The impact of key audit matters on audit fees: evidence from Syria
- 26 Apr 2025
- Published Resarch - Business
| Researchers | Rasha Aljerd and Douaa Abazeed |
| Published in | Journal of Financial Reporting and Accounting, EarlyCite (ahead-of-print), March 2025. |
| Abstract | Purpose: Key audit matters (KAMs) are now considered a trend, but their consequences have not yet been examined. This paper aims to investigate the impact ofKAMs disclosed in the audit report on audit fees. Design/methodology/approach: The data set consists of all listed companies at Damascus Securities Exchange (DSE) over the period 2016–2022 with 168 observations. This study uses a regression model obtained by the panel datamethod using a randomeffect model. Findings: Results indicate that the number, length of disclosed KAMs and KAMs type (entity-level risk) have a positive and significant impact on audit fees, while KAMs type (account-level risk) has no significant impact on audit fees. Research limitations/implications: The number of listed companies at DSE is relatively small compared with other countries. In addition, audit fees had not been disclosed before 2016 so the authors could not use pre-post analysis. Originality/value: To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first of its kind in Syria, which makes a significant contribution to the limited research on the consequences of KAMs in emerging markets. In addition, it is the first study to demonstrate the impact of the number, length and type ofKAMs on audit fees. Key words: Audit fees, KAMs, Account-level risk KAMs, Entity-level risk KAMs. |
| Link to abstract |
