The association between internal control quality and audit report lag in the French setting: the moderating effect of family directors

Purpose The purpose of the paper is to examine the association between internal control quality (ICQ) and audit report lag (ARL) and to test whether family directors affect the relationship. Design/methodology/approach ICQ is measured by using the framework developed by Michelon et al. (2015), while ARL is measured as the number of days from fiscal year-end to the date of the auditor's report. Findings Using a sample of 190 French companies over the period of 2016-2019, the authors document that ICQ is negatively associated with ARL, suggesting that ICQ represents a key determinant of audit delay. When testing for the moderating effect of family directors on this relationship, findings show that under high percentage of family directors on the board, this relationship becomes insignificant. Originality/value This paper extends previous research on audit delays by investigating the moderating effect of family directors on the relation between ICQ and ARL in the French setting. The empirical evidence highlights the adverse effect of the concentration of family directors on the board on timely disclosure as proxied by ARL.