Interim restatements and the audit engagement

• Auditors respond to interim restatements by changing the engagement. • Interim restatements are linked to lower year-end financial reporting quality. • Late restatements affect audits more, likely due to time constraints. We examine the audit implications of 10-Q misstatements and explore how the timing of the detection and correction of these misstatements affects an audit. We find that auditors respond to interim restatements by charging higher fees, taking more time to complete an audit, and issuing more ICMWs. Despite these changes, interim restatements are negatively associated with year-end financial reporting quality. We further distinguish between early and late interim restatements and find some supporting evidence that late interim restatements have greater impacts on audit engagements, consistent with the notion that late detection of misstatements allows less flexibility for the client and auditor to adjust to heightened engagement risk. Overall, we provide evidence on how interim restatements in general, and the timing of such restatements in particular, have different implications for audit engagements.