TITLE:
A Financial Analysis of Greek Audit Companies for the Period 2012-2022
AUTHORS:
Nikolaos Belesis
KEYWORDS:
Audit Companies, Greek Financial Crisis, Big 4, Audit Services, Assurance
JOURNAL NAME:
Theoretical Economics Letters,
Vol.14 No.3,
June
11,
2024
ABSTRACT: In this paper, we focus on the financial position of Greek audit companies for the period 2012-2022, the period of the Greek economic crisis. We examine their financial performance and how it changed during this period. We also compare the Big 4 audit companies to the rest in terms of financial performance. Additionally, we check the ratio of audited to non-audited services for this period. Audit companies’ sector is a vital sector for all economies, as audit companies are the guarantors of the reliability of the financial statements and also the protectors of the users of the financial statements. Their role is critical to the proper functioning of financial markets. Economically healthy audit companies have fewer restrictions and conflicts of interest in doing their jobs. Companies in financial distress are more likely to try to avoid losing clients who are more favorable to them. Also, the ratio of audit to non-audit services is a key indicator of the conflict of interests and the independence of the audit firms. In order to check the financial performance of the companies, we retrieved accounting data from the ICAP-Dataprisma database. Based on these data, we calculated financial ratios that describe the financial position of the companies in terms of profitability, leverage, and liquidity. We also retrieved data from companies’ transparency reports regarding revenues from audits and non-audit services. We calculated the relevant ratio, and we made comparisons between the companies.