The effect of audit firm size on independent auditor's opinion: Conceptual framework

Abstract

Independent auditor's opinion enhances the confidence of investors in the reporting system and leads to an increased in capital markets efficiency. Thus, the effectiveness and quality of opinion developed by the auditor about the financial statements is significantly important, because financial statements should be reliable, useful and relevant for investors and creditors. A significant issue frequently raised in the accounting literature is whether judgments of auditors from large firms vary substantially from those of auditors employed by other firms. Then past researchers attempted to find the relationship between the size of company and auditor's opinion and its quality. Review on the literature revealed that the size of firm can not affect auditor's opinion but this survey found that some factors such as experience, education, skills and employee competence may have influence on quality of auditors and their opinion. This paper has categorized these views under special category of capital known as human capital. Thus, the study anticipates improvement in the relationship between audit firm's size and independent auditor's opinion by introducing human capital as a mediator variable.