AUDIT DELAY IN THE AGENCY CONTEXT: PROFITABILITY, CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL, AND TAX AVOIDANCE

This study aims to analyse the determinants of audit delay by integrating internal company factors, profitability, capital structure (leverage), corporate social responsibility (CSR), intellectual capital, and tax avoidance from the agency theory perspective. Audit delay is an important indicator in assessing the efficiency of financial reporting and the effectiveness of corporate governance. Using a quantitative approach and panel data regression method, this study examines 95 observations from companies listed on the Jakarta Islamic Index (JII) during the 2019-2023 period, which were selected through a purposive sampling technique. The analysis shows that leverage, CSR, and intellectual capital significantly negatively affect audit delay. This indicates that companies with a strong funding structure, commitment to social responsibility, and high knowledge capacity tend to complete the audit process more promptly.In contrast, profitability and tax avoidance do not show a significant effect, indicating that these factors are not the main determinants of audit timeliness. These findings reinforce the relevance of agency theory, which emphasises the importance of monitoring mechanisms and incentives in aligning the interests of managers and company owners and encouraging reporting transparency. Empirically, this study enriches the literature on factors that influence audit delay and provides strategic implications for companies in building an efficient, accountable, and responsive financial reporting system to stakeholder expectations.