Given the growing demand for accountability in the public sector, there is a need to begin to investigate audit pricing issues in markets within this sector. This study makes three principal contributions. First, it develops and estimates, for the first time, a model of audit fee determinants relevant to the charity sector. The model is based on 210 of the top 500 UK charities with average incoming resources of £27 million. As in previous private sector company studies, size, organisational complexity and audit firm location are the major determinants. A positive association between audit fees and fees for non-audit services is also observed. Charity sector factors of empirical significance include the fundamental nature of the charity (i.e., predominantly grant-making or fund-raising), the importance of trading as a source of charity income and the charity's activity. Separate models are developed for grant-making and fund-raising charities, the results reflecting the relative complexity of the audit of fund-raising charities.Second, the lower auditor concentration in the charity sector market, compared to the private sector market, permits a more powerful test of whether large firms and/or auditor expertise are rewarded with a fee premium. The results show that Big 6 audit firms receive higher audit fees (18.5%, on average) than non-Big 6 firms for audits of fund-raising charities. There is also evidence that non-Big 6 audit firms with expertise in the sector are rewarded with a fee premium over other non-Big 6 firms, again in the more complex audit environment of fund-raising charities.Finally, the study demonstrates that the charity audit fee rate is significantly lower than that of private sector companies; in fact it is approximately half. Further research that discriminates between alternative explanations of this differential is called for. A change in the reporting of charity audit fees is proposed to reflect any element of 'charitable giving' by the audit firm.

Issues Concerning Web-based Business Reporting: An Analysis of the Views of Interested Parties ABSTRACTRapid developments in information and communications technology have led organisations in many countries to consider the impact of the Internet on the delivery and dissemination of business information. This paper reports the findings of a UK study into the views of various user groups, preparers and auditors regarding specific proposals for change and newly emerging practices. Over 500 individuals from six groups responded to a questionnaire study, representing an overall response rate of 33%. Views were elicited regarding (i) the desirability of different kinds of additional information that could be provided electronically, (ii) the usefulness of different navigation and search aids, and (iii) the portability of information under different formats.It is found that users favour many of the expansions of scope made possible by the web. A range of navigation aids, search aids and file formats are found by all groups to be at least fairly useful, especially global navigation aids. Preferences regarding file formats vary across the groups. Paired group comparisons show that, while expert and non-expert users hold similar views in relation to many issues, users' and preparers' views differ considerably. Auditors' views generally fall in between those of users and preparers. Cyert and Ijiri's (1974) framework is used to rationalise the observed conflicts and congruences of interest, underpinning clear pointers for policy-makers.

Given the growing demand for accountability in the public sector, there is a need to begin to investigate audit pricing issues in markets within this sector. This study makes three principal contributions. First, it develops and estimates, for the first time, a model of audit fee determinants relevant to the charity sector. The model is based on 210 of the top 500 UK charities with average incoming resources of £27 million. As in previous private sector company studies, size, organisational complexity and audit firm location are the major determinants. A positive association between audit fees and fees for non-audit services is also observed. Charity sector factors of empirical significance include the fundamental nature of the charity (i.e., predominantly grant-making or fund-raising), the importance of trading as a source of charity income and the charity's activity. Separate models are developed for grant-making and fund-raising charities, the results reflecting the relative complexity of the audit of fund-raising charities.Second, the lower auditor concentration in the charity sector market, compared to the private sector market, permits a more powerful test of whether large firms and/or auditor expertise are rewarded with a fee premium. The results show that Big 6 audit firms receive higher audit fees (18.5%, on average) than non-Big 6 firms for audits of fund-raising charities. There is also evidence that non-Big 6 audit firms with expertise in the sector are rewarded with a fee premium over other non-Big 6 firms, again in the more complex audit environment of fund-raising charities.Finally, the study demonstrates that the charity audit fee rate is significantly lower than that of private sector companies; in fact it is approximately half. Further research that discriminates between alternative explanations of this differential is called for. A change in the reporting of charity audit fees is proposed to reflect any element of 'charitable giving' by the audit firm.

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The “purity” of an organic compound typically refers, in practice, to an assignment of the mass fraction content of the primary organic component present in the material. The “purity” value of an organic primary calibrator material is the ultimate source of metrological traceability of any quantitative measurement of the content of that compound in a given matrix. The primary calibrator may consist of a Certified Reference Material (CRM) whose purity has been assigned by the CRM producer or a laboratory may choose to value-assign a material to the extent necessary for their intended application by using appropriately valid methods. This report provides an overview of the approach, performance and applicability of the principal methods used to determine organic purity including mass balance, quantitative NMR, thermal methods and direct-assay techniques. A statistical section reviews best practice for combination of data, value assignment as the upper limit values corresponding to 100 % purity are approached and how to report and propagate the standard uncertainty associated with the assigned values.