The impact of audit rotation on the comparability of financial reports

Abstract This study aims to assess the effect of the rotation and tenure of audit firm and audit partner on the comparability and consistency of financial reports. Several studies have addressed the effect of auditor rotation on the quality of financial reports, but none of them focused specifically on the impact on the comparability and consistency of financial reports. Around the world, the impact of mandatory rotation of audit partner and audit firm is being discussed in academia and regulatory bodies. The peculiarity of the Brazilian regulatory environment allows us to contribute to the discussions on the effects of implementing mandatory auditor rotation. Our sample included 50 companies for which we analyzed data from 2012 to 2018. To measure comparability, we used the similarity of the accounting function model by DeFranco, Kothari and Verdi (2011), and to measure consistency we used the adaptations to this model proposed by Ribeiro (2014). For data analysis, we used descriptive statistics and multivariate panel analysis. Our results suggest that the rotation (mandatory and voluntary) of audit firm and audit partner does not affect the comparability and consistency of financial reports. Results also suggest that auditor-client relationships of up to three years contribute to a significant increase in comparability and consistency, indicating that mandatory rotation does not impair investors’ ability to compare the information concerning their investments. In addition, regulators are shown that a possible reduction in the mandatory rotation term (from five to three years, as in Italy) would be in line with market practices and would imply an increase in the comparability and consistency of financial information.