Relative Contributions of Audit and Management Delays in Corporate Financial Reporting: Empirical Evidence from Nigeria
OLADIPUPO, A.O.; IZEDOMI. F.I.O.

Abstract
The objective of the study is to assess the relative contributions of audit delay and management delay to the total delay in corporate financial reporting in Nigeria. Three types of delay in corporate financial reporting were identified: audit, management and total delays. Data were obtained from the annual reports and accounts of Seventy Five (75) companies quoted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange from 2000 to 2010. The contributions of audit delay and management delay to the total delay in corporate financial reporting were analysed using relative frequency distribution method and test of significance difference in means. The results showed that on the average the audit delay was about 163 days while management delay and total delay were 92 days and 255 days respectively. These showed that audit delay contributed more significantly to total delay than the management delay in corporate financial reporting. The difference in the means of audit and management delays, which was 71 days, was statistically significant at 5% level unlike what was found in India by Amitabh (2005). We recommended that auditors should be made to work faster on their audit engagements to enable companies meet their early reporting obligations.

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