The need for auditing originates from the agency problem that arises due to the separation of ownership and control in companies. The purpose of the audit is to increase credibility of the financial statements that management uses to communicate with owners and other stakeholders. In order for the audit to fulfill its purpose a certain level of quality needs to be obtained. The auditor can also be seen as a provider of a commercial service in which service quality is important. Audit quality can thus be separated into technical quality, which is defined as the probability that the auditor both discovers and reports a breach in the client?s accounting system, and service quality, which relates to the provision of services in general.

Background: Non-profit organizations have a large and significant role in Swedish society and Thunberg (2006) choose to express it like Sweden stops without nonprofit effort. But in several non-profit organizations, and then perhaps especially in sports, there exist problems with the economy. Tate (in Vermeer, Raghunandan & Dana, 2009) explains that the audit of non-profit organizations differs from the audit of for-profit companies as they often have differences in culture, organizational structure, financial requirements, accounting standards, financial reporting, financial statements and the auditor's risk environment. While the audit is different, it should also be noted that in the vast majority of non-profit organizations, there are no statutory requirements for audit, but despite this, 99% of all non-profit organizations have some form of audit regulated by their statute (Lunde?n & Lindblad, 2011).

The aim of this thesis is to examine how the EU directive 2004/35/EC on environmental liability impacts the Swedish administrative legal order. The thesis examines the directive through two main EU principles - the principle of good administration and the principle of procedural autonomy. The EU principle of good administration as a concept contains various procedural and substantive obligations that make up the subject for examination of the directive, both as regulated in the directive and as general principles of EU law. The directive is analyzed using a comparative method to determine to what extent the procedural and substantive principles of the directive impacts the Swedish administrative law, and weather or not the Swedish regulations comply with the EU principle of good administration.The results of the study shows that, althought there?s a general principle of national procedural autonomy, the EU principles of good administration do affect the Swedish administrative regulation in various aspects, through the implementaion of the directive on environmental liability as well as general principles of EU law.

Background: The audit has not always been as it is today. The first law requiring auditing was legislated in the Companies Act 1895. Many events have taken place in the audit history; among them was the Krueger crash, which affected the auditing profession hard in Sweden. This led to new recommendations and laws that would save the profession. Because of the events in the past, there are many who question the audit profession and discussions have been held regarding the auditor's independence and objectivity.

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.

Background: Media has for a long time been reporting about the audit industry, often focusing on so-called auditing scandals. Economic journalism has grown stronger, the corporations are given more and more power in society and the public interest is increasing. We intend to examine how mass media affects the expectations gap and how the auditing firms operate strengthening the society?s confidence in the industry after mass medial exploitation. We also want to investigate whether the relatively new phenomenon social media is affecting the auditing firms and industry?s external communication, as well as what consequences negative publicity may have for the individual auditor.Aim: The aim of the study is to create an understanding of the audit industry?s relation to the media as well as to describe and analyze how mass media?s coverage is affecting the audit industry, auditing firms as well as the individual auditor.

In today?s larger companies internal auditing is a common concept. For about twenty years ago companies? use of internal auditing took a turn from having been something popular to becoming more notorious. In this thesis we examine what might have caused that turn, We do this by looking at the vision and way of working for about twenty years ago and how the view of the area is today.

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.

From July 2005 on, the new Swedish Corporate Governance Code will be applied gradually by companies listed on the stock exchange or any authorized financial market in Sweden. The Code has been drawn up in order to clarify and to improve the self-regulation in Swedish companies. The need for codified self-regulation standards has been considered as urgent due to negative trends on the market such as the last few years? corporate scandals in domestic and international trade and industry. The sought-after consequence is to clarify the mission framework for corporate directors.Ch.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to seek understanding, describe and analyse how auditors practically reassure and maintain their independence towards clients.Methodology: The study is conducted with a qualitative method with a deductive approach. The study is based on interviews with both experienced and recently graduated auditors.Conclusion: Our empirical results show that there are economical incentives that contradict the requirements to fulfil the auditor?s independence. The conclusion is that the media view is narrow and biased. Furthermore the auditors agree that an acceptable level of comfort is achieved by offering a high value, being a part of a large network of professionals and the ability to set materiality and evaluate risks. .

In order for a business management to be able to make informed decisions for their companies need enterprise management system regularly checked by internal audits. The aim of purpose with this work was to develop a working manual for integrated internal audits. This was done through a litterature study and interviews with auditors. An in-depth interview was conducted with an experienced auditor to get more understanding and depth of the internal audits process, and how the manual could be designed. Discussions were held with the person responsible for environment, health and safety at Swedspan Hultsfred to adjust the manual to the company?s internal management system.

The purpose of our essay is to examine if variation exists in the way that auditors try their independence, this so called analysis-model. We will suggest some factors that influence the way auditors practise the analysis-model. The institutional theory predicts no differencies since the normative pressure could be expected to be severe. But we found that among other things people?s qualifications, personalities and audit firm?s size and age influence the way auditors try their independence.

Background: In 1998 it was stated that Swedish municipalities would report the pension liabilities according to the mixed model where the pension liabilities before 1998 was moved from the balance sheet. The mixed model has been criticized by economists for not showing the total pension liabilities. To remove some of the liabilities in the municipalities balance sheets means that the solvency improves. Some municipalities have decided to go against the municipal accounting law and recognize all of the pension liability as a liability according to the full funding model. When two accounting models are being used the comparison of the municipalities' financial statements is much harder.Purpose: The main purpose of this study was to study the reason why some municipalities apply full funding model rather than the mixed model.

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.

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.