Förväntningsgap ur kreditgivarens perspektiv

Background and problem discussion: In recent years, the auditing profession has attracted attention due to a number of scandals. A misunderstanding that stakeholders have in common is that they believe that a clean audit report is a guarantee of a company's survival. The stakeholders argue that the pure audit report must ensure that the company's accounts are correctly executed and do not contain material errors. Earlier research shows that creditors have too high expectations of the auditor's obligations and responsibilities in relation to the auditor's duties according to laws and standards. The high expectations can give rise to serious consequences on the financial market if it wants to be bad, which in turn can contribute to the confidence in the auditing profession deteriorating. Purpose: The purpose of the study is to examine whether creditors have higher expectations on the requirements that the auditors must meet and whether the audit report is still a topical document as a basis for today's credit decision. Methodology: This study is based on existing literature and partly through both quantitative and qualitative methods in the form of interviews and questionnaires. The survey aims to investigate whether there is an expectation gap. In the interviews with creditors, it is examined whether the audit report has a significant role in lending. Theoretical perspectives:The theoretical frame of reference consists of relevant laws and standards in the audit area. It also consists of literature regarding the expectation gap and the audit report's significance as well as the credit granting process. Empirical foundation: The empirical study consists of a questionnaire survey that was answered by various creditors from the four major banks in Sweden regarding the auditor's role and audit. The empire also consists of interviews with creditors regarding the significance of the audit report inlending process. Analysis and Conclusions: Based on the data obtained in this study, the analysis leads to the following conclusions: there is an expectation gap between creditors and auditors regarding the extent of the auditor ́s work and responsibilities. Furthermore, the study also shows that an audit report does have a significant role, but at the same time it has an ambiguous role in credit decisionmaking