企业成本结构影响审计定价吗?

Does Enterprise Cost Structure Affect Audit Pricing?

不确定的经营环境中,固定成本放大了企业风险,审计师是否会对成本结构进行定价呢?本文以2007-2021年A股上市公司为样本,从经营杠杆视角研究了成本结构对审计定价的影响,发现经营杠杆越大,审计收费越高。机制分析发现,上述效应是由于经营杠杆增大了审计师面临的审计风险和业务风险,审计师增加审计投入和收取风险溢价导致的。进一步研究发现,经营杠杆对审计收费的影响在环境不确定性较高、业绩压力较大、债务风险较大、竞争性行业和非国有企业中更加明显,在治理质量和内部控制质量较好的企业中减弱。本文丰富了成本结构和审计定价的相关文献,对于企业成本结构调整和审计师风险识别具有一定的积极意义。

In an uncertain business environment,fixed costs amplify enterprise risk.Will the auditor charge audit fees according to the cost structure?Based on the sample of A-share listed firms from 2007 to 2021,this paper examines the impact of cost structure on audit pricing from the perspective of operating leverage,and finds that as operating leverage increases,audit fees also increase.Mechanism analysis shows that the effect above is due to the increased audit risk and business risk faced by auditors,leading to increased audit effort and the charging of risk premiums.Further research shows that the impact of operating leverage on audit fees increases in enterprises with higher environmental uncertainty,performance pressure,debt risk,highly competitive industries and non-stateowned enterprises,and weakens in enterprises with better governance quality and internal control quality.Our study enriches the relevant literature on cost structure and audit pricing,and has positive implications for firms to adjust their cost structure and for auditor's risk identification.