The Position of Business Strategy in Improving Audit Quality with Emphasis on Environmental Factors in Iran

The professional judgment of an auditor is a key factor in the proper conducting of the audit process. To make the proper decision, the auditor must understand issues such as client operational characteristics, complexity, and organizational structure, since all of these issues can logically affect auditor's opinion. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between business strategy and audit quality of the companies listed in the Tehran Stock Exchange concerning the environmental factors.

According to the purpose of the study, this research is applied research. In this study, according to the specific type of data and the usual method of analysis, we used the pooled data method for estimating. We used data of 135 companies listed in the Tehran Stock Exchange from 2010 to 2017. The audit quality was measured using output metrics (with type I audit error, type II audit error, new qualified report, and financial reporting quality).

This study showed that the relationship between business strategy and type I audit error is direct and significant, and the relationship between business strategy and type II audit error is negative and significant. Also, the type of audit report and the financial reporting quality have direct and significant relationships with business strategy.

This study provides important insights for investors and users of financial statements. That is, determining the quality of the audit (or lack thereof) without knowing the audit and business environment of companies is incomplete and will lead to misleading decision-making Also, investors and users of financial statements can develop their insights and awareness of the quality of corporate auditing by making a logical connection with the type of business strategy of companies.