How prevalent are post-completion audits in Australia

Abstract

Numerous international studies have examined the practices employed by management at each of the component steps within the capital-budgeting decision. However, there are few references to any investigations of post-completion auditing (PCA) practices within the Australian setting. As a result, this paper seeks to take an initial step in addressing this deficit by proposing the following research questions: What is the prevalence of PCA implementation amongst Australian firms? Do Australian firms employ PCA in a formal rather than an ad hoc manner? Where Australian firms employ PCA in an ad hoc manner, why was this approach adopted? What are the disincentives to PCA implementation countenanced by Australian managers? Do contextual variables, such as firm size and industry type, affect the adoption of PCA in the Australian setting? While the current study surveys management from across the spectrum of industries, it gives additional focus to the mining sector. Given the economic importance of (and the magnitude of capital investment in) that sector over the last decade, the current study compares the adoption of the PCA process by firms in the mining sector against firms in other sectors in Australia. Show more