| The purpose of this study was to explore accounting information timeliness within public corporations. The interval during which Accounting closes the company books proxies for accounting information timeliness. This study refers to the information delay resulting from the closing process as internal delay.; Empirical evidence from a mail survey of one-hundred seven controllers suggests that three firm attributes are significantly associated with internal delay: (1) company size, (2) number of books that must be closed, and (3) frequency of interim closings during a fiscal year. The larger a company's size, the shorter is the information time-lag associated with the interim closing. The greater the number of books that must be closed before financial statements can be distributed to management, the longer is internal delay. The more frequently a company performs interim closings, the shorter is its internal delay.; On average, companies perform their interim closings in thirteen calendar days. Approximately eighty-eight percent of the sample companies close monthly. Twelve percent of the companies close quarterly.; This study suggests the fiscal year-end accounting close requires an average of seven calendar days plus an extra one-half day for every calendar day needed to perform an interim closing. In addition, the study suggests that the longer it takes to close the books at fiscal year-end, the longer is the time-lag to the audit opinion signature date. However, the data suggest the year-end closing process is not the primary determinant of the audit opinion signature date. |
