financial reporting quality of quoted building material firms in Nigeria at 99% confidence level.
The finding suggested that, audit compensation and provision of non-audit services in the quoted building material firms in Nigeria have improved the quality of their financial reporting during the period under review. The study recommends that, policy makers (SEC and FRC) should make policies that would strengthen the auditors‟ independence in the building material firms in Nigeria. It is also recommended that SEC and FRC should make it a policy that public companies, especially building material firms, should consider in employing their auditors an optimal compensation.
