Clients anticipate that audit fees will increase in 2021 due to the impact of inflation, COVID-19, acquisitions and divestitures, according to a survey by Gartner.
The survey found that 62% of the companies polled are expecting audit fee increases this year, but that may be offset by technology savings. Organizations that automate at least 25% of their internal controls paid 27% lower audit fees on average, according to Gartner’s survey of 166 publicly traded and privately held companies. Of the respondents, 81% used a Big Four audit firm. Of the 166 organizations surveyed, Gartner analyzed 124 for the impact that internal controls automation had on the amount they ultimately paid in audit fees.
The survey revealed the steadily increasing amounts of audit fees, exacerbated by the inflationary pressures that have affected so many sectors of the economy this year as the U.S. and the rest of the world struggle to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic also accelerated the shift to technologies like remote audits over the past year, and the increasing use of automation for audits and internal controls as many auditors worked from home and away from their offices.
Companies with fewer than 50 controls, and more than 25% of them automated, reported 52% lower audit fees relative to ones with less than 25% of their controls automated. In comparison, companies with 50 to 250, as well as more than 250 controls and more than 25% automated, showed 27% lower audit fees.
“With audit fees increasing significantly, finance leaders should take note that organizations with higher levels of internal control automation saw substantially lower external audit fees on average,” said Ashwani Gupta, director in the Gartner Finance practice, in a statement Tuesday. “The biggest decreases were seen in organizations using between 1 to 50 controls, suggesting that getting internal control automation started has potential cost benefits when it comes to audit. Automation of internal controls can play a role in not only reducing financial reporting and audit risks but also audit costs. As organizations invest in internal controls automation it will likely become a prominent argument for audit fee reductions in the future."
Audit fee spiked the most last year in the banking and insurance sectors, with 69% of respondents in each category reporting increases. Financial services companies have more complex accounting processes and financial reporting exposures needing more auditor hours. Insurance companies also experienced some of the highest number of internal controls relative to companies in other industries.
On the other hand, the technology and telecom sector showed the lowest impact on fees, with only 41% of respondents reporting increases for 2020. The companies that did report fee increases most often indicated they were sizable, with 22% of overall respondents reporting “significant” audit fee increases of 6% or more, compared to the fees paid in 2019.
The main factors driving audit fee increases ranged from inflation to COVID-19 related, but organizations that negotiated on audit fees and made a strong case with their primary auditing firm were able to get a flat fee or a lower than expected audit fee increase. Of the respondents who attempted to negotiate their fees, 45% said their fees declined by over 6%, while half were able to cut their fees by between 3 to 6%.
