On Tuesday 4 June 2024, 3.00-4.30 pm CET, FAR will organize an Masterclass with Kris Hoang & Jonas Vandennieuwenhuysen on: The auditor selection process: From tender to relationship management

What is this Masterclass about?
Auditor independence centers on the auditors’ role in providing assurance over a company’s financial statements for the benefit of shareholders and external stakeholders, despite being engaged by the company and its management (van Brenk et al. 2020). Among numerous aspects of auditor-client relations, the process of selecting auditors represents an important mechanism for strengthening auditor independence and overall audit quality (Adelopo 2012; Regulation (EU) No 537/2014). The 2014 EU Audit Reform established regulations intended to achieve independent, transparent selection processes by increasing audit committee responsibilities and mandating audit firm rotation. Our field study examines eight large Dutch companies that recently executed an auditor selection process to rotate their audit firm. We conducted interviews with individuals representing each client company’s decision-makers, including executives, managers, and audit committee members, and the tender-winning audit partner. We supplement our analysis of interview data by examining documentation of the auditor selection process, including requests-for-proposals, bid documents, and evaluation scorecards.

In this masterclass, we will synthesize academic and practitioner literature relevant to the auditor selection process. Subsequently, we will discuss our field study findings from two perspectives. First, we will present evidence of how the institutional setting shapes auditor selection processes and how client companies and auditors organize and execute the process under the new Regulation. Then, we will delve deeper into the interpersonal level and discuss how individual decision-makers pinpoint, articulate, and assess their needs and how bidding auditors ascertain and respond to these needs. We explore how interpersonal interactions during the auditor selection process steer both auditors and clients towards a compatible auditor-client match and build mutual trust and commitment even before the audit begins. Finally, we consider how these interactions influence the subsequent working relationship and discuss potential implications for audit quality.

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