engleski

Auditor rotation and key audit matters in the Republic of Croatia: the moderating role of appointing a big four company

The aim of this paper was to test the moderating effect of appointing the Big Four auditor on the relationship between auditor rotation and the number of key audit matters disclosed in an independent auditor's report. The research sample was created using data publicly available on the Zagreb Stock Exchange and it comprised 66 companies whose shares had been listed on the same stock market in the four-year period from 2016 to 2019, i. e. 264 observations. Panel analysis was used to estimate the regression model which has been used for hypothesis testing. Control variables, such as company size, profitability, leverage, receivables and inventories to total assets as well as the number of subsidiaries, have been also included in the model. The direction of the relationship between auditor rotation and key audit matters was difficult to predict because two opposing forces could influence the number of key audit matters – increased auditor's independence and reduced level of knowledge concerning client's business activities. However, it had been expected that the moderating effect of appointing Big Four auditing companies would have a positive effect on the relationship between auditor rotation and the number of key audit matters because of the shorter learning process and a higher level of independence. Despite the fact that the positive moderating effect of newly engaged Big Four auditors on the relationship between auditor rotation and the number of key audit matters was, according to the expectations, stronger than the negative effect of auditor rotation on the number of key audit matters, these relationships weren't statistically significant. Consequentially, the research hypothesis could not be accepted.

auditor rotation ; Big Four ; key audit matters

nije evidentirano