Den reviderade revisionen: en studie av avskaffandet av revisionspliktens påverkan på tjänsten revision

Sammanfattning: Sweden has had statutory audit, which also includes a management audit, for all companies since 1988. A legislative proposal now suggests that the statutory audit shall be abolished for all small and medium sized companies starting on July 1, 2010. The aim for this master’s thesis is therefore to study how the service of auditing will be affected by the legislative proposal. To answer the research question the authors have taken on a qualitative approach and fifteen interviews with representatives for different Swedish auditing firms have been completed. In the theory part the authors explain what the statutory audit constitutes of today and what role the auditor takes on in a company he is revising. Boundaries are also set up towards other services the auditors may supply to their clients. The authors find that the service of auditing is facing a number of changes, both in the short run and in the long run. To start with, which also in part follows from the proposal, is a limited audit where for example the management audit is no longer a part of the auditing process. Second, the audit offer is being revised and repackaged to better suit the clients. Third, a limited audit can be undertaken by just looking at certain items in the annual report. In the long run, the interviewees believe that the auditing process will be adjusted to suit companies with different turnovers.