Revisorn anlitas för att ge ett oberoende yttrande som ska säkerställa pålitligheten i företagensfinansiella rapporter. Denna tilltrosskapandande effekt kan endast uppnås om revisorn görsina bedömningar och fattar beslut utan att låta sig påverkas av andra personers viljor ellerönskningar. Att revisorn är oberoende är särskilt viktigt i de fall revisorernas arbete påverkarintressenters beslutsfattande. Diskussionen kring revisorns oberoende i samband medtillhandahållandet av fristående rådgivning har debatterats flitigt. Vissa menar att denfristående rådgivningen medför positiva effekter på revisionen, medan andra anser att denborde förbjudas då den utgör ett hot mot revisorns oberoende och påverkar förtroendet förbranschen. Genom införandet av revisionspaketet står revisionsbranschen inför nyaregleringar av oberoendet och den fristående rådgivningen. Denna uppsats ämnar fördjupadiskussionen och undersöka varför det kan upplevas som ett problem när en revisionsbyrå, irollen som oberoende kontrollorgan, erbjuder både fristående rådgivning och revision.Frågeställningen besvaras med hjälp av relevanta teorier, modeller och intervjuer medrevisorer, intressenter samt normgivande organ. Den fristående rådgivningen kan medföra attrevisorn inte uppfattas som oberoende och kan utmana förtroendet hos allmänheten. Vidarekan det upplevas som ett problem när den fristående rådgivningen sker på revisionsklienter.Medias skildring av debatten, att det verkar föreligga ett förväntningsgap samt en bristandetransparens kan även det vara bidragande orsaker till problematiken. Revisionspaketet kankomma att öka transparensen, minska förväntningsgapet samt stärka förtroendet för branschenoch kan således komma att minska problematiken med att ett oberoende kontrollorganerbjuder både fristående rådgivning och revision. / Program: Civilekonomprogrammet

非審計服務究竟是否會影響會計師獨立性，長久以來即為各界關注焦點。本研究第一部分將驗證非審計服務對會計師獨立性的影響。此外，有別於美國要求全面揭露審計、非審計公費資訊，我國規定公開發行公司若符合一定門檻應揭露支付給會計師的各項公費資訊，本研究第二部份將探討我國採門檻制的公費揭露政策下，刻意隱藏公費資訊的公司，其會計師的獨立性是否會不同於無需揭露公司。最後一部份則為市場反應測試，探討市場是否能對公費資訊進行判斷，判斷公司刻意隱藏的情形並給予負面的評價。 實證果發現非審計服務的提供對會計師獨立性產生負面影響，而在我國採門檻制公費揭露政策下，刻意隱藏公費資訊公司進行盈餘管理的可能性越大，若我國之公費揭露政策若能改為全面性揭露將對會計師獨立產生正面影響。此外，市場反應部份結果顯示投資人並未考慮公費資訊的內涵。 關鍵詞：非審計服務、門檻制公費揭露、會計師獨立性、裁量性應計 / Whether or not the purchase of non audit services (NAS) impairs audit independence is the focus of a growing body of accounting research in the U.S. Using the data of Taiwanese list firms, this paper examines whether the association holds in environment other than that of the United States. In addition, compared to that in the U.S., Taiwanese Securities and Futures Bureau requires firm to disclose information on the audit and nonaudit fees under some circumstances. The second objective of this paper, therefore, is to explore whether some firms meeting the disclosure threshold have an incentive to avoid the disclosure requirement by concealing audit fee from external investors and regulators, and whether there is difference in the independence between firms which should have met the disclosure threshold otherwise and firms disclosing nonaudit fees. Finally, I investigate whether premium given by market participants varies among these two groups. We find that the purchase of NAS impairs audit independence, consistent with prior studies. We also document that firms which should have met the disclosure threshold otherwise are more likely to conduct earnings management relative to other firms, as predicted. Finally, our empirical results show that market participants are not able to distinguish these two groups. Key words: non-audit services, disclosure threshold, audit independence, discretionary accruals

Denna uppsats undersöker problematiken kring revisorernas personliga engagemang och mänskliga beteenden. Revisorer och klienter har båda incitament vilka används för att nå en viss önskad situation. Oavsett vad incitamenten används för är syftet att subjektivt tillfredsställa ett visst intresse. Uppsatsen är baserad på tidigare publicerade vetenskapliga artiklar och är en vidare forskning baserad på Tepalagul och Lins studie från år 2015, vilken innefattar en undersökning av fyra hot. Denna studie kommer medföra en fördjupad undersökning kring dessa fyra oberoendehot som anses kan komma att påverka revisorns oberoende ställning. Hoten är: klientens