Revisorns roll - oberoende och objektivet : innan och efter avskaffandet av revisionsplikten

Sammanfattning: Background: The audit has not always been as it is today. The first law requiring auditing was legislated in the Companies Act 1895. Many events have taken place in the audit history; among them was the Krueger crash, which affected the auditing profession hard in Sweden. This led to new recommendations and laws that would save the profession. Because of the events in the past, there are many who question the audit profession and discussions have been held regarding the auditor's independence and objectivity. Nov. 1, 2010 abolished the audit requirement for certain companies. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to describe and analyze the role of the auditor - the independence and objectivity, by perusing the number of qualified / unqualified audit reports, before and after removal of the audit requirement. Methodology: To answer the study's purpose, a quantitative study was conducted in which 400 annual reports from Stockholm and 200 annual reports outside of Stockholm, has been selected to be examined, to see how the number of qualified / unqualified audit reports has changed during the years 2008-2011. Theoretical Framework: The theories that have been applied in the study are the auditor's role, Independence & Objectivity and Profession. Framework: To complement the theoretical framework the audit significance, audit procedure, audit report and previous studies have been applied. Empirism: The data collected for this study is illustrated in diagrams showing that 2010 was a defining year where most unqualified audit reports were reported, while the remaining years showed non or few unqualified audit reports. Conclusion: Based on the empirical evidence presented, auditor's independence and objectivity has been questioned. Clear indications that the audit requirement has influenced the audit profession is illustrated in the diagrams from empirical data, however, it is too early to say if it has a positive or negative impact on profession.