Revisorers beslutsfattning i situationer om ekonomisk brottslighet

Sammanfattning: When economic crime is discovered it tends to result in solutions that strengthen the audit. In 2010 a law was adopted which reduced the influence of the audit. The reform gave the smallest companies the opportunity to actively refrain external audit. That can be seen as remarkable as the auditors are the primary control organ of smaller companies. The reform was introduced to simplify the administrative burden and reduce its costs. This qualitative study aims to explain the factors that have been affected by the abolition of auditing based on the auditors' perspective. By answering the research questions: What are the effects caused by the elimination of auditing requirements for smaller companies from the auditor's perspective? What does the financial crime look like in these companies and what factors affect the auditors' decision-making regarding eco-crime? What affects individuals' inclination to commit financial crime? The aim of this study is to chart the factors that have been affected by the elimination of auditing for small companies from the perspective of auditors. Furthermore, the study aims to increase the understanding of the interplay between company stakeholders, small companies and auditors, as there is currently no qualitative research in this area. The research questions are answered using collected secondary data and qualitative interviews. The conclusion of the study suggests that the abolition meant that business leaders without the necessary skills now produce the annual report and the current accounts. Further effects that have arisen are that authorities have increased workload due to both poor annual reports and that audit work has to some extent been shifted from auditors to government agencies. The bolition has also resulted in an increased incidence of economic crime. The factors that affect he auditors' inclination to report criminal acts are primarily; transaction size, the individual's wareness of the crime, the motivation behind it, the customer's inclination to remedy the act and the parties concerned by the action. The study indicates that there is a correlation between the existence of financial crime and high frequency of cash handling. The factors that influence an individual to commit crimes are corporate culture. In the companies where employees commit financial crime, mainly lack of internal control is seen as the reason.