betydelse, erbjudandet av andra tjänster utöver revisionstjänster, mandatperioden och anknytning mellan revisor och klient. Syftet med uppsatsen är att finna klarhet i om dessa hot i praktiken faktiskt kan hota revisorernas oberoende gentemot klienten, samt om dessa hot kan motverkas och i så fall på vilket sätt åtgärder kan framstå. I studien kommer en koppling göras till psykologiska påverkningar av mänskliga beteenden. Här lyfts kognitiv dissonans fram för att förklara etiska dilemman som revisorn ställs inför i sitt yrke. Studiens syfte är även att finna en klarhet i hur kognitiv dissonans kan ge en utökad förklaring kring problematiken angående revisorernas oberoende. Beroende på hur revisorn ställer sig i situationer av olika oberoendehot med medföljande påtryckningar från klienter och omgivning kan revisionskvalitén skifta. Uppsatsen kommer att genomföras utefter den hermeneutiska traditionen och i form av en kvalitativ ansats med besöksintervjuer som datainsamlingsmetod. Utifrån respondenternas åsikter kan vi dra slutsatsen att dessa hot existerar inom revisionsyrket, men att mycket beror på revisorn som person och dennes integritet och motståndskraft. Resultaten bekräftar även att människor normalt sett vet att deras bedömningar bör vara objektiva, men att de omedvetet kan göra felaktiga bedömningar då de blandar ihop vad som är personligt fördelaktig med vad som är rättvist eller moraliskt. För var och ett av dessa hot diskuterar vi erhållna resultat från empirin och tidigare forskning. Detta med avseende på klientens och revisors olika incitament, hot, kognitiva processer, samt revisionskvalité. Studien mynnar ut i idéer kring fortsatt forskning. Vi lyfter här fram vikten av att bland annat utföra en liknande forskning med kvinnliga auktoriserade revisorer som respondenter. / This essay examines the problems concerning auditors personal engagement and human be- haviours. Auditors and clients have different incentives, which are used to reach a certain preferred situation. Regardless of what the incentives are used for, the aim is to subjectively satisfy a certain interest. The essay is based on previously published scientific articles and is a further research based on Tepalagul and Lins study from year 2015. This essay includes a survey of four threats concerning auditor’s independence. The study will present a detailed investigation of these four threats that may have an affect on the auditor's independence. The threats are: the clients importance, the offering of non-audit services, auditor tenure and the client affiliation. The purpose of this essay is to find clarity if whether or not these threats in practice may actually threaten the auditor's independence towards the client, and if these threats can be prevented and if so, in what way measures may appear. The study will be making associations to psychological factors influencing human behaviours. The concept cognitive dissonance is used in this study to explain the ethical dilemmas that auditors face in their profession. The study's purpose is also to find a clarity of how cognitive dissonance can give an extended explanation about the problems concerning auditor’s independence. Depending on how the auditor stands in situations of various threats to the independence with accompanying pressures from their clients and the environment, the audit quality may shift. The essay will be performed in line with the hermeneuthic tradition in the form of a qualitative approach with interviews as data collection methods. Based on respondents’ opinions, we can conclude that these threats exist within the audit profession, but much depends on the auditor as a person and his or her integrity and resilience. The results also confirm that humans usually know that their assessments should be objective, but they unknowingly make incorrect judgments when they mix up what is personally beneficial with what is fair or moral. For each and everyone of these threats we discuss the empirically given results and previous research. This with regard to the clients and the auditors different incentives, threats, cognitive processes, and audit quality. The study empties into the ideas about further research. We emphasize the importance of among other things carrying out a similar research with female certified auditors as respondents.

