The Effect of Forward-Looking Information Disclosure on Audit Effort: An Empirical Study from Egypt.

This study examines whether firms that appear to disclose forward-looking information more strongly in their reports are more likely to make higher audit Efforts than firms without such disclosure. Data are extracted from the annual reports of 40 companies within the EGX30 index from 2018 to 2023, content analysis method was used to define the reality of Forward-Looking Information Disclosures (FLID) level in annual reports of these companies, which included different sectors. and The data on auditor's fees indicating the auditor’s effort are extracted from the General Assembly of Shareholders Minutes of the Egyptian Stock Exchange website from 2019 to 2024. The results indicate that FLID positively affects an audit effort. This study has important implications for improving disclosure levels by developing an index to define FLID levels in companies' annual statements and reports. this study may also increase the interest of companies' board of directors in Forward-Looking Information (FLI), which increases the requirements and efforts made by the external auditor to examine this information, especially since it is non-mandatory information, and can help Board of Directors and General Assembly of Shareholders determine auditors’ fees and efforts based on the level of FLID, which makes them more interesting on FLI auditing, and encourages them to develop the auditing process and improve its quality, In addition, it increases the interest of annual reports users for Egyptian companies on FLI to benefit from it in improving their various decisions. This study is one of rare studies that examine the effect of FLID on an audit effort, especially in Egyptian companies. This study adds to literature on determinants of FLID in reports. its results can be used to provide further studies and research.