Effect of Audit Delay on the Financial Statements

The main objective of this study is to examine the effect of audit delay on the financial statements. The specific objective is to identify specific variables relating to company and auditor characteristics that are relevant for examining audit delay in Nigeria. It also caters to provide information about the reporting entity's financial performance and financial position that is useful to a wide range of users for assessing the stewardship of management and for making economic decisions. The study revealed that “first time” qualifications delay the release of companies' preliminary profit and the distribution of corporate annual report. This is due to an increase in the year-end time taken to complete the audit and also an increase in auditor-client negotiation time as a result of impending qualification. We therefore recommends that the reduction of audit delay requires strong enforcement of laws and deadlines by the regulatory bodies in Nigeria, companies should evaluate and improve the internal control systems by designing a system in accordance with scale and complexity and the risk content of lending, trading, investing and other activities and also audit firms should plan their schedules to accommodate the deluge of work around the peak season and employ more staff, perhaps on a casual basis to deal with the extra workload.