Revisorns oberoende är en ständigt omdiskuterad fråga och ämnet verkar aldrig gå ur tiden, detta då massmedia ständigt florerar med spekulationer om jävsituationer mellan företag och revisorer. Syftet med denna studie är att skapa förståelse för hur revisorer och dess klienter resonerar kring oberoende och beroende. För att studera denna komplexa fråga har vi genomfört elva personliga intervjuer, fem intervjuer med auktoriserade eller godkända revisorer och sex intervjuer med revisionsklienter. I studien har vi analyserat hur revisorer och klienter resonerar kring revisorns oberoende samt vad parterna anser är viktigt i deras förhållande till varandra. Utfallet av studien pekar på att både revisorerna och klienterna tänker och arbetar aktivt för att upprätthålla sitt anseende, det vill säga sin legitimitet. För revisorernas del uppnås legitimitet genom att de ständigt beaktar hot mot sin objektivitet och på så sätt säkerställer sitt oberoende. Detta leder till att de kan fungera som ett kontrollorgan för klienternas finansiella rapporter. Studien visar även att utifrån klientens perspektiv är det viktigt att revisorn fungerar som en oberoende tredje part eftersom det ger bolagets finansiella rapporter en ”kvalitetsstämpel”. Studien är relevant då den bidrar med en förståelse för vad som är viktigt i relationen mellan revisor och klient. / Auditor independence is an intensely debated issue, the topic never go out of time when the media are constantly rife with speculation about a conflict of interest between the company and the auditors. The purpose of this study was to create an understanding of how auditors and its clients reason about independent and dependency. To study this complex issue, we have completed eleven personal interviews, five interviews were with authorized or approved auditors and six interviews were with audit clients. In this study we analyzed how auditors and clients reasoning about auditor independence and what they consider important in their relationship to each other. The outcome of this study indicates that both auditors and clients think and work actively to maintain its reputation, videlicet their legitimacy. From the perspective of the auditors, they achieved legitimacy by ensuring theirs independence by staying objective. This means that they can function as a control for the client's financial statements. From the perspective of the clients, it is important that the auditor acts as an independent third party, it gives the company's financial reports, a "quality label". The study is relevant as a contribution to an understanding what´s important in the relationship between auditor and client.

Bakgrund: Aktieägarnas förtroende för revisionen och de finansiella rapporterna har påverkats negativt på grund av de revisionsskandaler som har varit aktuella under senare tid. Skandalerna har lett till att pålitligheten i revisionen har ifrågasatts av de finansiella rapporternas användare. En av skandalerna som har varit aktuell under 2000-talet är skandalen med HQ-Bank, där revisorn hade misskött sitt arbete och bedragit aktieägare och kunder. På grund av skandaler som denna har krav på hårdare lagstiftning efterfrågats. Till följd av detta har det tagits fram åtgärder i form av ett revisionspaket. Det har dock funnits delade meningar om åtgärdernas effekt när det kommer till att åtgärda problemet. Det faktiska och det synliga oberoendet har haft en stor roll i diskussionen när det kommer till att återuppbygga och stärka förtroendet.Syfte: Studien syftar till att fördjupa diskussionen i frågan om de förtroendestärkande åtgärderna och undersöker hur aktieägarnas förtroende till revisionen kommer att påverkas av åtgärderna i revisionspaketet.Metod: Frågeställningen besvaras genom kvalitativa intervjuer och lämpliga teorier för att skapa en korrekt bild över forskningsområdet. Teorierna som är utvalda för studien ligger till grund för analysen av det insamlade datamaterialet.Resultat: Studien tyder på att revisionspaketets effekt inte kommer att bli särskilt märkvärd, och frågan är om det är rätt åtgärd att vidta. Orsaken till det negativa utfallet tycks bero på osunda relationer som bygger på sociala mekanismer. Utifrån detta kan regleringen ses som att den endast fyller en social funktion eftersom sociala mekanismer kan anses svårreglerade.Det kan vidare uppfattas som att det synliga oberoendet har fått en större roll än det faktiska oberoendet när det kommer till att etablera förtroende. Studien finner ytterligare problem i att det råder ett förväntningsgap