I examine the association between earnings quality and audit firm type using a three-tiered audit firm classification scheme which allows for an explicit examination of the quality of Second-Tier audited earnings. My tests are motivated by the lack of competition in the market for audit services, theoretical arguments which suggest a positive association between audit firm size and audit quality, evidence pointing to the rapid post-Andersen growth in Second-Tier audit practices, and the lack of empirical research that fully differentiates audit firm type. My results indicate that the post-Andersen growth of Second-Tier audit firms coincides with improved Second-Tier audit quality, relative to the other audit firm types (Big N and other non-Big N). Specifically, the results indicate that Second-Tier client earnings quality was not distinct from that of other non-Big N clients in the pre-Andersen period. However, in the post-Andersen period, the results indicate that Second-Tier client earnings quality was higher than that of other non-Big N clients. Moreover, the post-Andersen results provide partial evidence suggesting that there is no difference in Second-Tier and Big N client earnings quality and, thus, lend some credence to the notion of a new era for the Big 8. These results convey important information to market participants (e.g., investors, underwriters, analysts, etc.) who wish to assess the extent to which financial statements are likely to be free from opportunistic managerial manipulation, to clients that are contemplating switching to a Second-Tier audit firm, to government agencies who have expressed concern over the state of competition in the market for audit services, and to those who have promoted the use of Second-Tier audit firms in the wake of SOX-related resource constraints.

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The work concerns with ethical demands of auditing profession. The first part is pointed to general evolution in ethics. The second part deals with auditor's work, with its progress, aim and meaning. The third part describes laws and the ethical code of auditing profession. And finally, in the fourth part are mentioned accounting scandals, which happened in the past. It describes the role of audit firms and what impact it has for them.

En studie om hur en ökad kommersialisering inom revisionsbranschen påverkar revisorers well-being. Begreppet kommersialisering representeras av de tre aspekterna marknadsorientering, kundorientering och affärsorientering medan well-being aspekten representeras av lycka, arbetstillfredsställelse och arbetsmiljö. Det empiriska resultatet av studien tyder på att kommersialiseringsaspekterna marknadsorientering och affärsorientering har en positiv påverkan på revisorers well-being.

Abstract Management control system is meaningful for corporations.  It aims to define overall company-goals and develops strategies that eases the achievement of these goals. The purpose of the strategies is to create desirable performances through guidance of employees. The strategy and performance evaluation are correlated since both creates desirable performances. This is achieved through performance evaluation as it monitors and examines employees’ performances.  Prior research highlights performance evaluation through corporations' perspective, but does not present a connection between performance evaluation and its effects on auditors. Although, it has been established some effects of parts within performance evaluation. Due to that the research has been based on corporations' perspective, it becomes interesting to study the subject through auditors’ perspective. Performance evaluation is used in a wide variety within the large audit firms, thus relevant to study.  The purpose of the thesis is to create a broader understanding of which role performance evaluation has in audit firms. This has been studied through observations of how performance evaluation is executed and which effects it has on auditors. The thesis’s research-strategy is qualitative, though empirical data has been generated through interviews with eleven auditors.  All of the researched audit firms include overall company-goals, individual goalsetting, time budgets, feedback and monetary incentives in the process of execution of performance evaluation. This study presents which effects performance evaluation has on auditors. Positive effects of performance evaluation are increased performances and motivation. This increment is based on increased self-efficacy, clear expectations and guidelines, and active participation during goal-setting and feedback processes. The negative effects of performance evaluation are based on the work procedure that is created by the management tool, in terms of time pressure, stress and pressure regarding acquisition of customers. / Sammanfattning Ekonomistyrning är betydelsefullt för företag, då den syftar till att definiera översiktliga företagsmål samt utveckla strategier som ska underlätta uppfyllelsen av dessa mål. Strategiformulering har som funktion att skapa önskvärda prestationer genom att vägleda anställda. Strategin och prestationsmätningar är korrelerade i den bemärkelsen att de skapar önskvärda prestationer. Detta genomförs utifrån prestationsmätning genom att övervaka och utvärdera anställdas prestationer. Tidigare forskning framhäver prestationsmätning utifrån ett företagsperspektiv men visar inte på en koppling mellan prestationsmätning och dess effekter på revisorer i revisionsbyråer. Dock har det stadgats somliga effekter av delar inom prestationsmätning. Eftersom forskningen har varit utifrån ett företagsperspektiv är det intressant att studera prestationsmätning utifrån revisorers perspektiv. Prestationsmätning används i stor utsträckning inom de större revisionsbyråerna, denna bransch är således relevant att studera.     Syftet med uppsatsen är att skapa en bredare förståelse för vilken roll prestationsmätning har i revisionsbyråer. Detta har studerats genom att undersöka hur prestationsmätningar genomförs samt vilka effekter de har på revisorer. Uppsatsens forskningsstrategi är kvalitativ då empirisk data genererats utifrån intervjuer med elva revisorer. Samtliga undersökta revisionsbyråer inkluderar översiktliga företagsmål, individuell målsättning, tidsbudget, feedback och belöningar i processen för genomförandet av prestationsmätning. Studien visar även vilka effekter prestationsmätning har på revisorer. Positiva effekter av prestationsmätning är ökad prestation och motivation. Detta grundar sig i ökad självkänsla, tydliga förväntningar och riktlinjer samt aktivt deltagande under målsättnings- och feedbacksprocessen. De negativa effekterna av prestationsmätning grundar sig i det arbetssätt som skapas av styrverktyget, detta i form av tidspress, stress samt press gällande förvärv av kunder.

