Article ID: | iaor20072677 |
Country: | United States |
Volume: | 18 |
Issue: | 2 |
Start Page Number: | 139 |
End Page Number: | 166 |
Publication Date: | Jan 2006 |
Journal: | Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting and Financial Management |
Authors: | Samelson David, Lowensohn Suzanne, Johnson Laurence E. |
Keywords: | management, government, statistics: regression |
Prior research addresses relationships between audit attributes and perceptions of both audit quality and auditee satisfaction in the private sector. This study extends such research to local government audits, where audit quality has been questioned. Additionally, this study investigates the effect of auditor size on perceived audit quality and satisfaction. 302 finance directors surveyed positively associated auditor expertise, responsiveness to client, professionalism, understanding of client systems, and study of internal controls with perceived audit quality. Furthermore, auditee satisfaction was positively related to auditor expertise, responsiveness to client, audit manager involvement, understanding of client systems and study of internal controls. Big 5 firms were not associated with higher levels of perceived audit quality or auditee satisfaction, despite charging significantly higher audit fees.