The Impact of Professional Reputation of Auditors on Enhancing the Quality of Accounting Earnings for a Group of Companies Listed in the Iraq Stock Exchange for the Period 2016-2022

Abstract

The current research aims to explore the relationship between the professional reputation of auditors and the quality of accounting earnings. The main objective was to evaluate the impact of this reputation on improving the quality of accounting earnings, where professional reputation was referred to base on the services provided by auditors to various institutions, including audit offices, audit firms, and the Financial Supervision Bureau, in addition to their previous functional association with the Financial Supervision Bureau as auditors. To enhance the research, the quality of accounting earnings was defined by the "Return on Assets - ROA", and the research sample included companies listed on the Iraq Stock Exchange during the period from 2016 to 2022. The research relied on the use of the multiple linear regression model (Fixed Effect Model) using the STATA statistical program to analyze the data and document the results. The results indicate that there is a statistically significant difference between the quality of accounting earnings of companies whose accounts are audited by auditors with a high professional reputation compared to those audited by auditors in private auditing firms. In addition, the results did not show any significant effect of auditors working in audit offices on the quality of accounting earnings. These results highlight the positive role of professional reputation in enhancing the quality of audit services, suggesting that the impact of auditors affiliated with the Iraqi Financial Supervision Bureau is superior to that of their counterparts in private companies in improving the quality of accounting profit