Det finns en hög efterfrågan på nyexaminerade redovisningsstudenter till följd av en förändrad arbetsmarknad där arbetsgivare insett vikten av att arbeta med employer branding. Dock kan det vara svårt för revisionsbyråer inom professionen att särskilja sig från varandra och dessutom kan externa källor påverka studenternas syn på arbetsgivarna. Syftet är att förklara hur studenternas uppfattning om, respektive attraktion till, revisionsbyråerna påverkas av exponering för kontrollerade och okontrollerade signaler om revisionsbyråernas employer brand.  Utifrån ett positivistiskt förhållningssätt, en deduktiv ansats och med kvantitativ metod har studien testat 10 hypoteser. Empiriska primärdata har samlats in med hjälp av en onlinebaserad enkät, besvarad av 173 ekonomistudenter runt om i Sverige som läser eller funderar på att läsa redovisning/revision som studieinriktning. Studien visar att studenter som exponerats för kontrollerad employer branding från EY har högre attraktion till EY. Exponering för kontrollerad employer branding från EY, KPMG och PwC är positivt associerat med studenternas uppfattning om revisionsbyråerna. Exponering för negativ word-of-mouth om KPMG och PwC är negativt associerat med studenternas uppfattning om revisionsbyråerna och påverkar attraktionen negativt. För samtliga revisionsbyråer visar studien ett positivt samband mellan signaler om revisionsbyråernas employer brand i media och attraktion. Exponering för signaler om revisionsbyråernas employer brand i media är positivt associerat med studenternas uppfattning för alla byråer utom Deloitte. För samtliga revisionsbyråer visar studien att det finns ett positivt samband mellan studenternas uppfattning om och attraktion till revisionsbyråerna. Studien indikerar att byråerna kan särskilja sig från varandra och att det finns skillnader mellan de olika byråerna i hur signaler om byråernas employer brand påverkar studenternas uppfattning och attraktion. / There is a high demand for newly graduated accounting students due to a changing labour market with high staff turnover, where employers realized the importance of employer branding. However, it may be difficult for audit firms to distinguish themselves from each other in the profession, and in addition, external sources may affect students' views on employers.  The aim of the study is to explain how students' perceptions of, and attraction to, the audit firms are influenced by exposure to controlled and uncontrolled signals about the employer brand of the audit firms'. Based on a positivistic philosophy, a deductive approach and quantitative methodology, the study has tested 10 hypotheses. Empirical primary data has been collected using an online-based survey, answered by 173 business students in Sweden who have chosen or intend to choose accounting/auditing as a field of study.  The study indicates that exposure to controlled employer branding from EY is associated with higher attraction to EY. Exposure to controlled employer branding from EY, KPMG and PwC is positively associated with students’ perceptions of the firms. Exposure to negative word-of-mouth about KPMG and PwC is negatively associated with perception of the firms and affects the attraction negatively. For all audit firms except Deloitte, the study indicates that students’ exposure to signals in media are positively associated with the perception of the firm. There is a positive relation between the exposure to signals about the employer brand in media and attraction for all the audit firms. We conclude a positive relation between perceptions and attraction for all five audit firms. The results of the study suggest that the firms can distinguish themselves from each other and that there are differences between the firms in how signals about the employer brand affect perceptions and attraction.

