Abstract One of the most important recent expansions of the auditor’s report within the European Union, but also in the International Standards on Auditing, is the mandatory disclosure of key audit matters (KAMs). This paper investigates whether or not the likelihood of a KAM depends upon the level of precision and detail of an accounting standard. We use the Rules-Based Characteristics (RBC) score of Mergenthaler (2009) validated in Donelson, McInnies, and Mergenthaler (2012) to determine whether an accounting standard is more precise, i.e., whether the accounting standard is more rules-based. We also analyze the impact of accounting standard precision on the readability of the auditor’s report. The sample consists of FTSE 100 (UK), CAC 40 (France), and AEX 25 (Netherlands) companies that disclosed KAMs in 2016. The findings show that the probability of a KAM increases with more precise accounting standards. Our results also show that the disclosure of KAMs that are based on accounting standards with higher rules-based characteristics decreases the readability of auditors’ reports. This paper contributes to the literature by showing how accounting standard precision interacts with the auditor’s report from the point of view of the preparer (auditor) and of the user of the report.

中文翻译：

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欧盟会计准则精确度对扩大审计报告的影响

摘要 欧盟内部审计报告最近最重要的扩展之一，也是国际审计准则，是对关键审计事项 (KAM) 的强制披露。本文研究了 KAM 的可能性是否取决于会计准则的精确度和详细程度。我们使用在 Donelson、McInnies 和 Mergenthaler (2012) 中验证的 Mergenthaler (2009) 的基于规则的特征 (RBC) 分数来确定会计准则是否更精确，即会计准则是否更基于规则。我们还分析了会计准则准确性对审计报告可读性的影响。样本包括 2016 年披露 KAM 的 FTSE 100（英国）、CAC 40（法国）和 AEX 25（荷兰）公司。研究结果表明，KAM 的可能性随着更精确的会计标准而增加。我们的结果还表明，基于具有更高规则性特征的会计准则的 KAM 的披露降低了审计报告的可读性。本文从编制者（审计师）和报告使用者的角度展示了会计准则的准确性如何与审计报告相互作用，从而为文献做出贡献。