<p>Because all joint-stock companies in Sweden need to have an auditor we thought it would be</p><p>interesting to study how companies choose their auditor and which factors influence their</p><p>choice. Therefore our research question is:</p><p>“Which factors influence joint-stock companies in their choice of auditor?”</p><p>The main purpose of the study is to get a better and deeper understanding of the subject, in</p><p>order to clarify the purpose we established three sub purposes:</p><p>• Establish which determinants that play a significant role in a company’s choice of</p><p>auditor.</p><p>• Investigate if there are any differences between companies of different sizes.</p><p>• Research how auditors perceive the relationship with their clients.</p><p>We have performed a study with a subjective view of reality and to get a deeper</p><p>understanding for the subject of our thesis we chose a qualitative research method. The</p><p>purpose of this study is to get a better understanding and therefore the hermeneutic point of</p><p>view is the most suitable alternative because it brings attention to understanding and realistic</p><p>thinking. During the study we have done a total of eight interviews, six with joint-stock</p><p>companies of different sizes managed by the owner and two interviews with auditors, both</p><p>working in a “Big Four” audit firm. After the interview we compared the collected data with</p><p>our chosen theories to see if there are any patterns that we can draw a conclusion from. This is</p><p>representative for the deductive approach of our study.</p><p>Our study shows that recommendations and personal relationships are the most important</p><p>determining factors for a company when choosing an auditor. Recommendations from friends</p><p>and family are the most common way to get in contact with an auditor.</p><p>Prior to the study we believed that companies of various sizes would have different opinions</p><p>of which factors that influence their choice of auditor but the study shows that there are no</p><p>significant differences in how the companies choose their auditor.</p><p>The auditors’ perceptions of what expectations the companies have on their auditors overall</p><p>seem to agree with what the companies expressed during the interviews. However, a majority</p><p>of the respondents in the researched companies want their auditor to be more pro-active and</p><p>knowledgeable about the company.</p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA/oai:DiVA.org:umu-1021 |
| Date | January 2007 |
| Creators | Embretzén, Johanna, Nilsson, Marie, Olofsson, Sandra |
| Publisher | Umeå University, Umeå School of Business, Umeå University, Umeå School of Business, Umeå University, Umeå School of Business, Umeå : Handelshögskolan vid Umeå universitet |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, text |
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