Robert Knechel

Professor

Robert Knechel is the Frederick E. Fisher Eminent Scholar Chair and Distinguished Professor of Accounting at the Warrington College of Business, University of Florida, where he also serves as Director of the International Accounting and Auditing Center. His research focuses on auditing, assurance, and factors affecting audit quality, scope, and timing. He has published extensively in leading journals such as The Accounting Review, Journal of Accounting Research, and Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory. Robert is a Senior Editor for The Accounting Review and has previously served as Consulting Editor for Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Foundation for Auditing Research and has held visiting appointments at universities including the University of Auckland and KU Leuven.

The Future of Assurance in Capital Markets
Efficient capital markets rely on a continuous supply of reliable and timely information and auditors are critical to this process. The economic value of an audit derives from making information more reliable to users (i.e., to reduce the risk of erroneous or manipulated information influencing the judgments of market participants). Traditionally, the focus of auditing has been on annual financial reports; however, given the speed of information creation and dissemination, the role of auditors may need to adapt or expand in the future. There are three areas where auditors might help improve information quality: (1) non-GAAP earnings, (2) ESG reporting, and (3) cybersecurity risks disclosures. To provide assurance over these types of information, audit firms need to identify the appropriate subject matter for assurance, obtain the expertise to provide assurance, develop a verification process for providing assurance, and commit to a system of organizational support for the assurance process. Multidisciplinary practices have the potential to provide expanded assurance over more information, as well as assurance related to the processes that generate the information. However, success is not inevitable, and market, social, and regulatory forces will have much to say about the emergence of new assurance initiatives. https://publications.aaahq.org/accounting-horizons/article-abstract/35/1/133/2465/The-Future-of-Assurance-in-Capital-Markets
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Performance Measurement, Career Development, and Compensation for Audit Partners
This study examines how Dutch audit firms changed their policies for audit partner performance measurement, career development, and compensation during a period of heightened public scrutiny (2007–2017), and whether those changes translated into day‑to‑day practices. Using proprietary policy documents and partner‑level performance and compensation data from the eight largest audit firms in the Netherlands, the authors find that audit quality became more consequential for promotions, demotions, and job retention, while profit sharing shifted toward longer‑term performance and was complemented by penalties (and claw‑backs) for low quality. Overall, firms appear responsive to public scrutiny, aligning partner incentives more closely with societal expectations of audit quality.
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The evolution of performance measurement, career development, and compensation for audit partners in the context of public scrutiny
The study examines how audit firms changed their policies regarding audit partner performance measurement, career development, and compensation during a period of heightened public scrutiny of audit quality (2007–2017).
Implementing such policy changes requires a delicate transition in organizational design and internal processes and may not always translate effectively into day-to-day practices. Using proprietary performance management policies and individual partner performance and compensation data from the eight largest Dutch audit firms provides an in-depth understanding of the evolution of performance management for audit partners.
Findings indicate that most policy changes have real consequences. For example, audit quality becomes more influential in career development, while profit sharing is increasingly linked to quality and long-term performance.
Overall, audit firms appear responsive to public scrutiny, aligning partner incentives more closely with societal expectations of audit quality.
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4th FAR International Conference booklet
The fourth annual conference of the Foundation for Auditing Research (FAR) was held in June 2019. The theme of the conference was ‘Evidence-informed policy making for the future of the auditing profession’. Therefore, the central question during all the presentations of this conference was: how can evidence-based auditing sector policy making be implemented? We are happy to offer you this conference report, which summarizes the keynote speeches and the FAR project presentations of preliminary research findings.  
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February 9, 2026

FAR sponsored study published in The Accounting Review

A FAR sponsored study by Olof Bik, Jan Bouwens, Robert Knechel and Yuxia Zou has been accepted for publication in The Accounting Review. This study examines how audit firms changed their policies on audit partner performance measurement, career development, and compensation during a period of heightened public scrutiny of audit quality (2007–2017). It argues that implementing policy changes requires a delicate transition in organizational design and internal processes of firms and that the changes may not automatically translate into day-to-day practices. Access to proprietary performance management policies and individual partner performance and compensation data from the eight largest Dutch audit firms enables an in-depth analysis of the evolution of audit partner performance management. The findings indicate that most policy changes have tangible consequences. In particular, audit quality becomes more influential in career development decisions, while profit sharing is increasingly linked to quality and long-term performance. Overall, the evidence suggests that audit firms respond effectively to public scrutiny by increasingly aligning partner incentives with societal expectations regarding audit quality.
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