Granting of credits : does an auditor simplify the access to a credit?

Abstract All essential information needs to be available for the decision-maker to make a well-founded business decision (Svedin 1992). An auditor is necessary for the information to be considered reliable (Moore & Ronen 1990). The audit requirement was abolished November 1st 2010 for small businesses, which gives them the opportunity to opt out the auditor (SOU 2008:32). The study aims to investigate whether a credit is facilitated when the borrower hire an auditor. Furthermore, the study aims to investigate whether the choice of auditor is relevant, because previous research has demonstrated that the quality of auditing differ depending on the choice of audit firm (Moore & Ronen 1990). This studies purpose was answered by implementing and analyzing eight semi-structured interviews, which were asked to creditors that works at various banks in Värmlands County. The results of the study indicate that previous research do not correspond to the actual facts that were emerged from the interviews. The creditors found the auditor less important, since they believed that the trust of the owner which would run the company were more important to analyze. Furthermore, there were differences in opinion among the respondents, regarding the importance of choice of auditor. Some respondents found the firm of accountants more relevant than others. It could be interesting to examine the auditor's role in the granting of credit again in a few years when the audit requirement abolition possibly has resulted in a greater impact on lending. Key words: Auditor, Borrowers, Creditor, Asymmetric information, Agency theory, Lending proces