<p>Despite the vital role that statutory auditing plays in enhancing trust or credibility over the financial statements of business entities, most member states in the European Union community have decided to grant a waiver or exempt small companies from the service in order to reduce administrative burden and cost for these companies. In Sweden this is still a proposal that will be in effect by 2010. Since accounting has become the way firms measure their performance, auditing has also become an increasing need for users of accounting information such as stakeholders. This paper presents an investigation on the banks opinion and reactions about the new proposal or legislation concerning small companies in Sweden that will be exempted from statutory auditing. The study is focused on the banks perspective since banks are key players in providing funds to small companies and enabling their survival. In granting loans to companies, banks always require them to provide audited financial statements for assurance and credibility purpose. Thus our empirical findings have been carried out through the inductive research method based on three interviews undertaken with some personnel of the management of three major banking institutions in the city of Umea and Skelleftea. From this study we found that though statutory audit will be removed for small companies by government, banks will still require these companies to provide them with audited financial statements when it comes to granting loans to companies. Unfortunately, this policy may backfire as it opens the floodgates for companies to manipulate by keeping low figures to avoid tax or high to increase credibility.</p>

Despite the vital role that statutory auditing plays in enhancing trust or credibility over the financial statements of business entities, most member states in the European Union community have decided to grant a waiver or exempt small companies from the service in order to reduce administrative burden and cost for these companies. In Sweden this is still a proposal that will be in effect by 2010. Since accounting has become the way firms measure their performance, auditing has also become an increasing need for users of accounting information such as stakeholders. This paper presents an investigation on the banks opinion and reactions about the new proposal or legislation concerning small companies in Sweden that will be exempted from statutory auditing. The study is focused on the banks perspective since banks are key players in providing funds to small companies and enabling their survival. In granting loans to companies, banks always require them to provide audited financial statements for assurance and credibility purpose. Thus our empirical findings have been carried out through the inductive research method based on three interviews undertaken with some personnel of the management of three major banking institutions in the city of Umea and Skelleftea. From this study we found that though statutory audit will be removed for small companies by government, banks will still require these companies to provide them with audited financial statements when it comes to granting loans to companies. Unfortunately, this policy may backfire as it opens the floodgates for companies to manipulate by keeping low figures to avoid tax or high to increase credibility.

Problematiken för vår studie grundar sig i den nya revisionslagen som trädde ikraft 1 november 2010, nämligen avskaffandet av revisionsplikten. Lagen innebär att alla aktiebolag som understiger två av tre följande gränsvärden: att ha i genomsnitt 3 anställda, omsättningen understiger 3 miljoner svenska kronor och att balansomslutningen understiger 1,5 miljoner svenska kronor, behöver inte anlita en revisor. I samband med att revisionsplikten avskaffades, diskuteras det mycket vilken betydelse revisionen hade för olika intressenter. Revisionen infördes framförallt för att ge bättre kontrollmöjligheter för externa intressenter. Trots lagändringen, är det idag flertal småföretag som fortsätter att behålla revisorn i företaget och det beror främst på grund av externa intressenternas påverkan. Vårt syfte med studien är att skapa förståelse varför småföretag behåller revisorn i företaget i förhållande till externa intressenter och hur externa intressenter påverkar det, ur småföretagens perspektiv. Undersökningen grundar sig på en kvalitativ studie i form av intervjuer. Intervjuer har utförts med ägare i småföretag. Utifrån det empiriska materialet har det framkommit att externa intressenters påtryckningar påverkar småföretag att behålla revisorn. Intressenter tenderar att påverka småföretag i större utsträckning än stora företag, på grund av det förekommer resursbrist i småföretag. Småföretag har resurser som visserligen är mer begränsad och som en konsekvens av resursbrist påverkas småföretag av externa intressenter genom att vara lyhörd. Småföretag påverkas mer eller mindre av intressenter och företagen ser behovet av revisorn för att tillgodose intressenternas påtryckningar. / The problem with our study is based on the new Audit Act that came into effect November 1st 2010 which abolished the audit requirement. The law includes that any stock company that acquires two out of the three criteria does not have to hire an accountant, the criteria are the following: they need to have an average of 3 employees, a turnover of less than 3 million Swedish kronor and a total assets of less than 1.5 million Swedish kronor. In correlation with the abolishment of the audit, the significance of the audit for various stakeholders was widely debated. The audit was introduced primarily to provide better control of external stakeholders. Despite the amendments, there are now several small businesses that continue to keep the auditor of the company and it is mainly due to external stakeholder impact. The purpose of this study is to create understanding to why small businesses retain the auditor of the company in relation to external stakeholders and what effect they have, from a small business perspective. The study is based on a qualitative study through interviews which were conducted with owners of small businesses. Based on the empirical evidence we have conducted that external stakeholders pressure results in that small businesses decides to keep the auditor. Stakeholders tend to affect small businesses more than large businesses, due to that there is a shortage of resources in small businesses. As a consequence of a lack of resources small businesses are affected by external stakeholders by being responsive. Small businesses are affected more or less by the stakeholders and businesses understand the need for the auditor to meet stakeholder pressure.

