Background: Currently Sweden has the possibility to like other EU countries raise the limits of statutory audit, but have chosen significantly lower limits. The reform was adopted in 2010 and only applies to smaller companies and there is great pressure for the limits to rise in future. This would enable Swedish companies to compete on equal terms in Europe. Aim: The aim of our study is to investigate the impact of the removal of the statutory audit for smaller companies from audit and accounting bureaus perspective and also the possible impact if the limits were to rise. Furthermore we want to explore how the supplies of other financial services have developed as a result of this.

In 2010 mandatory audit was revoked for small and medium sized companies in Sweden. At the same time the authorization for accounting consultants was established with the aim of raising the knowledge and status of the profession. Even though The Swedish Companies Registration Office has discovered more errors in the accounting after the mandatory audit was eliminated, it especially concerns those companies who does not have neither an auditor or an accounting consultant. One of the reasons often mentioned to be audited is the auditors role when it comes to lending decisions. Our empirical studie show that the auditors most important function, being unbiased, is not what is of greatest importance for the credit institutions.Instead it was professional skills, and for small and medium enterprises (SME) it was consulting they requested the most.

BackgroundA cost that lately has been discussed related to audit is the higher cost for auditing of small stock company. The question is if this cost is higher than the total utility of statutory audit and should it in that case be statutory. SRF says that the condition for small stock companies development is an abolishment of statutory audit. FAR consider that auditing is important for development and continuation.PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate whether there are any winners or losers among auditing firms and accounting firms in Sweden if the statutory audit for small stock companies abolish.MethodThe paper is both a qualitative and a quantitative study that is based on primary data made from an interview and a questionnaire investigation. ConclusionOur conclusion is that the big Winner is the accounting trade.

Background and problem: The abolishment of the mandatory audit in Sweden resulted in a marketorientation in which the small sized enterprises gained a stronger position. Theaudit firms are faced with the challenge to better meet the clients need and todemonstrate the value of audit now when it is optional. In coherence with thisclient focus it is endorsed to implement a value-based pricing that primarilyconsiders the client?s value and willingness to pay. The value of audit andaccounting services to small sized enterprises is not yet fully investigated, whyit is difficult to implement a value-based strategy.Aim: The aim of this study is to investigate the value of audit and accounting servicesto the small sized enterprises through the study of which attributes theseservices consist of and which priority the small sized enterprises attach to thedifferent attributes.

This study examines whether there is an association between the length of the client-auditor relationship and audit quality, using absolute unexpected accruals estimated by industry as a measure of audit quality based on a modified Jones model. The study is motivated by the proposal on mandatory audit firm rotation for publicly traded companies from the European Commission, which is based on the notion that longer auditor firm tenure creates a familiarity threat which reduces the audit quality. Both the relation between audit quality and auditor partner tenure and audit firm tenure is examined in this study, using multivariate regression controlling for auditor type (Big 4 versus non-Big 4), signing auditors (one versus two auditors), firm size, profitability, leverage and age. There is a significant negative relationship between audit quality and audit partner tenure when only companies employing Big 4 is tested, which indicate that auditors constrain managements extreme accounting measures with longer tenure. The results provide no significant evidence of an increase in the absolute unexpected accruals with audit firm tenure, when only Big 4 companies are tested.

Purpose: To investigate whether or not the credit granters believe the quality in audits will deteriorate after the abolishment of statutory audit and, if that is the case, how the abolishment will strike the purpose and goal of accounting.Approach: To answer our purpose we carried out a literature study to later implement interviews with four granters of credits specialised in business accounts.Findings: The process of credit granting will not change after the abolishment of statutory audit for companies still using audit reports. Though, for other companies the process will change dramatically since the lean time of the process will increase. Higher demands will be put on these companies since the reliability in the economic information will decrease when it is no longer being reviewed in the same sense. Though, the credit granters believe that some form of substitute for audit will be demanded in order for the companies to be granted credits from the bank..

The requirement on audit was introduced when ownership was separated from management. The situation that arouse was that not only the owners, but also the stakeholders, required information about the company?s financial position. On this basis the audit would contribute to quality assurance of the financial information. One of the auditor's functions is to assess an ongoing stakeholder opinion.

This essay examines the expected impact of the statury audit exemption in Sweden from anauditor perspective and any conscious changes made on the accounting firms to meet the abolition.The theoretical framework is divided into three parts where the first deals with the concept of audit, who the stakeholders are to revised information, the auditor's function from an agent and positive accountingtheoretical perspective and the expectation gap of what an auditor cando and what the client expect audit to be. The second part deals with the audit exemptions and effects in Denmark and England. The last section addresses the current debate, studies and statements by FAR SRS, small businesses, banks and the tax authority.The essay is essentially inductive with a phenomenological operator perspective. The thesis has a qualitative approach with four respondents who are authorized or approved as an auditor with extensive experience, active on four different accounting firms. The questionnaire is divided into two parts where the first part consists of a number of very open questions and the other part of more structured questions in order to obtain comprehensive answers.The survey shows that a number of new services, certifications and authentication degrees are to be expected in Sweden aswell.

