本篇研究主要探討的是會計師與客戶之間的關係,包括會計師事務所的任期、主簽與副簽會計師的任期、關係任期、以及校友關係作為衡量的基礎,由於過去對於公費資訊難以取得,諸多的限制,導致文獻上之實證結果有許多不一致的地方,故本文於公費資訊強制揭露後,以民國99 年上市(櫃)公司為對象,藉以測試非審計服務提供的程度是否會影響會計師的獨立性,另再以非審計除以審計公費、繼續經營疑慮的意見、和非審計公費取自然對數作敏感性分析。實證結果發現,證實當簽證會計師事務所與客戶關係越緊密,會使其客戶傾向購買較高程度的非審計公費,而導致獨立性受損,這層關係亦可推論至會計師個人與管理階層皆為成立。代理成本的部份發現,高代理成本並不顯著,反而在低代理成本,會計師事務所與客戶的關係和非審計服務提供的程度呈正向顯著。本研究另發現審計與非審計費用一體適用相同的級距制度是不合理的,建議除修改非審計公費的級距外,是否應考慮排除級距的適用,而改採絕對金額揭露的方式。本研究彌補了現存實證研究的代溝並直接地針對非審計公費進行假說與測試,藉由分析客戶購買非審計服務的成本與效益,提供準則制定者於訂定準則時能提高警覺,亦增加我們對於非審計公費其性質的認知與決定因素。
This study examines the association of a comprehensive set of audit-client relationship bonds, including audit firm tenure, audit engagement partner tenure, relationships tenure, and alumni affiliation. There are many inconsistencies in the literature on the empirical results due to fees information is difficult to obtain in the past.Therefore, this study was undertaken in Taiwanese companies in 2010, which provided a context in which all these relationships could be examined after the fees information were opened, examined if auditor independence will be affected with the level of non-audit services provided to an audit client. Results show that long audit firm tenure, audit engagement partner tenure, and relationships tenure are significant associated with clients purchasing auditor-provided NAS, furthermore, audit firm tenure with stronger associations for clients with low agency costs. This study also found that one of audit and non audit fees for the same rank level from the system is unreasonable, it is recommended to modify the non-audit fee level or exclude the rank applicable, and used the absolute amount revealed. This study fills a gap in the existing auditing literature, directly hypothesizing and testing NAS models. The study examines the costs and benefits of purchasing auditor-provided NAS prior to increased regulatory attention, as such, it contributes to our knowledge of the nature of NAS and its determinants.