The Effect of CFO Gender On: Auditor Turnover, Audit Fees, and Financial Reporting Timeliness

This study investigates the effect of CFO gender on auditor turnover, audit fees, and financial reporting timeliness. Since investors value audit outcomes such as auditor turnover, audit fees, and reporting timeliness as important financial signals, differences in the probability of auditor turnovers, the amount of audit fees, and the speed of financial reporting between male CFO firms and female CFO firms can help investors make better informed financial decisions. Additionally, these audit outcome differences between male and female CFOs can also provide insights to executive hiring-decisions and audit budgeting. The results of this study suggest that firms with female CFOs take longer to report financial statements than their male counterparts. However, I do not find evidence for differences in the probability of auditor turnover between female CFO and male CFO firms. I also do not find significant differences in audit fees between firms with female and male CFOs. Overall, this study highlights how gender differences in risk-tolerance and confidence level can affect tangible audit outcomes