审计费用的事前确定、异常审计费用与审计质量

实务中,我国部分上市公司年报审计费用采取事前确定方式,也就是在审计工作开展之前的董事会上确定。事前确定审计费用的动机何在,会产生什么样的审计后果?已有国内外文献尚缺乏这方面的研究。本文以2008～2017年全部A股上市公司为样本,通过实证考察审计费用事前确定方式对异常审计费用以及审计质量的影响发现:基于低价揽客或折价维持客户的经济动因,事前确定的审计费用显著偏低。进一步研究表明,在事前确定审计费用方式下,客户的审计质量更低。本文研究丰富和拓展了审计费用及审计质量决定因素的相关文献,同时也为监管机构规范审计费用确定方式提供了经验证据。

Pre-determination of Audit Fees,Abnormal Audit Fees and Audit Quality

In practice,the audit fees for annual reports of some listed companies in China are determined in advance,that is,determining audit fees at the meeting of board of directors before the audit work.What is the motivation for this abnormal audit fee determination method,and what kind of audit consequences will it produce?There is still a lack of research in this area.Taking all the A-share listed companies from 2008 to 2017 as a sample,and empirically examining the impact of the prior determination of audit fees on abnormal audit fees and audit quality,the results show that the audit fees determined beforehand are significantly lower based on the motivation of low-balling or discounts to retain the customers.Further research reveals that the audit quality will be compromised in the cases of pre-determined audit fees.This research enriches and expands relevant literature in the field of audit fees and determinants of audit quality,and also provides empirical evidence and policy references for regulators to standardize the way audit costs are determined.