審計辦公室產能、審計相關特徵與審計定價

Audit Office Capacity, Audit-Related Characteristics, and Audit Pricing

參採經濟學機會成本之觀念，本研究發現所使用之衡量審計辦公室產能之連續性變數─屬於正常審計工作之未使用產能（簡稱未使用產能）－－與審計公費呈現負向關聯，且此變數相較於傳統的審計產能變數（亦即，受查客戶是否在12 月結束其會計年度），更能捕捉機會成本的變動性質。實證結果亦證實前述負向關聯，在新承接客戶部分是更強的。另外，本研究發現具備較佳產能管理能力（以辦公室規模做為代理變數）的審計辦公室，可以降低未使用產能所造成於尖峰及非尖峰時期的機會成本差異，因而使未使用產能與審計公費之關聯性消失。然而，本研究並未發現前述負向關聯之強度，在四大和非四大會計師事務所之客戶間有所差異，此可能代表決定審計辦公室產能管理能力之決定因素，係在辦公室規模，而非事務所品牌。

Referring to the economic concept of opportunity costs, this study finds that a continuous measure of audit office capacity─unused capacity pertaining to normal audit tasks─is negatively associated with audit fees, and this measure better captures the varying nature of opportunity costs than the traditional measure (i.e., whether a client firm ends its fiscal year in December) does. Empirical results also verify the negative association between unused capacity and audit fees is magnified for new clients. Further, I find that better capacity management capability, as proxied by large audit offices, can decrease the difference in opportunity costs caused by unused capacity between the peak/non-peak period, making the association between unused capacity and audit fees disappears. However, I find no evidence that the effect of unused capacity on audit fees is different between Big 4 and non-Big 4 auditees, which may suggest that it is the office size rather than the brand of audit firms that determines auditors’ capacity management capabilities.