The Impact of Supervisory Board and Audit Committee Competence on Financial Reporting Quality

This study examines whether supervisory board and audit committee competence are associated with financial reporting quality in the German two-tier governance system. Exploiting the mandatory introduction of qualification matrix disclosures under the revised German Corporate Governance Code 2022, we construct novel firm-specific measures of supervisory board and audit committee competence, including emerging competencies such as digitalization and sustainability expertise. Using a comprehensive sample of CDAX-listed firms and multiple accrual-based proxies, we test whether higher competence fulfillment is associated with lower abnormal accruals. We find no systematic evidence that aggregate supervisory board or audit committee competence, including emerging competencies, improve financial reporting quality. Instead, only financial and accounting expertise at the supervisory board and chairman level are consistently negatively associated with abnormal accruals. Overall, the results suggest that financial and accounting expertise, as reflected in the self-assessed qualification matrix disclosures, rather than broad multidimensional or emerging competence structures reported therein, plays a relevant role in effective financial reporting oversight.