For governmental audit and compilation reports to be relevant, they must be prepared and
made available to the public in a timely manner. The purpose of this study is to identify
variables that have an influence on audit and compilation report delay in governments. This
research utilizes ordinary-least-squares regression to estimate the effects of several variables of
interest on the time it takes to file the audit or compilation report with the Office of the State
Auditor. The research also utilizes logistic regression to estimate the effects of several variables
of interest on the incidence of filing the audit or compilation report after the state-mandated
filing deadline versus filing on time. Data were gathered from audit and compilation reports of
Mississippi counties and municipalities for fiscal-year 2007.
The research questions addressed in this study were chosen based on the anticipated
impact on audit timeliness of (1) report message content and managerial competency, (2)
accountability, and (3) the audit environment. The results of the study indicate that the areas of
report message content and managerial competency as well as the audit environment both play
an important role in audit report and compilation report timeliness. The government’s level of
accountability was found to be less associated with report timeliness.
A higher number of audit findings was found to be associated with longer audit report
delay and longer compilation report delay as well as with late audits and late compilations.
Entities receiving an adverse or qualified opinion were significantly associated with longer audit
report delay as well as with late audits. The travel distance between the auditor’s office and the
audit client’s office was also found to play a role in audit and compilation report timeliness. For