Corporate reporting on the Internet Audit issues and content analysis of practices Richard Fisher Lincoln University, Canterbury, New Zealand Peter Oyelere Sultan Qaboos University, Oman and Lincoln University, Canterbury, New Zealand, and Fawzi Laswad Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand Keywords Internet, Worldwide Web, Auditing management, Financial reporting, Content analysis, New Zealand Abstract The use of the Internet for financial reporting creates unique opportunities and challenges for the auditing profession. This exploratory study identifies the key audit implications of Internet financial reporting through a comprehensive review of the academic and professional literature. Further, the study analyses the contents of all listed company Websites in New Zealand to assess the nature and extent of current audit-related Web practices. The relatively high degree of similarity between New Zealand’s auditing standards and those of other jurisdictions (e.g. International Standards of Auditing and auditing standards in countries such as the UK, Australia and the USA) contributes towards the international generalisability of the content analysis. The literature review highlighted issues relating to the auditor’s role and responsibilities, the audit report, and audit procedures. The results of the content analysis of auditor Web-related practices reveal several significant concerns for the auditing profession in relation to the presentation, context, and content of the audit report in a Web-based environment. Introduction The use of the Internet as a channel for the dissemination of corporate information is a recent and fast growing phenomenon. In addition to corporate, marketing, and customer support information, many companies are choosing to make available financial information on their corporate Websites, often under the banner of investor/shareholder relations. This global trend is confirmed by an increasing number of studies[1] and parallels the recent rapid growth in online investing and electronic commerce. It is likely that in the near future, the Internet will become the principal medium for the distribution of traditional financial reports to users. The International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC) have stated that in the near future: The Emerald Research Register for this journal is available at The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/researchregister www.emeraldinsight.com/0268-6902.htm The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial assistance provided by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of New Zealand’s (ICANZ) Coopers & Lybrand Peter Barr Fellowship, and the helpful comments and suggestions provided by April Mackenzie, then the Divisional Director – Policy, ICANZ, and participants of both the 2002 Annual Conference of the Accounting Association of Australia and New Zealand and the 2003 Annual Conference of the British Accounting Association. The study’s data are available from the authors on request. MAJ 19,3 412 Managerial Auditing Journal Vol. 19 No. 3, 2004 pp. 412-439 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0268-6902 DOI 10.1108/02686900410524418