Identifying and Ranking Factors Affecting the Purchase of Auditors' Opinions Based on the Delphi Technique

The increasing change of independent auditor by the employer in recent years has attracted considerable attention from legislative bodies and researchers. The possibility that such a change may be the result of the involvement of employer companies in purchasing the auditor's opinion has been debated by policymakers and academics. In this regard, the purpose of this research is to identify and rank the factors affecting the purchase of auditors' opinions based on the Delphi technique. Using the Delphi technique, the criteria affecting the purchase of auditors' comments were identified based on an unstructured interview and using the MAXQDA tool, and then, using the Delphi technique, the data of 15 financial managers and 15 managers and audit partners in 2023 were analyzed. The results of the research using these methods show that in the auditing profession, the most important factors influencing the purchase of the auditor's opinion are mainly related to the personality characteristics of the auditors, regarding factors such as work conscience, professional and organizational commitment, source of control, self-interest, job motivation, personal ethics, and psychological entitlement. , responsibility, performance self-evaluation and interest in the auditing profession. Meanwhile, macroeconomic factors and the organizational control system, after individual factors, have the ability to influence the adjustment of managers' and audit partners' reports and, accordingly, buy their opinions.