Analysis of Determinants of Audit Fees among Listed Companies in China Based on Big Data Technologies

摘要

In the audit market, audit fees are important economic factors between an audited entity and a certified public accountant. They are fundamental components in the process of the audit. Whether an independent audit is credible depends on the level of audit quality. Inappropriate audit fees may undermine the independence and quality of external audit services and harm the benefits of shareholders. Hence, researches of audit fees that reflect proper relationship between listed companies and accounting firms become a important issue in the audit. After reading previous research of audit fees for companies, I used the data of audit fees from all listed companies of China in 2015 by implementing big data technologies, built an appropriate audit fee model and designed variables for customer complexity, audit risk, auditor's tenure, audit opinion type, customer size, and accounting firm size. At last I conducted descriptive statistics, correlation analysis and multivariate regression analysis of factors that may affect the audit fees. I found that client size, complexity, risk profile, auditor size, and audit opinion have positive relationships with audit fees in China. Furthermore, client size is the most important determinant among them and has a significant positive relationship with audit fees.