WAYS OF STRENGHTENING THE STATUTORY AUDIT EFFICIENCY

The integrity of the auditor’s opinion and the audit process conducting effectivenesshangs on the professional judgment applied on obtaining, processing and interpreting the internal andexternal information. Documentation is based on all the audit evidence collected through proceduressuch as: inspection, confirmation, documentation etc. Audit evidence is used to determine whether thefinancial statements present the economic reality of transactions and if they faithfully reflect thefinancial position of the company. To achieve a reasonable assurance, the auditor should gathersufficient and high quality audit evidence so that the view expressed in the report of the independentauditor should be based on a credible and relevant background.audit evidence, audit procedures, professional judgment, reasonable assurance.

EVALUATING TEACHING PERFORMANCE. FROM THEORY TO PRACTICE USING STATISTICAL TOOLS

The teaching performance is influenced firstly by the quality of the educational system. The universities are trying to raise the expectations regarding the methods used for evaluating the teaching quality. In order for the results to be as much as credible the evaluation must defer to the existing theory and to follow the standardized procedures, starting from some basic principles. The most used framework is represented by the 3P model which contains three parts: 1. The input (factors that come under the students and the professor) 2. The learning process (activities focused on learning, teaching methods, practical ability, individual study) 3. The outcome (the output of the learning process).This study presents some results of a questionnaire based on the existing economic theory and applied to a sample of master business students from Romania. The students were asked to give grades from 1 to 5 to several aspects related to the educational process. These aspects took into consideration the following: if the didactic activity was interesting for the students/ the relationship between the objectives of the course and the activity evolved/ the clarity of the presentations/ the degree of studentsï¿1/2 participation required by the teacher/ the methods and materials used/ the availability of the teacher. The average grade is 4.39, indicating a very high level of satisfaction, taking into account that the grades ranged from 1 to 5. For 50% of the students, the average grade was below 4.53, while for the other half it was above the specified value. But one has to see the value returned for the majority of the students. The mode equals 5, meaning that most of the students involved in the analyzed programme are extremely satisfied with the quality of the educational process. With a significance value Sig. = 0.004higher education, teaching quality

QUALITATIVE FACTORS OF MATERIALITY - A REVIEW OF EMPIRICAL RESEARCH

Determination of materiality is a crucial step in an audit mission because it affects theentire audit process. The incorrect application of materiality can have serious negativerepercussions on both the audited entity and the auditor (Enron-Anderson). Researches conductedover time revealed the complexity of this element in an audit mission and the need to emergencesome generally accepted rules and regulations to provide support in defining and substantiating theprofessional judgment applied in this stage of the audit.materiality, quantitative factors, professional judgment, reviews of research.

PREFERENCE OF THE LISTED ENTITIES REGARDING THE SELECTION OF THE EXTERNAL AUDITOR

The present research aims to highlight the importance of the external auditing in supporting corporate governance and the preference of the listed entities to be audited by the big audit companies. Given the proposed objectives of the research, our scientific method is based on a deductive approach from general to particular that combines quantitative and qualitative studies. The role of the external audit was analyzed by conducting a study of literature on two levels: a theoretical-conceptual level in terms of economic theories and an empirical-practical level based on literature from which we extracted through a content analysis the defining elements of the audit work quality. Falling within the scope of the study, we evaluated the preference of the listed entities to be audited by the Big Four. To this end we used the content analysis of the publicly posted audit reports for the period 2005-2009. Our research results show that although we are a country with an emerging capital market development, the entities in the I-st category on the Bucharest Stock Exchange tend to an audit conducted by one of the big audit companies. Another result arising from our study is that the entities of the I-st category on the Bucharest Stock Exchange become more transparent from a year to another. Whether for the year 2005 we find only 12 audit reports publicly posted, in 2007 we can find 21 audit reports publicly posted. The trend of the large entities audited shows that the preference of the entities to be audited by one of the Big Four is higher from a year to another. The preparation of the financial statements and their audit must be done according to regulations for the currently period. The presumption found in the literature according to which the large entities are audited by the big audit companies which provide higher audit quality is confirmed in the case of our national country as well.external audit, audit report, opinion, listed companies, Big Four

EMPIRIJSKA STUDIJA IMPLIKACIJA KVALITATIVNIH FAKTORA U DONOŠENJU ODLUKA VEZANIH ZA RAZINU MATERIJALNOSTI. SLUČAJ RUMUNJSKE

The paper aims to present the importance of qualitative factors in determining the materiality level in an audit mission. According to the literature a quantitative approach of materiality is insufficient for appropriate decisions, therefore it is required a more serious treatment of this issue. Data collected in the research were processed using the Ordered Logit Model, and the results showed that there is a significant correlation between the materiality level and the sectors in which the audited companies operate, the auditor’s experience in the field and the longevity of the relationship with the client. There is no any correlation between the materiality level and the needs of the users of financial statements or the management objectives.Rad želi predstaviti važnost kvalitativnih faktora u određivanju razine materijalnosti u postupku revizije. Literatura nam govori da kvantitativni pristup materijalnosti nije dovoljan za prikladne odluke, te je stoga potreban ozbiljniji pristup ovoj temi. Podaci sakupljeni u istraživanju obrađeni su pomoću Order Logit Modela a rezultati su pokazali da postoji značajna korelacija između razine materijalnosti i sektora u kojima djeluju revidirane tvrtke, revizorovo iskustvo na polju dugovječnosti odnosa s klijentom. Ne postoji nikakva korelacija između razine materijalnosti i potreba korisnika financijskih izvještaja ili ciljeva menadžmenta

WHAT INFLUENCES STUDENTS' EXPECTATIONS IN WHAT REGARDS GRADES?

