This research is motivated by interest in recent changes in the audit approaches of audit firms. The business risk audit approach has been adopted based on assertions about its benefits by administrators of large audit firms and academics linked with these firms and, more recently, has been legitimised by the issuance of international auditing standards that give recognition to this approach. Studies investigating the business risk audit approach have relied on the content of audit manuals of large audit firms and pointed to claimed benefits, such as providing consistency of worldwide audit practice, broadening auditors’ awareness of risks, increasing audit effectiveness and efficiency, and creating more value for audit clients. In investigating this recent change in audit approaches, this thesis is concerned with the application of the business risk audit approach within the non-Big-4 audit firms, with a focus on three countries: the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada. The research focuses on the motivation for adopting this approach for non-Big-4 audit firms in the three countries, and the advantages, disadvantages and aftermath of applying this method. These issues are addressed through research methods comprising semi-structured interviews and a questionnaire survey. These methods are deemed appropriate to provide consideration of the contextual factors affecting the non-Big-4 audit firms and audit practice in the three countries examined. The findings show that non-Big-4 audit firms in the three countries adopted the business risk audit; their motivation was primarily to follow the standards in each country and to follow the general trend in the industry. The advantages were consistent with previous research; there was direct benefit to audit effectiveness and risk management. One major disadvantage of applying this method was the cost burden to both the audit firm and their clients. Some of the interviewees claimed that this method is better suited to large firms and large audits. Overall evidence from this research shows that this method helped auditors better understand their clients and assess the risk associated with the audit process. Auditors from non-Big-4 firms expressed their interest that the business risk audit should remain in use with some modification to fit small and medium audits. This study also contributes to the literature on the internationalisation of audit practice and the audit practice of small- and medium-sized audit firms, which is lacking in existing research related to this group.

This quantitative study conducted by two students at Umeå University, studies if there are gender differences when it comes to salary and top positions in the accounting and auditing industry in Sweden. Previous studies have found that these differences, or gaps can relate to the glass ceiling theory. This theory is considered a phenomenon and a metephor wherein women can see through the glass to those top levels of the career ladder, but are unable to reach them as there is a ceiling, a gap, to prevent that from happening. Sweden is one of the most gender balanced countries in the world, but despite that the wage equality for similar work in Sweden is 74%. Since women with children work more often than men part-time, this leads to a less positive career, wage development and a poor pension for women. We analyzed previous studies to understand that the glass ceiling theory involved not only salary but also position inequalities based on gender. This information was used to create surveys which we sent electronically (via email) to auditors and accountants all over Sweden. This thesis is based on analysis of the survey and annual reports from 2017. Our results show that there are differences between gender when it comes to wages throughout the career ladder. Men have higher wages than women in the same positions. This applies to both office-level and up to executive positions. Differences in salaries between men and women also apply to both authorized and approved auditors when men have the higher average salary. That is also the same among those who had other leadership positions and among those who had a support function. We could not show major differences in top positions between genders. Most positions are gender balanced, which means that they are between 40-60%, except for at the CEO and partner level which is mostly men and the accounting manager position which is represented only by women. Our results show that there is gender-based inequality in salary but not in position; therefore, the glass ceiling theory is not currently in effect. This is important research as it not only expands knowledge of glass ceiling theory but also into the accounting and auditing fields. It found areas for improvement for both theoretical and practical use. We finish the thesis by referring to recommendations for future studies, such as focusing on lower levels and more accounting economics, authorised consultants, etc. / <p>With consideration to logit regressions for the binary leader variable:Even though <em>Cotter's 4 criteria leader</em> and <em>Leader model 2</em> did not have the highest adjusted R² with ols regression, it is important to see that in a logit regression, which is a more appropriate regression type since the leader variable is binary, that gender was not significant. Therefore, the conclusions remain the same.</p>