The Influence of Company Characteristics, the Type of Auditor's Opinion and Auditor’s Market Share on Audit Fees among Companies listed on Tehran Stock Exchange

Professional people receive fees for offering services to their clients and this has led to the survival of the profession. It is worth noting that the main reason of existing professions is related to their role in the society. Due to this fact that society needs audit profession because of its accreditation role, therefore, it is required to continue its survival and this depends on auditor’s fee for providing the professional services. Thus, researchers are motivated to determine the factors which influence audit fees. In this research, the effects of company characteristics, type of auditor’s opinion and auditor’s market share on audit fee which is paid during 2009 to 2013 are investigated among companies listed on Tehran Stock Exchange. The results show that only return on investment ratio influences audit fees and firm size, auditor’s market share, type of auditor’s opinion (qualified or unqualified audit opinion) and company’s losses during previous periods have not any effects on audit fees. It is concluded that the main determinants of the audit fees is audit hours, but company characteristics are also considered for determining the level of audit risk and the estimating the required time to perform the audit service. The results of this research also confirmed the independence of auditors due to this fact that there is not a significant relationship between the type of auditor’s opinion and audit fees because based on auditing standards, auditors are prohibited from receiving conditional audit fees.