安隆財報醜聞造成其簽證會計師事務所聲譽受損，有鑑於以往的文獻對於Andersen聲譽受損與其簽證客戶股價關聯之探討，多僅限於美國本土，因此，本研究希望能擴大視野，由全球的角度來探討國際結盟會計師事務所聲譽受損在各地資本市場的外溢效果。本研究將針對世界各國Andersen簽證客戶進行研究，研究對象選取同Bhattacharya, Daouk and Welker(2003)所研究之國家，並扣除無法從Datastream獲取股價資料的簽證客戶，故最後選取34個國家892家公司為研究對象。 本研究旨在透過股價的分析，探討國際結盟會計師事務所聲譽受損對客戶股價的影響，研究結果指出，法律執行力較差、避免負盈餘程度越高、資本市場重要性越大的國家，簽證客戶股價因為國際結盟事務所聲譽受損而遭受股價下跌的機率較高。本研究進一步探討股價下跌幅度與不同地區之法律環境、會計資訊品質與資本市場成熟度間的關係，實證結果均無法支持本文先前的預期，各國股價下跌的幅度與該國法律環境、會計特性以及資本市場規模並沒有系統性的相關連。 / The financial scandal surrounding the collapse of Enron Corporation caused an erosion in the reputation of its auditor, Andersen. In consideration of past research about such article was confined to America only, we extend the field of vision to investigate the spillover effects by examining the cumulative abcdrmal returns of clients of the auditors across 34 different areas. In order to include the CPA-firm clients’ name and price data, we merged the data from Worldscope and Datastream, and our sample was 892 firms across 34 countries. In this paper, we examine the auditor’s clients’ stock price reactions to the deterioration of Andersen’s reputation after its admission that a significant number of documents had been shredded on January 10, 2002. Our results suggest that when news about Andersen’s January 10, 2002 shredding admission was released, the areas with weaker law enforcement, higher degree of the loss avoidance, and more developed financial market are more likely to react negatively to Andersen’s tarnished reputation, but there is no further evidence to show that the magnitude of the respond is associated with the legal environments, the characteristics of accounting earnings, and the development of the financial market.

Bakgrund: Revisionsplikten avskaffades i syfte att minska den administrativa kostnaden, stärka bolagens konkurrenskraft samt tillväxtmöjligheter för små aktiebolag. Sedan år 2010 har revisionen blivit frivilligt för företag som uppfyller vissa kriterier. Följaktligen har reformen lett till att flera företag inte längre kunde upprätthålla redovisningskvalité. Syfte: Syftet med studien är att bidra med kunskap om hur små aktiebolag upprätthålla en god redovisningskvalité trots att de har valt bort revisionen. Kunskapen kommer skapas genom att förklara effekten av den frivilliga revisionen på redovisningskvalitéten, för att vidare bidra med kunskap åt små aktiebolag som inte vill anlita revisorer. Metod: I studien har kvalitativ metod tillämpats genom användning av semistrukturerade intervjuer med auktoriserade och godkända revisorer. Resultat & Analys: Revisorer menade att många företag inte förstår vikten av att behålla revisionen samt ser det som en kostnadsbelastning. Vidare menar revisorer för att behålla god redovisningskvalité är det viktigt med intern kompetens och externa redovisningstjänster. Studien påvisar att små aktiebolag kan utöver revision upprätthålla en god redovisningskvalité med hjälp av redovisningskonsulter samt interna kompetens tillsammans med bokföringsprogram. Utifrån studien har det klargjorts för små aktiebolagsägare att god redovisningskvalité kan uppnås med andra externa och interna tjänster än revisionen. / Background: The audit duty was abolished with the aim of reducing administrative costs, strengthening companies' competitiveness and growth opportunities for small limited companies. Since 2010, the audit has become voluntary for companies that meet certain criteria. Consequently, the reform has led to several companies no longer being able to maintain accounting quality. Purpose: The purpose of the study is to contribute with knowledge about how small limited companies can still maintain a good accounting quality even though they have opted out of the audit. The knowledge will be created by explaining the effect of the voluntary audit on accounting quality, in order to further contribute knowledge to small limited companies that do not want to hire auditors. Method: In the study, qualitative method has been applied through the use of semi-structured interviews with authorized and approved accountants. Results & Analysis: Auditors said that many companies do not understand the importance of maintaining the audit and see it as a cost burden. Furthermore, accountants believe that in order to maintain good accounting quality, it is important to have internal competence and external accounting services. The study shows that small limited companies can, in addition to auditing, maintain a good accounting quality with the help of accounting consultants and internal competence together with accounting software. Based on the study, it has been made clear to the owners of small limited companies that good accounting quality can be achieved with external and internal services other than the audit.