The auditing profession is a popular career choice among business graduates, and the Big N firms hire large cohorts of audit assistants every year. The auditing profession is special in the way that it has a defined career ladder, as well as a high employee turnover rate. The hiring process involves contact both with the HR department and auditors from the operating business. Since the audit assistants are not expected to have great technical knowledge at the beginning of their employment, other things than the actual auditing skills must be tested during the hiring process.   In prior research, studies have been conducted from the perspective of the applicant, rather than the organizational perspective. There has been relatively little research on the recruitment of auditors, and most research has been conducted in another context than a Swedish one. The research question used for this thesis is: How do audit firms hire entry-level audit assistants, and what profile is desired by the HR department and the operating business?   The main purposes of this study are to explore the hiring process and what profile is desired, from both the HR department’s perspective and the operating business’ perspective. The study is qualitative, and the data was collected through semi-structured interviews with delegates from the largest audit firms in Sweden. The sample consisted of eleven informants including seven auditors and four recruiters.  The empirical findings suggest that the Big N firms in Sweden hire through a centralized HR-department, with a standardized process that is similar among all the firms. A lot of responsibility lies with the HR-department, but the auditors make the final determination if the applicant will fit into the group. The most important characteristics desired of an audit assistant are found to be social skills, team ability, and dedication, and these are assessed at the different steps of the hiring process. Finally, the findings suggest that the HR department and the delegates from the operating business of the HR firms agree on what profile they are looking for, however, there is no formal way of evaluating the hiring process in any of the firms. The contributions of this thesis can be of use for various actors, for example audit firms when developing their hiring strategies, regulatory authorities when discussing the development of the industry and educational bodies and students when preparing for a career within auditing. From an academic perspective, this study can be used as a point of departure for future research.

Background: The relationship between family firms and auditors is not a topic that is very well examined. This is also a relationship that is extraordinary because they have different aims with the relationship. Since the family firms seek for long and close relationships while the auditor needs to maintain their independence. There have also been several scandals in the past between family firms and their auditor where the relationship has become to close. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the auditor’s role in family firms, how value is co-created and what value that is co-created when they interact with each other. Method: To answer the research question the data in this study is collected through semi- structured interviews. The interviews were performed and inspired by previous studies which we developed a framework on to have as a guideline during the interviews. The participants in the study were three family firms and their respective auditor and the participants were located in the same geographical area. Findings: In this study, we have focused on how and what value family firms and auditors co- create when they interact with each other. The study suggests important aspects of the family firm and auditor relation to facilitating the value co-creation process. The aspects that were revealed as important were the relationship, communication, collaborative, trust, and experience from the auditor. The study also investigated which values family firms and auditors co-create, these were smarter planning, increase of effectiveness, exchange of knowledge, expanded networks, and value for society.

Research problem: The purpose of this study is to extend existing knowledge on the determinants of sustainability reporting. Institutional theory, legitimacy theory, CSR and TBL are used to find out if: (1) audit firms’ sustainability reports are an influencing factor on non-audit firms’ sustainability reports, (2) if audit firms’ sustainability reports are an influencing factor on their clients’ sustainability reports. Methodology: To find out if there is a relationship between the content in sustainability reports of audit firms and non-audit firms, the study conducts a content analysis using a quantitative strategy and a deductive approach. The sample consists of three of the Big 4 audit firms as well as 30 Swedish publicly listed companies, small and large cap. Their sustainability reports are analyzed from 2010 to 2020. Conclusion: The findings show that, first, firms do imitate audit firms when they issue sustainability reports, thus a case of mimetic isomorphism can be concluded. Second, clients of audit firms do not imitate their external auditors more than other audit firms when issuing their sustainability reports.