Auditors' identification with their clients: Effects on audit quality

Although client familiarity is desirable from the auditor's perspective, identifying with clients threatens auditor objectivity. This study examines the extent to which non-Big 4 auditors identify with clients, the effect of auditor-client identification on auditors' client acquiescence to client-preferred treatment, and, finally, whether the harmful effects of auditor-client identification can be extended to a broader set of reduced audit quality acts. The responses of 141 practicing auditors at non-Big 4 firms in Sweden support our theoretical predictions. We find that auditors tend to identify with their clients, and that an auditor who identifies relatively more with a client is more likely to acquiesce to client-preferred treatment and to commit reduced audit quality acts. While previous research has considered only Big 4 firms, the current findings suggest that the problems with auditor identification with clients also hold for non-Big 4 auditors.