Audit Fee Model in Iran: First Evidence from a Mixed Method

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Department of Accounting,Qom Branch, Islamic Azad University, Qom, Iran

2 Accounting Department, Faculty of Finance, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran

3 Accounting PhD, Department of Accounting, Qom Branch, Islamic Azad University, Qom, Iran.

4 Department of Accounting, Faculty of Management and Accounting, College of Farabi, University of Tehran, Qom, Iran

Abstract

 Introduction:
Audit quality and consequently financial reporting quality is subject to appropriate level of fees paid to auditors (Francis, 2004). Low audit fees is one the significant challenges of the audit profession in Iran (MohammadRezaei et al., 2015). Audit fee has attracted the attention of researchers and regulators in both Iran and other countries. However, the review of empirical research about the audit fee model in Iran reveals that most of these studies suffer from several methodological issues such as omitted correlated variable bias (MohammadRezaei and Faraji, 2019). Hence, the present study is going to provide a model about determinants of audit fee in Iran through employing a mixed method.  
Literature review:
Simonic (1980) considers audit fee as a function of audit costs and profit. There are two streams of archival research about audit fees. The older and broader stream is a continuation of previous models but with the aim of quickly identifying new variables that affect audit fees and possibly audit costs such as investigating the effect of the audit market structure (Gunn et al., 2019) and disclosure of audit fees (Averhals et al. 2020). The smaller, second stream uses information about audit work hours to estimate production performance or compare audit performance. In Iran, there is also considerable evidence about determinants of audit fees (such as, Nikhbakhat and Tanani, 2010: MohammadRezaei et al., 2018). Comparison of these studies with the meta-analysis of Hay et al (2006) reveals that the studies suffer from three main methodological issues including omitted correlated variables bias, self- selection bias (endogeniety) and a lack of attention to the different market structure of private and state auditors.
Research method:
Through a close reading of the previous literature, variables affecting the audit fee were identified and based on it, a semi-structured interview with 15 audit partners and managers was conducted. Based on factors affecting audit fee identified through coding and content analysis of the interviews, a questionnaire was designed and data were collected through survey responses from 90 certified auditors.
Findings:
The coding and content analysis of the interviews reveals four codes and 30 themes. In addition, through factor analysis of data obtained from survey responses, the variables affecting audit fees were identified and classified into four groups, including factors related to the client, the auditor, the audit engagement and other factors (lobbying). More specifically, client-related factors include six components and 23 variables, auditor-related factors include four variables, audit engagement factors contain two components and 12 variables and finally lobbying factors include four variables.
Conclusion:
This study indicates that the determinants of audit fee in Iran can be different from those highlighted by prior studies in international era (e.g., lobbying, audit fees in last year and interim fees). Moreover, the present study highlights some of the significant determinants of audit fee model in Iran (e.g., audit qualification paragraph in relation to insurance and tax) that have not been captured by prior qualitative and quantitative research from the setting. This study opens a rich avenue for future studies in Iran about audit fees to overcome methodological issues such as omitted correlated variable bias. In addition, the findings of this study can be interesting for auditors and oversight bodies in Iran.
 
 

Keywords

References

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Journal of Accounting Advances
Volume 13, Issue 1 - Serial Number 81
October 2021
Pages 191-224

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History

  • Receive Date: 13 April 2021
  • Revise Date: 23 September 2021
  • Accept Date: 03 October 2021

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