Unveiling The Drivers of Audit Delay: Auditor Opinion, Leverage, Firm Size, and Audit Tenure

Abstract

Audit delay, or the delay in completing the audit of financial statements, is a significant issue in Indonesia’s auditing practices, particularly for companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX). Timely financial reporting is a key indicator of corporate transparency and accountability. Longer audit delays increase risks for stakeholders, including investors, creditors, and regulators, in making informed financial decisions. In Indonesia, audit delay issues often arise due to business complexity, dynamic regulatory standards, and internal company factors such as company size, leverage level, and auditor tenure. This can negatively impact market trust in financial reporting integrity. Companies that delay financial reporting risk penalties from the Financial Services Authority (OJK) and a decline in public reputation. This study aims to examine and analyze the effect of audit opinions, leverage, firm size, and audit tenure on audit delay. The population of this study consists of manufacturing companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange from 2019 to 2023. The analytical method used in this study is multiple linear regression. The results of this study show that the audit opinion variable and firm size  variable has a significant effect on audit delay. The leverage variable and audit tenure variable does not have a significant effect on audit delay. Suggestions given For Company Management to focus on improving the quality of financial reporting and internal systems to reduce audit delays, especially for large companies. For Auditors, it is necessary to increase insight based on company characteristics and audit opinions to optimize audit planning.