新型冠狀肺炎疫情對審計公費僵固性之影響

The Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Audit Fee Stickiness

新型冠狀肺炎(COVID-19)疫情不僅加劇了企業的經營風險，也放大了會計師所承擔的審計風險。本研究使用美國上市上櫃公司樣本來檢驗新型冠狀肺炎疫情對審計公費僵固性的影響。相對於過往結果發現，審計公費向上僵固性較弱，而向下僵固性較強。本研究則發現疫情期間有相反的結果，即疫情期間向上僵固性增強，向下僵固性減弱。這意味著審計公費變得較難上漲而較易下跌。此外，對於大型會計師事務所及產業專精會計師事務所來說，前述疫情對費用僵固性的影響較不明顯，顯示會計師的議價能力可以減輕COVID-19對費用僵固性的影響。由於疫情會阻礙會計師蒐集充分適切的審計證據進而提高審計風險，本研究指出審計公費可能無法完全反應疫情造成的審計風險增加，因此本研究實證結果可以提醒審計委員會和監管機構關注審計公費調整的重要性。

COVID-19 not only exacerbated business risks for enterprises but also amplified the audit risks assumed by auditors. Our study used a sample of US-listed companies to examine the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the stickiness of audit fees. In contrast to prior research, which demonstrated weaker upward fee stickiness and stronger downward fee stickiness, our results revealed an increase in upward stickiness and a decrease in downward stickiness during the pandemic. This means that audit fees became more resistant to increase and less resistant to decrease. Our results also indicated that the influence of the pandemic on fee stickiness was less pronounced for Big 4 and specialist auditors, suggesting that auditors’bargaining power mitigates the impact of COVID-19 on fee stickiness. Our study informs audit committees and regulators of the importance of paying attention to audit fee adjustment, as audit fees may not fully respond to increased audit risks imposed by the pandemic due to potential challenges in collecting sufficient and appropriate audit evidence.