Project duration
48 months (01.01.2021. - 31.12.2024.)

Funding
Croatian Science Foundation

Project budget
290.480,00 HRK

Principal investigator
Professor Željana Aljinović Barać, PhD

Research group members
Professor Clive Lennox, PhD
Associate Professor Andrijana Rogošić, PhD
Associate Professor Slavko Šodan, PhD
Associate Professor Tina Vuko, PhD

Project aims:

1. To determine whether and how the individual and aggregate financial reporting quality measures are improved during the process of financial statement audit.
2. To analyze the relation between the levels of pre-audit FRQ and auditor selection in order to find out whether Big 4 auditors really provide higher audit quality than non-Big 4 auditors.
3. To determine the level of accountants’ conversance with the IFAC Code and its effect on financial reporting quality.  

Key deliverables:

• paper on the topic of improvement of individual financial reporting quality measures during the process of financial statement audit submitted for publishing in a high-quality journal
• paper on the topic of improvement of aggregate financial reporting quality measures during the process of financial statement audit submitted for publishing in a high-quality journal 
• paper on the topic of the level of accountants’ conversance with the IFAC Code and its effect on financial reporting quality submitted for publishing in a high-quality journal
• organizing panel discussion/workshop with professionals on findings on how the individual and aggregate financial reporting quality measures are improved during the process of financial statement audit and whether Big 4 auditors really provide higher audit quality than non-Big 4 auditors
• joint report on results of the project, its practical contribution, and impact on the development of Croatian society and the economy published and presented at the workshop

Project website