Global audit fees rocket 345% over five years
Accountancy firms enjoy audit windfall as fees rise 345% between 2001 and 2006
Audit firms have never had it so good according research by US corporate
governance think tank the Corporate Library.
The research, which the body claims is the ‘most extensive study of the audit
industry ever published’, found that audit fees at the world’s leading audit
firms climbed by 345% in the five years since 2001.
The think tank based its findings on a study of 100 audit firms and 1300
companies, the FT reports.
The rapid rise in earnings was attributed to Sarbanes-Oxley, but the research
said that there had also been a ‘revolution’ in the type of service provided by
accounting firms, which now included many more audit-related offerings and
drove the fee income growth.
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