Key Audit Matters Between Auditors and Auditees in Middle East and North Africa

Abstract

This study investigates the impact of auditor- and auditee-specific features on key audit matter disclosures in auditors’ reports. It focuses on client factors, including debt, profitability, financial distress, and audit factors, including auditor size, rotation, and opinion. A direct extraction of audit reports from different markets in Middle East and North Africa covering three years from 2020 to 2022 was carried out. A content analysis of the annual reports regarding key audit matters, client-specific characteristics, and auditor characteristics was performed in this research. The results of this study show that key audit matters are not correlated to profitability and financial distress, while the debt ratio is significantly related to the number of key audit matters. The results also indicate that audit rotation and opinion have a significant explanatory effect on key audit matters as the coefficients of both independent variables are positive and statistically significant while the size of the audit firm is not related to the number of key audit matters.