Opting Out of Audit -What are the Swedish companies experiences?

Abstract: Background and Problem: Recently there has been a relaxation process regarding audit regulations going on in EU. The goal was to lessen the administrative burdens by 25 % by 2012. As a response to this the Swedish government decided to abolish the statutory audit for small companies in 2010. Many European countries have come further in their relaxation process but the real effects of the Swedish change in legislation are as yet unknown. Aim of study: This thesis has investigated whether expectations stated by different actors prior to the change in legislation, from a small companies perspective, have been fulfilled. By applying generally accepted economic theories to the observed outcomes the authors hope to explain and understand what have affected small companies experiences. Methodology: Information regarding expectations was gathered by reviewing the position on the topic given by different representatives and institutions prior to the change in legislation. By using a web survey these expectations were then compared with the views of companies who had opted out of audit. Analysis and Conclusion: One of the main objectives with the changed legislation was to increase Swedish companies global competitiveness by reducing cost and administrative burdens. The research, however, found that the majority of small Swedish companies did not operate on a global market. Despite this the companies have made large cost savings even though many of them still employ complementary services similar to the services previously provided by the auditor. 85 % of the respondents claimed that they were satisfied with their decision to opt out of audit and the vast majority did not consider missing out on any added value. The explanation to the above, may be, that economic theories are often used to describe the purpose, benefits and demands of audit for big companies and therefor seems inadequate when the same principals are applied to small companies. The research points to an overall satisfaction amongst the surveyed companies in their decision to opt out of audit, hence making the initiative successful.