All companies are subject to some degree of regulatory oversight of their operations. Economics, finance, and government research demonstrate that operational regulatory oversight (for example, provided by the EPA or FDA) imposes financial and operating burdens on regulated firms. My study examines how auditors respond to their clients’ operational regulatory oversight with additional audit costs, as reflected in audit fees. I focus on operational regulatory oversight from six federal regulatory agencies with authority to regulate companies in any industry. I find that operational regulatory oversight intensity, measured by number of regulators, occurrences of regulator-specific disclosures, and regulatory fragmentation, is positively associated with audit fees. Cross-sectional tests show that operational oversight from “continuous” regulators (i.e., regulators that maintain routine oversight) significantly weakens the positive association between operational regulatory oversight and audit fees. Further analyses provide no evidence that the higher audit fees are accompanied by changes in auditor effort. Lastly, my results are robust to an audit fee change model and an alternative measure of regulatory fragmentation. / Business Administration/Accounting

台灣近幾年爆發一連串上市櫃公司財務弊案，除了投資大眾遭受損害，簽證會計師也跟著受懲，輕則負擔民事賠償責任、賠上個人職業生涯，重則有可能被羈押受到刑責。對於會計師事務所而言，其委任風險（Engagement risk）可能導致事務所本身的訴訟風險與財務危機、事務所形象及聲譽的損毀，甚至最後導致事務所的倒閉，因此，客戶品質的管理決策對於事務所而言是相對重要的。Huss and Jacobs (1991)認為客戶承接前的決策過程是審計程序中最重要的步驟，故建立一套完善評估客戶的政策或程序，是會計師事務所對於品質控制的一個重要基石。國內某四大會計師事務所在近年進行了事務所的客戶承接管理變革，因此，本研究欲以此會計師事務所為例，探討其客戶承接管理變革之各項措施，以及事務所在進行管理變革之後，所承接之客戶在企業風險上顯示的變化，以期獲得該客戶承接決策改變能否有效降低事務所風險的證據。 本研究實證結果顯示此會計師事務所在客戶承接變革之後，續任以及新承接的客戶相對於未續任的客戶，其整體營運風險（財務風險）較低，可知會計師事務所進行之變革具有初步成效。再者，新承接客戶之成長性較續任客戶來的高，且其負債比率較續任客戶低，表示事務所在考量承接新客戶時，除了透過較嚴謹的程序篩選財務風險較低者外，亦會選擇未來發展性較高之客戶。最後，實證顯示續任之客戶在規模上較未續任的客戶來的大，可以推論此會計師事務所的客戶組合正往其聚焦服務的概念發展。 / In recent years, a series of financial frauds were reported by listed and OTC companies in Taiwan. Not only investors incurred tremendous financial losses, a number of accountants were sanctioned by the authorities. For accounting firms, potential damages ranged from litigation costs, reputation losses, to the ultimate demise of the entire firm. Therefore, managing the quality of clients for the firm is even increasingly important. Huss and Jacobs (1991) suggest that the preengagement decision process is the most critical step. Thus, it is important for accounting firms to establish effective policies or procedures to assess client's quality comprehensively. A local office of one Big 4 accounting firm in Taiwan made significant changes in the management of client acceptance decision in recent years. Therefore, this study takes the accounting firm for example to examine the effect of changes in its client engagement process. I also empirically study whether the firm’s clients exhibit better quality on their business risks after the change. Evidence is collected to find out if the firm effectively reduce its client business risk by implementing new procedures and policies. The empirical results of this study show that the continued clients and newly accepted clients are less risky on business risk than discontinued clients after management change, indicating the change in the accounting firm was initially effective. Furthermore, the newly accepted clients have higher growth opportunities than continued clients, and their debt ratios are lower than those of the continued clients. It is suggested that firms in undertaking new clients, use more stringent procedures to select those with lower business risks, and high development potentials in the future. Finally, the evidence shows that the continued clients are much bigger in size than discontinued clients.