Main drivers of consultancy services: A meta-analytic approach

This meta-analysis incorporates the results from 34 separate studies examining fee models for consultancy services whereby the consulting firm provides both audit and advisory services to its customers. The findings indicate a number of key determinants of consultancy bills: client size, audit fees, auditors being from a “Big Audit Firm,” client's financial difficulties, and prior experience with the legal auditors. Conversely, the meta-results fail to correlate the variable of interest with several constructs commonly used in consultancy models such as the auditee's inherent risk, the client's financial debt, or the audit opinion. The study also explores the influence of three moderators: the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the legal environment, and the type of statutory auditor. The overall moderator results are robust but fail to group prior data into homogeneous sets. The findings are relevant for policy makers, audit scholars, and stakeholders.