i samhället som visar på kunskapsluckor gällande revisorns ansvar, något som revisionspaketet inte kommer åt. En utjämning av förväntningsgapet skulle kunna mildra problemet varför fokus kanske borde ligga på att reducera gapet.Orginalitet/värde: Studien har bidragit till diskussionen kring förtroendestärkande åtgärder inom revisionen och revisionspaketets effekt när det gäller att påverka aktieägarnas förtroende. / Background: The shareholders trust in the auditing process has been affected negatively due to the recent audit scandals. The reliability of the audit has been questioned by the users of the financial statements due to the audit scandals. One of the main scandals during the 2000s is the scandal of HQ- Bank, where the auditor had mismanaged his work and defrauded shareholders and customers. Demands for stricter legislation has been requested because of the scandals. As a result of this, new arrangements in terms of a reform of the EU statutory audit market has been developed. However, there has been disagreements regarding the effectiveness when it comes to fixing the problem. The independence in fact and the independence in appearance has had a major role in this context when it comes to rebuilding strengthen the trust.Purpose: This study aims to deepen the discussion in trust-building actions and examines how the shareholders trust in the audit will be affected by the measures in the reform of the audit market.Methodology: The question is answered through qualitative interviews and appropriate theories to create an accurate picture of the research area. The theories that are selected for the study are the basis for the analysis of the collected dataFindings: The study indicates that the effect of the reform of the audit market will not be obvious, and the question is if it is the right move. The reason for the negative outcome appears to be due to unhealthy relationships based on social mechanisms. Based on this the regulation can be seen as only fulfilling a social function since social mechanisms can be difficult to regulate. It can further be seen as the independence in appearance has played a bigger role than the independence in fact when it comes to establishing the trust. The study finds further problems in the expectation gap in society that shows knowledge gaps regarding the auditor's responsibilities, which the reform of audit market cannot reach. A smoothing of the expectation gap might alleviate the problem as to why the focus should probably be on reducing the gap.Orginality/value: The study has contributed to the discussion regarding trust-building actions within the audit and the reform of the audit markets effect when it comes to influencing the shareholders trust.This thesis will continue in Swedish.

Auditing has an important role in the corporate governance process and is essential in ensuring confidence in the reliability of financial information. It is important to understand the reasons why, given the costs involved, companies change their auditor and choose a particular level of audit assurance. To date, however, only a limited number of studies on auditor choice issues are available, especially in the UK setting. Further, since the downfall of Andersen, the audit market environment has changed significantly, creating a new audit environment to be researched. In light of these recent developments, the objectives of this thesis are to address both concentration and auditor choice issues. It is divided into two separate but interrelated parts. The first part of this thesis provides evidence on audit market concentration in the UK domestic listed company market from 1998 to 2003. The effect of Andersen’s demise on both audit market concentration and audit fees is examined. Using four different size measures (number of audits, audit fees, clients’ total assets and sales), three measures of concentration are calculated. Results show that the UK audit market has now clearly surpassed the tight oligopoly threshold and, despite auditing significantly fewer clients in 2003 than in 1998, the B5/4 managed to increase their fee dominance. In particular, the decline in B5/4 ‘number of clients’ market share was mainly due to their lower share of the newly-listed companies audit market. On the other hand, the slight increase in B5/4 audit fee market share was due to the net impact of leavers concentrating the B5/4 share and joiners diluting it. Voluntary switches to/from the B5/4 had a relatively small impact on B5/4 market share for both