Anotace:
Key audit matters (KAM) have become an essential part of audit reports, as they help to assess the audit risks and how auditors face them, contributing to show audit quality. In this sense, the perceived audit quality may provide competitive advantages to auditors in the market. KAM reporting does not only depend on the auditor characteristics, but it is also determined by the auditee’ features. Therefore, we examine whether company and audit characteristics affect the number and type of KAM. To do so, we use a sample of Thai listed companies for the period 2016-2020. After classifying KAMs into two categories (entity-risk related and account-related), we examine the effect of company size, complexity and risk characteristics, as well as features from the auditor and audit report, on the number and nature of KAMs. The results show that company size, company complexity, and company liquidity and solvency have a significant effect on KAMs. The results also show that the presence of going concern issues affects KAMs; however, in contrast to the findings in prior literature, no significant differences exist among auditors based on auditor size. The findings show that KAM reporting is mostly homogeneous regardless of auditor characteristics, supporting the idea of a high competitiveness in the audit market. Auditors need to use other means to signal their perceived superior quality.