Zakat in Islam has historically been a vital institution in fulfilling religious needs and social welfare. Its effectiveness in medieval and modern Islam is evident. However, this institution is seemingly not without inefficiencies. Ineffectiveness distribution process and lack of transparency in the zakat management are commonly cited as key impediments (bin Khatiman et al., 2021). Blockchain is expected to solve these issues due to its ability to record and trace every transaction, allowing administrators to discharge their accountability to zakat stakeholders. Thus, this study intended to develop a zakat collection blockchain system with the aim to provide economical and integrated continuous real-time zakat transactions, transparency and traceability by developing smart contracts in zakat management. The study employed four stages of process based on waterfall model starting from the interview session and analyse of the standard operating procedure (SOP) on zakat collection in the Zakat Collection Centre or Pusat Pungutan Zakat-Majlis Agama Islam Wilayah Persekutuan (PPZ-MAIWP). Then, design requirement specification (DRS) is employed after being reviewed and approved by PPZ-MAIWP. The results show that the development of blockchain in the zakat collection system could be eradicating extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity among the community in the country. The study contributes through a transparent and reliable environment for exchanging data and carrying out transactions through a decentralized digital ledger technology to record anything of value and as a result able to ensure transparency, reliability, trust ability and traceability of the zakat transactions.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the differences of audit quality of financial statements among auditors, including Big 4 and non-Big 4 auditors. Design/methodology/approach By employing cross-sectional analysis of compliance (a proxy of audit quality) of goodwill impairment testing of listed firms in the context of Hong Kong, the variation of audit quality of financial statements of auditees has been shown. Findings Audit quality of Big 4 auditors is viewed to be higher than that of non-Big 4 audit firms and the homogeneity of audit quality among Big 4 auditors is not long accepted, but variation. Practical implications Even though unqualified opinions have been given on the auditors’ reports, the quality of financial statements audit is a skeptical issue because of the high level of non-compliance of goodwill impairment testing under International Financial Reporting Standards. Originality/value This study does emphasize the higher audit quality of financial statements of Big 4 auditors than that of non-Big 4 auditors and stresses the variation of audit quality among Big 4 auditors. Keywords: Hong Kong, Goodwill, Audit quality, HKAS 36