measures. Following Andersen’s acquisition by Deloitte & Touche, market levels of audit fee and audit fee rate (audit fee scaled by total assets) have increased markedly, suggesting that more audit effort is being expended as a way to restore confidence about audit quality after the damage caused by Andersen’s alleged misconduct. The acquisition has also contributed to a further increase in ‘audit fee’ market concentration for the 4-firm concentration ratio (CR4) and in the overall Hirschman-Herfindahl Index measure. Although, Deloitte & Touche gained significant market share in terms of both audit fees and number of audits through its acquisition of Andersen, it is PricewaterhouseCoopers that continues to hold the largest market share. Deloitte & Touche retained 93 former Andersen clients (74%), 21 (17%) moved to another B5/4 auditor and 11 (9%) chose a non-B5/4 firm. While former Andersen clients paid higher audit fees, in aggregate, the increase was, perhaps surprisingly, less than for the market as a whole. At the industry level, the B4 firms dominated all sectors, the highest non-B5/4 market share in any industry being just 8%. In 2003, PricewaterhouseCoopers was the leader in 18 out of 34 sectors. The second part of the thesis is divided into two separate studies – auditor change determinants and new auditor selection determinants. These studies use a sample of non financial auditor change companies to test logistic regression models of the determinants of auditor change and new auditor selection. The determinant variables include auditee, auditor and audit characteristics. This part also examines the sensitivity of results to alternative functional forms of the basic model specification. Two definitions of auditor quality – brand name auditor and specialism, are employed. Internal governance issues such as audit committee independence, the duality of chairman/CEO as well as the size/quality of the incumbent auditor were found to be significant determinants of auditor change. Expected future growth in the company, rather than past growth, and audit fee reduction were positively related to audit change probability. Result also suggests that companies changed auditor to improve the perception of auditor independence. By contrast, in the new auditor selection models, corporate governance variables did not appear to be important in determining a different quality (brand-name) auditor. Only the chairman/CEO duality variable was weakly and negatively significant, suggesting that duality is associated with a change to a lower quality auditor. Growing companies are more likely to change to a brand name auditor, consistent with the inability of smaller firms to provide services across an international market. Contrary to agency theory predictions, the results show that a company experiencing increased leverage is less likely to choose a B5/4 auditor, suggesting that B5/4 auditors are being selective in avoiding risky clients. Higher audit fees are paid to new auditors by companies that changed from non-B5/4 to B5/4, reflecting a B5/4 fee premium. However, the higher NAS fee result is contrary to initial expectations. Typically, far fewer variables were significant in the models with audit quality proxied by industry specialism. For the specialism models based on audit fee market share, there is counter-intuitive evidence that a company with a large number of subsidiaries is less likely to move to a specialist auditor from a non-specialist. New specialist auditors were more likely to be preferred when a company experienced an increase in current accruals or a reduction in leverage. In general, the results for these models were less strong and were dependent upon the specialist definition adopted. Finally, the thesis provides evidence that the choice of time variant model (ex-ante, contemporaneous or ex-post) made no significant difference to the overall results. The one exception concerns the ‘growth’ variable, where companies are found to change auditor in anticipation of future growth, rather than as a response to past growth. Further, the use of alternative proxy variables does not greatly influence the regression results. One important exception to this general observation concerns the brand name proxy. When brand name was defined as tier12 (to include Grant Thornton and BDO) the significance level was improved in all models. This suggests that, to some degree, Grant Thornton and BDO are viewed as quality service providers closer in quality to B5/4 than to other smaller audit firms.