After a period of studying a certain subject, students form an opinion about it and begin having certain expectations. These expectations and the degree in which, in the end, they fulfil, contribute to the reputation of the university. Consequently, a continuous evaluation of the quality of the educational process is needed. The present research presents a part of a more complex study made on a sample of master students in Audit and Financial Management in Romania. The goal was to evidence the main factors that affect students' expectations in what regards the grades they will obtain at the end of the semester. For this, a questionnaire of 20 questions was applied to 250 such students. After factor reduction procedures were applied, six most significant variables were kept in the analysis: the proportion of knowledge acquired, the perceived level of utility of the discipline in the professional career of the student, the proportion in which the subject could contribute to getting employed in the field it belongs to, the evaluation method and two variables evaluating through grades the didactic performance during the course and the overall performance of the tenure professor. The influence of these variables upon the grade expected by the student was assessed with the help of the OLS regression, both in the simple and multiple forms. Out of the six hypotheses formulated, only one proved to be false based on the simple regression analysis. When individually assessed, the evaluation method announced by the teacher at the beginning of the semester turned out to have no statistically significant influence upon students' expectations. For the rest of the variables, results were according to the assumptions made, i.e. all determine in a significant positive manner the students' opinion about the grade they will get. We have also constructed the multiple regression models. When putting all variables together, the significance changes. The level of difficulty of the evaluation method becomes significant, while from the rest of the variables only the proportion of knowledge acquirement still holds. The final conclusion is as expected: the higher the proportion of acquirement, the higher the grade expected at the end of the semester, while the more difficult the evaluation method, the lower the grade

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION IN ROMANIA THROUGH EUROPEAN STRUCTURAL FUNDS – A SPATIAL ECONOMETRICS APPROACH

European Structural Funds have been created with the clear goal to redistribute money among European Union members in such a way as to help poorer regions diminish the gaps between them and the richer ones. The present study assesses this problem for the Structural Operational Programme Environment in Romania. Using spatial econometrics methods, we evaluate two issues on the sample of 42 Romanian counties. The first one is if any clusterization process takes place in what regards contracting funds through ESF for environmental protection projects. The second one is intended to test whether the main principle of the ESF is satisfied – helping the poor in a sustainable development process. Using the quartile maps and the spatial Moran's I autocorrelation coefficient we show different results for the clusterization topic. When considering the budget value of the projects implemented through SOP ENV, both as total and as eligible share, Romanian counties group based on a positive global spatial autocorrelation. This means that counties with approximately the same budget levels are neighbours. Transylvanian counties have gained the most out of the projects on environment. When the number of contracts is assessed, the distribution of the counties proves to be random and no global spatial autocorrelation was found. Moreover, the map analysis shows that, in general, there is a negative relationship between the value of the budget and the number of contracts. The spatial regression analysis shows the violation of the ESF principle. The coefficients of the GDP are positive. This implies a direct relationship between the richness of the county and the projects implemented through the SOP ENV. Thus, instead of being used by the poorer regions, money goes to the richer ones. The higher the GDP, the higher the value of the budget for the environmental protection programmes financed through European funds. The GDP also positively influences the number of contracts scheduled or signed, but the only at a 10% significance level

IS GRATUITOUSNESS A REASON FOR JOINING AN EDUCATIONAL MASTER PROGRAMME IN AUDIT? SURVEY EVIDENCE USING STATISTICAL METHODS

The study shows the reasons taken into account by the students in choosing an academic preparation. Free courses and employment opportunities during or after graduation are the most important advantages students expect to receive from an educational program that aims to follow. The empirical section results emphasize the efficiency and performance of the master program financed by the European Social Fund. \\\\r\\\\

A STATISTICAL APPROACH OF PERCEPTIONS OF MASTER ACCOUNTANCY GRADUATES CONCERNING EARLY CAREER EXPERIENCES

The article emphasizes aspects regarding the perceptions of master accountancy graduates concerning the chances to find an adequate job at graduation. These preoccupations are relatively recent in the academic studies. The studentn#8217;s expectations are often unrealistic, which causes problems to them and also to the private firms and organizations. From the empirical section results that the studentsn#8217; evaluations regarding their own opportunities to get a job modify as they advance in the programme. Even more, this evolution is influenced by employment during the studies and by the professional experience

PREFERENCE OF THE LISTED ENTITIES REGARDING THE SELECTION OF THE EXTERNAL AUDITOR

The present research aims to highlight the importance of the external auditing in supporting corporate governance and the preference of the listed entities to be audited by the big audit companies. Given the proposed objectives of the research, our scientific method is based on a deductive approach from general to particular that combines quantitative and qualitative studies. The role of the external audit was analyzed by conducting a study of literature on two levels: a theoretical-conceptual level in terms of economic theories and an empirical-practical level based on literature from which we extracted through a content analysis the defining elements of the audit work quality. Falling within the scope of the study, we evaluated the preference of the listed entities to be audited by the Big Four. To this end we used the content analysis of the publicly posted audit reports for the period 2005-2009. Our research results show that although we are a country with an emerging capital market development, the entities in the I-st category on the Bucharest Stock Exchange tend to an audit conducted by one of the big audit companies. Another result arising from our study is that the entities of the I-st category on the Bucharest Stock Exchange become more transparent from a year to another. Whether for the year 2005 we find only 12 audit reports publicly posted, in 2007 we can find 21 audit reports publicly posted. The trend of the large entities audited shows that the preference of the entities to be audited by one of the Big Four is higher from a year to another. The preparation of the financial statements and their audit must be done according to regulations for the currently period. The presumption found in the literature according to which the large entities are audited by the big audit companies which provide higher audit quality is confirmed in the case of our national country as well