Förväntningsgapet : Hellre tiga än illa tala.

Problem: The expectation gap can be described as an imbalance in the relationship between the accountant and the stakeholders. The gap can emerge when the ideas of what is right and what is wrong are separate from the accountant and the stakeholders of the accountant. It is one of the most talked about subjects within auditing, due to the long existence of expectations gaps, which is increasing gradually. There is no doubt that a gap of expectations exist, as well as the experience of different gaps of expectations amongst the stakeholders of the accountant. The accountants may be viewed as a security for the stakeholders as they review the company from a critical point of view. A stakeholder who is in need of areview is the creditor, because he/she only have the assets of the company as collateral security. Anotherstakeholder who is in need of an accountant is the Vice President of a company because he/she, through auditing material, receives a firmer ground to stand on when it comes to decision-making. This creates a problem when different stakeholders use information in different ways, which in turn creates difficulties for the accountant when it comes to satisfying all the parties involved.Purpose: This study aims to create an understanding of the gap of expectations when it comes to accountants, creditors and the Vice President. Our study will contribute with important influences in the area of how accountants, creditors and the Vice President describes the gap of expectations, and we can therefore present a development of the knowledge in the area of the gap of expectations.Method:To fulfill our purpose with the study we have used a abductive method. Through semi-structured interviews we have gathered empirics from four different accountants, four Vice Presidents and five creditors. Conclusions:We have found that the stakeholders do not experience a gap of expectation. We can state that the number one reason for the existence of the gap of expectations is due to ignorance when it comes to the distribution of the responsibilities at the point of irregularity. This study has led us to the statement that most of the stakeholders do not want to acknowledge the gap of expectations. Further more we state that there are difficulties in handling the gap of expectations due to the fact that the accountant and the stakeholders had a difference of opinion when it came to handling the gap and why it arose. One interesting aspect is that in every group of respondents, there were disagreements when it came to answering the question about who was responsible for the gap, and we established this is a main reason for the gap of expectations