Presenting Components of Independent Audit Quality with an Emphasis on Meeting Stakeholders’ Needs

Objective: An independent audit is one of the tools for evaluating the accuracy of the information and financial relations. If the done audits contain quality components, they will enable stakeholders to be relatively confident of the accuracy of the available information and relationships. Therefore, this study is to discover and identify the components of independent audit quality to meet the needs of stakeholders. Methods: The present study is a qualitative and fundamental piece of research that relies on the interpretive and inductive approach. The "emerging approach with the Glaser method" was implemented through theoretical and purposeful sampling. Its participants included the community of academic experts and independent auditing professionals. In-depth interviews were conducted with the participants and data was collected until reaching the point of theoretical saturation. Results: According to the obtained results, 19 main components affect audit quality. By clustering, these 19 components were classified into three levels comprised of 1) Audit quality components at the users level (Four components including making stakeholders pay part of the costs of achieving audit quality, eliminating irrational goals and requests, increasing the level of understanding audit quality joint and several liability and responsiveness), 2) Audit quality components at the level of auditing firms and auditors (including five components: Designing and implementing infrastructure that promotes and enhances audit quality, management, empowerment and training human resource, having foresight in the field of audit quality and conducting scientific research, increasing the size of audit firms and their share of auditing services market, acquisition of behavioral and professional competence by auditing firms and auditors), and 3) Components of audit quality at the level of auditing supervisory bodies (including seven components: Correcting structural mismanagement and fighting against financial corruption and rent-seeking, encouraging audit firms to increase audit quality, effective qualitative monitoring of auditors' professional and behavioral performance, strengthening and implementing government social responsibilities towards the individuals and the society, reforming the related government laws and regulations, establishing mechanisms for reviewing the behavioral and professional competence of auditing firms and auditors by regulatory bodies, increasing joint and several liability and accountability of regulators, auditors, government officials and stakeholders for their performance towards each other and the community with the aim of reducing the expectation gap between them). The three components of observing the ethics and cultural foundations, the quality of the performance of the managers and audit staff as well as their mindset, and meeting accounting and auditing standards were common among all levels. Conclusion: Meeting the needs of stakeholders and their dissatisfaction with the quality of services provided in the field of independent auditing requires the use of effective components in improving the quality of services of auditing firms and auditors, reducing the level of stakeholder dissatisfaction and increasing the shares of regulatory bodies.