Identifying and Ranking the Components Affecting the Development of the Audit Services Market

Objective: A review of the evolution of audit history and its development stages shows that society initially demanded audit and assurance services and was offered according to the increasing expansion of these demands. In other words, audit and assurance services were already widely accepted before the launch. On the other hand, based on Limperg's dynamic theory, auditing is rooted in the environment. Due to environmental changes, the needs of society and audiences also change, and these changes cause changes and transformations in auditing; it has also had to evolve. In such a way, today, we see various services from auditors in different fields of assurance and complementary services at the international level. This is even though this cycle has never evolved in Iran, and the use of auditing services has been demanded in a limited and mandatory manner. So, a major part of the audit and assurance services that are in demand is limited around the statement of opinion regarding the desirability of financial statements, which is mainly due to legal requirements. The importance of this challenge can be reflected in the consequences of this lack of development, which has plagued the auditing profession and assurance services and caused the profession to lag behind. Among these negative consequences, we can mention the prevalence of selective opinion and sale of signatures, increasing the risk of audit institutions, the prevalence of negative competition, reducing costs, Reducing the financial independence of auditors, reducing the quality of audit services, and similar cases. Therefore, according to the understanding of the importance and necessity of the present research and considering the backwardness of this profession in Iran compared to its international counterparts, the present study seeks to identify and rank the factors affecting this backwardness.
Method: The current research method is quantitative and qualitative (mixed research approach). The data collection of the current research was done in two stages, and their analysis was done in four stages. In the first stage, data was extracted through interviews with professional experts, and after coding using the grounded theory method, three main dimensions, eight sub-dimensions and 41 factors affecting the lack of development of the audit and assurance services market were identified, which were the basis for preparing the questionnaire. The present study was the experts working in the profession are the partners and technical managers of auditing institutions who have more than 10 years of professional experience in auditing and assurance services and are experts due to their executive records, experiences and significant roles in this field. These people were selected using a non-random and purposeful sampling method. Finally, 12 respondents, including seven people who participated in the interview and five who were outside the interviewed group for the final review and approval of the extracted model, formed the target population of the present study. This process was done through in-depth semi-structured interviews until it reached theoretical saturation. In the second stage, the prepared questionnaire was distributed among 70 partners and technical managers of auditing institutions. The answers collected in the second stage were also analyzed in two stages. In other words, in the second and third stages, the data obtained from the questionnaire were analyzed using SPSS-26 and AMOS-26 software, and in the fourth stage, the obtained results were ranked using the TOPSIS technique.
Results: The findings of the present research show that seven factors can play an effective role in developing the market of auditing, reassuring and complementary services. These seven factors, ranked based on the TOPSIS technique, are assessment standards, the need to develop diverse skills of audit and assurance services, development in the field of international trade, and the creation and development of demand for the use of audit services and services. Supplement the role of regulatory laws on the transparency of audit reports, the competitiveness of the economy and the possibility of assessing economic risks by audit institutions. These results are highly valid due to the confirmation of the experts who were interviewed in the first step. Meanwhile, the Cronbach's Alpha of the current research questionnaire is greater than 0.7 and equal to 0.728, and this indicates the power of generalization, high precision and accuracy of the results, which increases the level of reliability of the research. The interview and data collection process are related to 2021.
Conclusion: According to the results obtained in this research and identifying the seven factors, we can expect clear horizons for Iran's audit profession and assurance services. Considering the identification of factors limiting the development of auditing and assurance services, it is expected that in the second step, the country’s public accountant’s community will implement it to overcome the current situation by focusing on the identified factors. This can turn challenges into opportunities for the country's official accountant community members. Among these favorable changes can be market development, diversification of services, helping to specialize in the professional services market, increasing the income of audit institutions, reducing negative competition and the phenomenon of price cutting, reducing selective comments, the phenomenon of selling signatures and the level of risk of audit institutions. The results of this research can guide the auditing profession to its true position in line with international peers. On the other hand, considering that the majority of countries in the world have not made efforts to develop the auditing profession and assurance services, and this development depends on the environmental conditions and the creation of demand, this research can be a model for the limited countries that have failed in the field of auditing to grow in line with their peers and somehow fell behind in the field of the professional services market. Because of the profession's development due to environmental changes, not enough research has been done in this field. In addition, this research can provide a basis for examining and assessing the market's needs for new auditing services and other complementary services.