Syftet med uppsatsen är att beskriva samt öka förståelsen för hur de tre delarna i Revisionspaketet; begränsade konsulttjänster, obligatorisk byrårotation och den nya revisionsberättelsen, kan påverka revisionskvaliteten i svensk kontext. För att uppnå vårt syfte har ett kvalitativt tillvägagångssätt använts, där intervjuer genomförts med en professor inom revision, sex auktoriserade revisorer och FAR:s generalsekreterare. Genom att analysera det empiriska underlaget med stöd från tidigare forskning har vi kommit fram till hur de tre delarna i Revisionspaketet kan påverka revisionskvaliteten i svensk kontext. Resultatet visade att införandet av begränsade konsulttjänster och en obligatorisk byrårotation har en positiv påverkan på det synliga oberoendet men en negativ påverkan på revisorns kompetens vilket innebär att den faktiska revisionskvaliteten påverkas negativt medan upplevelsen av revisionskvaliteten ökar. Detta visar på svårigheten att fastställa den exakta påverkan på revisionskvaliteten, då de två faktorerna som utgör revisionskvalitet påverkas olika. Den faktiska revisionskvaliteten anses dock öka ju längre mandattid revisorn har hos klienten, då revisorns kompetens ökar. Slutligen så anses den nya revisionsberättelsen ha en positiv påverkan på revisionskvaliteten då den är mer informativ och belyser företagets betydelsefulla riskområdena vilket ökar den upplevda revisionskvaliteten. För att fortsättningsvis öka revisionskvaliteten är det därmed av betydelse att förstå vilken effekt en striktare reglering har samt att revisorn i praktiken aldrig är helt oberoende. / The purpose of this study is to describe and increase the understanding of how the three parts from the audit package; restriction of non-audit services, mandatory audit firm rotation and the new audit report, might affect the the audit quality in the Swedish context. To achieve our purpose a qualitative approach has been used, based on interviews with a professor in auditing, six licensed auditors and the secretary-general of FAR. Through analysis of the empirical data with the support from previous research we have concluded how the three parts of the audit package have affected the audit quality in Swedish context. The results concluded that the introduction of restricted non-audit services and the mandatory audit firm rotation have a positive effect on the auditor’s visible independence but a negative impact on the auditor’s competence which means that the real audit quality is affected negatively, while the experience of the audit quality increases. This shows the difficulty to determine exactly how the audit quality is affected, because the two main factors that determines the audit quality is affected differently. The real audit quality is considered to increase with the increasing terms of office with the client, because of the auditor’s heightened competence that comes with the longer terms of office. Finally the new audit report is considered to have a positive impact on the audit quality since it’s more informative and highlights significant risk areas within the company which heightens the experience of the audit quality. To subsequently heighten the audit quality it is important to understand what effect increasing regulations have and understand that the auditor practically can’t be completely independent.

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to provide evidence on the extent and the consequences of the provision of non-audit services (NAS) by statutory auditors to German family firms. Design/methodology/approach – The study analyzes hand collected fee data of 368 listed and private family firms in Germany. It employs univariate tests, ordinary least squares and two-stage least squares regressions to investigate potential threats to perceived auditor independence and knowledge spillovers between jointly provided NAS and audit services. Findings – Incumbent auditors are shown to be a significant source of various types of NAS to family firms. There is weak evidence on threats to perceived auditor independence and support for reciprocal knowledge spillovers between the services. While listed and private family firms do not differ in regard to the proportion of NAS fees, comparative findings suggest that key threats and benefits of jointly provided services are more prevalent among private than among listed family firms. Research limitations/implications – The study suffers from limited data availability and is restricted to the initial year of mandatory audit fee disclosure of private firms in Germany. Particularities of family firms and the German setting, as well as differential results for listed and private family firms, suggest fruitful avenues for future research. Practical implications – The study addresses the current issues in audit regulation. Regulatory bodies should consider that key threats and benefits of auditor-provided NAS decrease with stronger exogenous restrictions. Attempts to restrict jointly provided services in the EU suggest family firms to reconsider their reliance on auditors as a trusted source of NAS. Originality/value – This study is the first to provide evidence on the extent and consequences of auditor-provided NAS in family firms based on fee disclosure. It is also among the few studies that investigate private firms in a code law country and complements prior evidence from Germany that is restricted to listed firms. More generally, it contributes to limited evidence at the intersection of audit and family business research.