A experiência do auditor e a qualidade da auditoria

: em empresas cotadas na Euronext Lisbon

Abstract

Audit quality (AQ) plays a fundamental role in guaranteeing the transparency and truthfulness of financial information, as well as preventing manipulation of results and fraud on the part of company management. The literature argues that the auditor's experience is a crucial factor because, throughout their career, the auditor faces a variety of situations and challenges that contribute to improving their ability to identify risks, deepen their knowledge and make more appropriate decisions. This dissertation aims to (i) test the relationship between auditor experience and AQ, and (ii) if there are no differences in the impact of experience on AQ for Big 4 and non-Big 4 auditors. To assess AQ, earnings manipulation (EM) is used as a proxy, measured by estimating the discretionary accruals of audited companies, following the cross sectional Modified Jones Model, and a multiple linear regression is also carried out. The analysis was carried out on 36 Portuguese companies listed on Euronext Lisbon, using data from 2018 to 2022. The results indicate that auditor experience has a significantly negative effect on EM, confirming the hypothesis that more experienced auditors tend to produce higher quality audits. They also confirm that there are no differences in this effect between Big 4 and non-Big 4 auditors.

Date of Award	15 Dec 2023
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Maria José Martins Lourenço da Fonseca (Supervisor) & Ricardo Ribeiro (Co-Supervisor)