A Study Of Differential Attitudes Held BY Auditors From Large And Small U.S. Firms Toward Audits Performed By Small Public Accounting Firms.

Abstract

In an experiment (N=46), auditors from large U.S. firms attached greater relevancy to GAAS and assigned higher levels of quality to audit procedures applied to a small business audit than did auditors from small U.S. firms. These findings suggest the existence of a perception gap. Auditors from large firms may not be fully aware of the audit dilemmas facing small firms with small business audit clients.