Abstract

This study investigates the influence of board independence, board size, auditor's opinion, profitability (good or bad news) and industry sector, on the timeliness of annual financial reports among Jordanian companies. It covers 114 listed companies on the Amman Stock Exchange for the year 2012. The timeliness of the financial reports is measured by audit report lag. We find that the firms, on average, take more than two months to complete the audit of financial reporting. Consistent with most studies, we find that firms with improved performance (good news) are faster in publishing their financial reports than firms with declining performance (bad news). The results also show that firms with an unqualified audit opinion release their financial reports earlier than those that do not receive a clean opinion. In addition, firms with a smaller board report faster than those with a larger board. Nevertheless, there is no evidence of the influence of independent directors and type of sector on the timeliness of financial reporting. This study serves as an input to policy makers and regulators in formulating policies and strategies with respect to the timeliness of financial reports.

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