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Prior research addresses relationships between audit attributes and perceptions of both audit quality and auditee satisfaction in the private sector. This study extends such research to local government audits, where audit quality has been questioned. Additionally, this study investigates the effect of auditor size on perceived audit quality and satisfaction. 302 finance directors surveyed positively associated auditor expertise, responsiveness to client, professionalism, understanding of client systems, and study of internal controls with perceived audit quality. Furthermore, auditee satisfaction was positively related to auditor expertise, responsiveness to client, audit manager involvement, understanding of client systems and study of internal controls. Big 5 firms were not associated with higher levels of perceived audit quality or auditee satisfaction, despite charging significantly higher audit fees.

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This paper presents a study of the audit delay experienced by 289 U.S. local governments. The study extends prior research by considering explanatory variables thought to be correlates of audit quality and by comparing city and county delay. Models of audit delay and audit fees are estimated using two-stage least squares regression. The study finds that audit delay is positively associated with correlates of audit quality and that cities experience less delay than do counties. The results indicate that, while audit fees have no explanatory power concerning audit delay, delay exerts a positive influence on fees.

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