Audit Firm Size and Expertise, and Audit Fees: Examination and Analysis in Consumer Cooperative Companies

This study aimed to examine the effect of size and expertise of the auditor on auditing fees in Consumer Cooperatives Companies. The present research is an applied study that employs descriptive-analytical methods for its purposes. Library archives and documents, particularly those of Rahavard Novin Software and the financial statements of the firms accepted in the Tehran Cooperatives Organization (extracted from the rdis.ir website). The statistical population of the research consists of 70 cooperative companies. The study sample was selected from the statistical population using systematic random sampling. To estimate and evaluate the research models, the F-Limer test was applied to the data on 70 firms for the years 2009 to 2019, i.e., 11 years, amassing 770 firm-year observations. Hypotheses were analyzed and tested by EViews 10 using the estimated generalized least squares (EGLS) regression model. For analysis, panel data approaches at significant levels of 5% were used. The results showed that the variables of audit firm size and auditor expertise had a significant effect on audit fees and, as such, the research hypotheses were established at a 95% confidence interval. Moreover, the coefficient corresponding to the variables of audit firm size and auditor expertise is positive, indicating that the more the size of the audit firm and the higher the perceived auditor's expertise, the more the audit fee