The auditors’ tradeoff between independence andclient relationships : A qualitative study based on the auditors’ perspective

An auditor’s work should be neutral and the auditor should act independentlyfrom the parties that have financial interest in the company such as ownersand other stakeholders. The auditor's approach should be free from externalinfluences, since the audit must be reliable for its stakeholders. At the auditfirms, the auditors are constantly working and being educated to strengthentheir independence, however there are some problems related to the trade-offto act independently and at the same time maintain relationship marketing forthe audit firm. Relationship marketing is used by auditors as a strategy to workclose to the customer, to satisfy the customer by adding value and offeringservices in addition to the auditing. Previous research has concluded that the audit profession has changed andthat relationship marketing today is a natural part of the auditor's work.However, how auditors in Sweden view the balance between independenceand relationship marketing has not previously been investigated. Therefore,this study aims to create an understanding of the balance between being anindependent auditor and perform competitive relationship marketing for theaudit firm based on the auditors’ point of view. The study shows that there is a grey zone between being an independentauditor and conduct relationship marketing for the audit firm. The balance isdifficult and the auditors in this study agree that it is a balancing act and thatthey must constantly think about it and investigate themselves in order to beindependent. At the same time, all auditors highlight how important therelationships with the customers are and that they in turn enable relationshipmarketing