Vad har revisorn för roll? : En kvantitativ studie om vad svenska småsparare förväntar sig av en revision

Sammanfattning: Background: There are several studies that have found an expectation gap between auditors and different stakeholders. Since 2019, there has been a sharp increase in the number of individual investors in Sweden. There is a lack of studies examining the expectation gap between auditors and individual investors. Purpose: The purpose of the study is to analyze and explain whether Swedish auditors and individual investors have a different view regarding the auditor’s responsibility, reliability, and decision usefulness. Furthermore, the view of individual investors is analyzed with different demographic factors. Research method: This is a quantitative study with a deductive approach, where the hypotheses are developed from prior research. The empirical data comes from the answers from a mail survey and a web survey. The survey consisted of statements regarding the auditor’s responsibility, reliability, and decision usefulness. Results: The study shows that there is an expectation gap between auditors and individual investors in Sweden. The study also shows that experience from the stock market leads to a more narrow expectation gap between auditors and individual investors in Sweden. Contributions: The study contributes to a better understanding of what the expectation gap between auditors and individual investors in Sweden consists of. Additionally, it shows how individual investors in Sweden perceive the auditor’s responsibility, reliability, and decision usefulness