Tempestividade da informação : uma análise dos fatores que influenciam o prazo de publicação das demonstrações financeiras no Brasil

This study aims to identify factors that impact the iming of the Brazilian annual financial statements, analyzing the period 2008 to 2013. The variables were: firm size, firm age, profitability, financial leverage, sector of activi y, the audit qualification for the financial statements, the size of the audit firm and periods f change in accounting practices. The study sample comprises 475 companies registered in the Comissão de Valores Mobiliários. With the descriptive analysis and the development o f the econometric model for panel data, the study concluded that the average term of public ation of the financial statements presented a decline of behavior over the years under study, w ith the exception of 2010, year of change in accounting practices. In addition, the number of delay to published statements decreased during the analysis period. Thus, in general, there was an improvement in the quality of accounting information regarding the timeliness asp ect. Statistical tests showed that companies that made profit, had a shorter term of p ublication of the companies that presented a loss; in periods of change in accountin g practices, the period of publication of financial statements is greater; companies which ha ve modified audit report published their statements in a longer term; companies audited by a big four published their statements in a shorter period; financial sector companies have a s horter term of publication of the financial statements of companies in other sectors. However, th variable size of the company, the company's debt and age were not significant.