Determinantes dos principais assuntos de auditoria (PAA): um estudo no Brasil

Abstract

The independent auditor's report is seen as a means of communication between the auditor and its various users (investors, managers, regulators and others). With the adoption of the International Standard on Auditing - ISA 701 (Brazilian Accounting Standard - NBC TA 701) was included in the auditor's report, thesection of "Key Audit Matters", in which the auditor began to report the most relevant issues detected during audit work in audited companies. In order to investigate what leads an auditor to disclose certain issues, this study seeks to investigate whether the reported subjects can be determined based on the characteristics of audited companies or the characteristics of the auditors themselves. The research is characterized as quantitative, descriptive, and documentary. We analyzed 1,352 observations from companies with active registration of the Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM) in 2017, 2018 and 2019. For most of the companies in the sample, on average, 1 to 4 PAAs were reported. The main issues reported in the period were: impairment, revenue, contingencies, fair value, accounts receivable, tax credit and financial instruments. The results suggested a significant relationship with characteristics of audited companies, such as size, economic sector, stock exchange segment, as well as with characteristics of auditors, such as auditor rotation, auditor being expert or not, and fees for non-audit services