Stora företagsbedrägerier och skandaler såsom Kreuger, Enron och Worldcom där fordringsägare led omfattande förluster, följs ofta av en debatt om revisionens syfte och omfattning. Efter påtryckningar från EU om att minska den administrativa bördan, öka konkurrenskraften och stimulera Europas ekonomi, avskaffades revisionsplikten för mindre aktiebolag i Sverige 2010. Fordringsägare i form av bland annat kreditgivare och investerare är parter som kan drabbas vid en konkurs och har därför behov av att ha en fungerande relation med företaget. Tillsammans med kompletterande information från revisorer bidrar kreditbetyg till en bättre bild av kreditrisker som fordringsägare utsätter sig för. Syftet med studien är att öka förståelsen för revisionens betydelse i värderingen av ett litet företags betalningsförmåga när det sedan 2010 inte längre är ett lagstadgat krav att ha revisor. Studien ger även möjlighet till att bättre bedöma revisionens påverkan på kreditrisken för fordringsägare i händelse av konkurs. Detta är en triangulerande studie, där insamling av data har skett genom både kvalitativa intervjuer och kvantitativ information från 57 konkursbon av små bolag från 2009 och 61 från 2012. Intervjuerna har gjorts med 10 respondenter inom revision, kreditgivning och konkursförvaltning. Resultaten har analyserats utifrån framförallt agent- och intressentteorin. Studien har kommit fram till att användandet av revisor är en funktion som värderas högt. De har en viktig roll när det gäller att hjälpa företagare att leva upp till de ekonomiska kunskapskrav som omvärlden ställer. Även när det gäller bedömningen av företagets fortsatta drift kan revisorns kunskaper bidra till att minska risken för en obeståndssituation. Studien har dock inte kunnat fastställa att underskottens storlek i konkurserna har påverkats av om bolaget har haft revisor eller inte. Varken respondenterna eller sambandsanalysen styrker någon skillnad i påverkan på prioriterade borgenärer efter avskaffandet av revisionsplikten. För både 2009 och 2012 har många konkurser små underskott medan få har stora, vilket indikerar att kreditgivare i det flesta fall har kunnat göra rimliga kreditbedömningar. / Major fraud and scandals in corporations such as Kreuger, Enron and Worldcom where creditors suffered significant losses, are often followed with debate around the purpose and scope of corporate audits. After pressure from the EU in order to reduce the administrative burden, increase competitive capacity, and stimulate the European economy the mandatory auditing was abolished for small enterprises in Sweden in 2010. Creditors of which some are banks and investors are parties that who can be affected by a bankruptcy and are therefore dependent on a working relationship with the enterprise. Together with additional information from an auditor credit ratings will aid a creditor in the assessment of exposed risk. This study aims to increase the understanding of audit significance in the aspect of credit rating of small companies and their ability to fulfil payments to prioritised creditors in case of bankruptcy as the legislated audit no longer is a requirement. It will also provide a possibility to assess the influence of auditing on the credit risk creditor is subject to in the event of bankruptcy. The study is using a triangulating method where data is collected using both qualitative interviews and quantitative data from 57 bankruptcies of small enterprises from 2009 and 61 bankruptcies from 2012. The interviews were conducted with 10 respondents representing auditing, loans, and Insolvency practise. The results have been analysed from the perspective of Agent- and Stakeholder theories. The study has derived to the conclusion that the use of auditors does carry a significant value. They have an important role to play when it comes to assisting entrepreneurs to live up to the expectation and skills their counterparts have on them. Even the assessment made by auditors on the company’s ability to continue operation, going concern, is knowledge which can contribute to the prevention of a future situation of insolvency. The study has not been able to prove any relationship between the company's level of debt in bankruptcy and if the company has chosen to have an auditor. Neither respondents in the qualitative data collection nor the search for correlation in the quantitative data has been able to support findings of difference on the impact on the prioritised creditors between the companies using auditors and the ones not using auditors from the time after the abolishment of mandatory audits. From both 2009 and 2012 most bankruptcies have low deficits and a small number have high, which indicate creditors have been able to make reasonable credit assessments.

The aim of this thesis is to visualize and explain how people’s economic and social relations were connected in the parish of Sundborn, in the south east of Dalarna, in the period 1820-1849. The study is based on records of claims and debts in inventories and parish registers, which enable reconstruction of the private local credit market. The study shows that the majority in the economic network lived in Sundborn, and that while few people had formal loans at the institutional credit market, many had loans by trust at the private local credit market. Also, while few people were lenders, almost everyone was a borrower. The most common credit relationship was between people who lived near one another, and people who lived near one another or were related received a higher average credit. The private local credit market consisted primarily of men. These results have been interpreted with the use of social network theory, it being shown that people depended on their social network to obtain the necessary credit. In creating an economic network graph, I show that households in the parish of Sundborn were interconnected by debt relations. By using this method, it is possible to identify significant persons and potential parish bankers. Through combining the network graph with a landscape map, I show connections between the settlement, the assets, economic relations, centrality and the long valley of Sundborn river. The study opens up possibilities for further development of the same method to visualize historic data and relate it to the landscape, with a view to generating new related questions and spatial analyses.