The extent of cooperation between providers of the combined assurance and its reflection on the quality of financial reports in Iraqi economic units

Abstract

The current research aims to demonstrate the role of combined assurance in improving the quality of financial reports, and to analyze the relationship between the providers of combined assurance, which are (management, internal audit, external audit). to shed light on a problem faced by most Iraqi economic units, especially in the research sample (the Municipality of Baghdad and its affiliated), which is the delay in preparing the final accounts for the previous years (from 2003 to the current year) and as they are years not approved by the regulatory authorities represented by (the Federal Board of Supreme Audit), which has led to their accumulation in subsequent years, and also exposes them to the accountability of external regulatory authorities. The current research attempts to find a solution to the above problem, which is to propose the formation of a special and continuous committee for combined assurance. This role was measured through the use of a questionnaire survey, and the number of forms reached (113) forms distributed to a sample of employees in the administration, internal auditors, and external auditors working in the Municipality of Baghdad and its affiliated.After testing the research hypotheses, a set of conclusions were reached, the most important of which were: through the implementation of combined assurance, the activities of the unit's operations carried out by the assurance service providers are integrated, and a clear vision is given about the potential risks facing administration through their preparation of financial reports, the lack of coordinated efforts between the combined assurance providers due to the absence of a special committee for combined assurance that works on auditing its financial statements in the Baghdad Municipality. The research provided several recommendations, the most important of which are: the need to implement combined assurance in the Iraqi economic units, especially the Baghdad Municipality, to provide a clear vision for senior management about the potential risks facing administration in preparing financial reports, and the need for the senior management in the Baghdad Municipality to establish a special committee for the implementation of combined assurance tasks in its organizational structure and to carry out the audit of financial reports in a combined and coordinated manner between the assurance service providers.