Sammanfattning Problem: Den första november år 2010 avskaffades den lagstadgade revisionsplikten för små aktiebolag i Sverige. Syftet med detta var möjligheten för ökad kostnadseffektivitet och valfrihet för bolagen. Lagförändringen mötte dock motstånd från bland annat Skatteverket som befarade en ökad arbetsbörda och sämre kvalitet på bolagens rapporter. Syfte: Syftet med undersökningen är att bidra till en djupare förståelse för konsekvenserna lagförändringen haft på små aktiebolag och Skatteverkets kontor i Örebro. Metod: Insamling av data har skett genom semi-strukturerade intervjuer med fem små aktiebolag i Örebro samt Skatteverket i Örebro. Aktiebolagen var verksamma både före och efter avskaffandet av revisionsplikten och valdes ut genom en alfabetisk ordnad lista över aktiebolag. Empirin har sedan analyserats genom nyckelorden kvalitet, kontroll, arbetsbörda och kostnadseffektivitet. Slutsats: Lagförändringen har ännu inte påverkat aktiebolagens kostnadseffektivitet eller arbete. Skatteverket har fått en viss ökad arbetsbörda men kvaliteten på redovisningen är den samma som innan. Undersökningen resulterar dock i vetskapen att de små aktiebolagen behåller revisorn tack vare rådgivarrollen och kunskapen denne besitter. Behovet av revision verkar alltså mer bero på vilka kunskapsluckor bolagen måste fylla med avseende på redovisning och rapportering än vad som är lagstadgat. Nyckelord: Revisionsplikt, små aktiebolag, Skatteverket / Abstract Background: The first of November 2010 the statutory auditing was abolished for small companies in Sweden. The reason for this was to give the companies the opportunity to reduce costs and increase their level of freedom of choice. This was met with resistance from the Swedish tax agency, who feared an increase of their workload and a decrease of the quality of the companies’ financial reporting. Purpose: The purpose of this essay is to find a deeper understanding of the consequences that the abolished statutory auditing brought to small companies and the tax office in the city of Örebro. Method: The empirical findings have been collected through semi structured interviews with five small companies and the tax office in Örebro. The companies were active before as well as after the abolishment of statutory auditing and were selected from an alphabetical list. The empirical findings were analysed through the terms quality, control, workload and cost efficiency. Conclusions: The abolishment of statutory auditing has not yet affected the small companies in terms of cost efficiency or workload. The Swedish tax agency has noticed some increase of their workload, but there has been no change in the quality of the companies’ financial reporting. The essay concludes that small companies keep an auditor due to the advisory role and the knowledge the auditor possesses. The need for the companies to consult an auditor seems to a greater extent depend on what knowledge about financial reporting the companies lacks rather than what is required by law. Keywords: Statutory auditing, small companies, Swedish tax agency

Purpose: The purpose with this dissertation is to examine the individual–firm commitment between auditors and exempted firms from the client perspective and how it is influenced by relational influencing factors. The impact of these factors is investigated through a three component model incorporating affective, calculative and normative commitment.   Method: The study encompasses a triangular research method and can be seen as a twofold complementary approach. The choice of methodology seeks to qualitatively investigate how auditors actively work to impact the level of trust, social bonds and satisfaction as well as the level of commitment in their relationship with the exempted firm. The intention is to complement the findings from the qualitative study with quantitatively measured factors from the client’s perspective using a survey strategy.   Conclusion: The findings of this study indicated that micro-firms are predominantly affectively committed to their auditor based on positive feelings of attachment and less due to normative and calculative reasons. Trust and satisfaction proved to be the most significant factors in ensuring long-term and enduring relationships between auditors and micro-firms.   Implications: Affective commitment proved to be the most significant construct in explaining the characteristics of the auditor-micro firm relation in this study. By critically evaluating the relationship, the auditor can assess to which degree trust, social bonds and satisfaction can be implemented to strengthen the commitment of the exempted firm, thus influencing their long-term staying intention.

L’écart entre ce que le public attend de la part de l’auditeur et ce que ce dernier pense réaliser est connu sous le vocable d’ « expectation gap ». Cette recherche a pour ambition de contribuer à la compréhension de ce phénomène. Nous appréhendons l’ « expectation gap » dans ses dimensions discursive et normative. Ceci nous conduit à poser les deux questions de recherche suivantes : - Comment et pourquoi le concept d’ « expectation gap » a-t-il émergé dans le discours de la profession d’audit ? - Quel est le rôle des normes d’audit dans la réduction de l’ « expectation gap » ? Notre démarche méthodologique, qui s’inscrit dans le contexte français, comporte trois phases : une étude documentaire longitudinale, une enquête fondée sur des entretiens et l’étude du cas de la norme NEP 705 « Justification des appréciations ». Elle permet de montrer que le concept d’ « expectation gap » a été introduit en France dans les années 1990 sous l’impulsion d’institutions européennes et internationales. L’ « expectation gap » est utilisé dans les discours comme une excuse permettant aux auditeurs d’échapper aux accusations du public et de conserver leur statut et leur position sur le marché. De surcroît, les normes d’audit en France non seulement ne permettent pas de réduire l’ « expectation gap », mais jouent au contraire un rôle légitimant. / The « expectation gap » is defined as the gap between what the public expects from the auditor and what the auditor expects to achieve. The present research treats the expectation gap in its discursive and normative dimensions. It aims to contribute to the understanding of the expectation gap phenomenon by examining the following research questions: How and why the concept of «expectation gap» has emerged in the discourse of the audit profession? And what is the role of auditing standards in the reduction of the expectation gap? We address these questions within the French context using a methodological approach that consists of three phases: a longitudinal documentary study, a survey based on interviews, and a case study of the standard NEP 705 «Justification of assessments». We find that the concept of «expectation gap» was introduced in France in the 1990s under the influence of European and international institutions. We also find that the expectation gap is used in discourses as an excuse allowing auditors to escape public accusations and maintain their status and position in the market. Finally, we find that auditing standards in France not only don’t reduce the expectation gap, but actually play a role in legitimizing it.