Auditor-client Communication : A qualitative study on the effects of auditor tenure, feedback, and dissemination of communication

Abstract: Communication between auditors and their clients is a big part of the audit engagement. It is therefore contradictory that communication within audit engagements is an underresearched area. More research is needed to understand how it functions and what affects it. By exploring this area, both auditors and their clients will understand each other better which can improve their relationship. The little research which does exist in the area has focused on audit quality, with communication as one element of audit quality. This thesis expands on this by investigating communication between auditors and audited companies, more specifically we look at the effects of three factors: auditor tenure, feedback from the auditor, and dissemination of communication. These factors have been identified by using a deductive approach. This lead to the formulation of the following research question: How do the factors feedback, dissemination of communication, and auditor tenure affect the communication between external auditors and an audited company’s team? There are rules and guidelines available for the auditor on how to communicate with those in charge of governance of the audited company, such as managers. There are however no rules or guidelines regarding how to communicate with the personnel at lower levels. This lead to the purpose of the thesis being expanded to also investigate the differences in opinions between employees and managers. To answer the research question, a qualitative study has been conducted with the help of semi-structured interviews with staff members of audited companies in various industries located in Umeå, Sweden. An exploratory approach has therefore been utilized. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed using discourse analysis where patterns in the language were identified.The findings from the interviews indicate that auditor tenure and feedback from the auditor have significant effects on the communication between auditors and their clients. The particular effects of these factors were identified as well as differences between managers and employees. Dissemination of communication does not seem to have a very large impact on the communication in an auditing engagement, although the internal dissemination was found to be an issue.