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.

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.

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.

Sweden has had statutory audit, which also includes a management audit, for all companies since 1988. A legislative proposal now suggests that the statutory audit shall be abolished for all small and medium sized companies starting on July 1, 2010. The aim for this master?s thesis is therefore to study how the service of auditing will be affected by the legislative proposal. To answer the research question the authors have taken on a qualitative approach and fifteen interviews with representatives for different Swedish auditing firms have been completed.

This study is a semi-­structured, qualitative depth-­interview study investigating Swedish institutional investors' perception of the fact that companies purchase non-­audit services from its signing auditor and if they see this as a threat to auditor independence. The study focuses on independence in appearance rather than independence in fact. The study is based on the current media debate on auditor independence and aims to provide a deeper insight to enlighten legislators how users of audited financial information look at the problem. The study builds on agency theory's notion that there is an information asymmetry between management and shareholders, which the auditor is to reduce. The results show that Swedish institutional investors perceive that there is a threat to auditor independence when companies buy non­-audit services from its signing auditor.

Background: The district nurses profession has traditionally been health promotion. In order to find patients with excessive alcohol intake, district nurses use AUDIT. Research shows that health professionals find it difficult to face alcohol abusers in primary care. AIM: The aim is to describe how district nurses work with AUDIT. Method: Semi-structured interviews with six informants were carried out.

Background: With the removal of audit requirement for companies in Sweden from the first of november 2010, a lot of companies has chosen not to keep the audit requirement. So far 57 percent of the small companies has chosen to keep the audit, in spite of that they don´t need to which led us to the problem statement: Which are the factors that affect a small limited company to choose to keep the audit, in spite that now there is a possibility to choose not to use audit anymore?Purpose: The purpose of the essay is to examine why small limited companies choose to keep the audit, in spite that now there is a possibility to choose not to use audit?Method: This research founds itself in a qualitative study with a deductive research approach. We have been studying secondary data in books and articles and preformed 29 phone interviews with small ltd company owners in Sweden. The selection consisted of 14 companies with credit debts and 15 companies without credit debts.

Background: The Swedish Parliament passed a law change in late 2010, suspending the former requirement for all Swedish incorporated companies to have an auditor. The new limit values allow the smallest incorporated companies to dismiss the auditor of the company (or not appoint one in the case of a newly started company). The opinions of abolishing mandatory audit vary, and little research has been done post to the law change. However, a new situation has arisen, meaning the optional choice of voluntary audit, for some companies.Aims and research questions: The aim of the thesis is to examine the reasons behind voluntary audit in Sweden, as well as what value companies, having chosen audit, see in their auditor. The following research questions have been used in order to fulfill the aim of the thesis: ?Why do small private owner-led incorporated companies in Sweden voluntarily choose audit?? and ?What value does the voluntarily chosen auditor add to the companies??Methodology: The research questions were formulated after reviewing relevant literature and scientific articles regarding the topic of voluntary audit, as well as the recent law change in Sweden.

Background: With the removal of audit requirement for companies in Sweden from the first of november 2010, a lot of companies has chosen not to keep the audit requirement. So far 57 percent of the small companies has chosen to keep the audit, in spite of that they don´t need to which led us to the problem statement: Which are the factors that affect a small limited company to choose to keep the audit, in spite that now there is a possibility to choose not to use audit anymore?Purpose: The purpose of the essay is to examine why small limited companies choose to keep the audit, in spite that now there is a possibility to choose not to use audit?Method: This research founds itself in a qualitative study with a deductive research approach. We have been studying secondary data in books and articles and preformed 29 phone interviews with small ltd company owners in Sweden. The selection consisted of 14 companies with credit debts and 15 companies without credit debts.

That an auditor brings good quality to the work he is performing is of great importance, not only for the company in question but also for its stakeholders. The information that the company disclose gets more credibility because of the auditor quality assurance. That the auditor tenure would affect the quality has been researched with different results, dependent on the legislation in the current country or region. In this paper we study how audit quality is affected of the audit tenure in Sweden. Based on research made in Belgium we have formulated hypothesis with factors that can affect the audit quality.

The aim of the study is to describe and analyze bank officials' views about what auditors will do. The main motivation comes from the government?s proposals that the audit duty will be abolished and it can lead to that bank officials in a bigger extent can influence the audit?s formulation. It can also lead to that a consumer audit becomes reality. The study covers a sample of 302 bank officials where 153 have participated through a survey questionnaire.

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..

Purpose: The purpose with this study is to see what the small limited companiesprefer of the alternatives to the statutory audit that has been created inthe others EU-countries. These alternatives can be current in Sweden tomaintain the credibility.Method: Quantitative procedure.Conclusions: By the result to judge from the small limited companies prefer the alternativeto the statutory audit where they do not need to hire further helpto complete the audit. That is probably why the bookkeeping agency hasbeen chosen to give a guarantee for quality endorsement..

Background: Diversified companies, for example audit firms, sometimes offer different kinds of products and services. Different key success factors can in the same company thereby evolve. Goal congruence has to be achieved in the business divisions as well as in the company as a whole even though each business segment might have to focus on different factors. Purpose: The purpose is to analyze if differences in technology and culture between the business divisions in diversified companies motivate a differentiated reward system. Method: The study has a case study approach.

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.