Bachelor thesis in business administration with emphasis in accounting and auditing. Spring term 2011, Mälardalens Högskola.Authors:Jim Hansson, Filip Sahl and Pererik Sewerin.Advisor:Lennart Bogg.Key words:Abolition of mandatory auditing, optional audit, auditor, audit.Title:The role of audit in a credit review - impact from the creditor's perspectiveBackground:As of November 1st2010, auditing became optional for micro companies in Sweden. This leads to an opportunity for about 70 % of the joint-stock companies to choose whether or not to keep their auditors. Creditors are affected by this as they may receive a less trustworthy base to make a good credit review if many companies choose to proceed their accountings without the control of an auditor. Creditors have the option to require that companies are to be reviewed by auditors, while authorized accounting consultants may be a possible substitute as a quality control for the accountings.Purpose:The purpose of this thesis is to examine what impact optional audit has had in credit processes so far and look into alternative forms of reviews for businesses.Problem definition:? Does auditing simplify for the creditors in a credit review? ? Is there some kind of accounting that could be a substitute for the audit?Method:The study is qualitative in character through six interviews.

Title: Audit teams ? what affects the efficiency?Authors: Petter Johansson and David RubinSupervisor: Andreas JanssonCourse: Dissertation Accounting, 4FE03E, 30 ECTS, Spring 2011.Key Words: Audit team, Efficiency, Team WorkBackground and problem: Theory and literature in the field of audit teams?efficiency are limited. The theory and literature that existed was not conducted inSwedish context. It was identified that no one had examined the factors thatinfluence the efficiency of the Swedish audit team's. Efficiency affects howresource-and cost-effective an auditing firm can be while the audit is performedwith quality and therefore it is of interest to be examined.Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to explore and explain what may affectSwedish audit teams? efficiency during the work processMethod: The thesis has been based on existing theory and literature to explainwhat affects audit teams? effectiveness.

Audit is a common concept in Sweden. This occurs in many contexts and situations and may intend a wide spectrum of areas. It might consider environment audit, amateur audit, internal auditing, external audit etc. In the business community external audit and the associated external auditor is possibly, from the general public's side, the most recognized. The external audits purposes in big features are checking limited companies economic accounting along with the board and CEO: s management.

The question of the mandatory audits be or not be has been investigated thoroughly in recent years. Theresult is that the audit obligation in all likelihood will be voluntary for 96 percent of all of Sweden´slimited companies in the summer of 2010. The new draft law gives the accountant the opportunity towork both as an accountant and consultant. The investigation in this script works with the question"Which services the owner-managed companies, which in future not will be forced to audit, demandfrom an accounting firm in the suspension of the mandatory audit?" This will take the investigation outby a quantitative study through questionnaires distributed to 40 limited companies.

On November 1st 2010 the obligatory audit was removed in Sweden for small companies. What factors influence such companies to have their financial reports audited, and what factors exert the strongest influence. Purpose: The authors would like to investigate factors that affect companies with voluntary audits in Skåne län to continue with the audit. The authors also wish to examine the factors that have the strongest impact on the choice to adopt auditing. Method: A quantitative study has been conducted in which aquestionnaire was sent to companies in Skåne Län Conclusion: The factors that affect smaller companies to continue with audit are as follows: Accounting quality, cost, creditors (loans), suppliers / customers, the tax office and distort competition.

On November 1st 2010 the obligatory audit was removed in Sweden for small companies. What factors influence such companies to have their financial reports audited, and what factors exert the strongest influence. Purpose: The authors would like to investigate factors that affect companies with voluntary audits in Skåne län to continue with the audit. The authors also wish to examine the factors that have the strongest impact on the choice to adopt auditing. Method: A quantitative study has been conducted in which aquestionnaire was sent to companies in Skåne Län Conclusion: The factors that affect smaller companies to continue with audit are as follows: Accounting quality, cost, creditors (loans), suppliers / customers, the tax office and distort competition.

Introduction:By insight in the company and by monitoring the management, the board has an important function in creating trust in governance of the company. Furthermore, the board reduces the asymmetry of information between the owners and the management, which also is the function of the auditor, by auditing how the board governs the company and the accounting. In case the board does not effectively monitor the management, the auditor has to extend its monitoring, which increases the owners agency costs through the audit fee. The board composition can affect how effectively the board practices the monitoringProblem: How is the audit fee affected by the board composition?Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explain how the board composition affects the audit fee.Method: The study uses a quantitative method, where the data was collected from the annual reports of 112 limited companies listed on the NASDAQ OMX Large and Mid Cap lists on January 2, 2012.