Offshore Shared Services Center Usage by US Big 4 Audit Engagement Teams

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Sherwood, Matthew G.
• 署名单位: University of Massachusetts System; University of Massachusetts Amherst
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF ACCOUNTING RESEARCH
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0021-8456
• DOI: 10.1111/1475-679X.12611
• 发表日期: 2025
• 页码: 1679-1722
• 关键词: consequences; management; QUALITY; pcaob

摘要

Auditors frequently outsource audit work to offshore Shared Service Centers (SSCs) to reduce costs and ease the workload burdens of audit team members. However, concerns persist about whether these benefits come at the expense of audit quality. Using proprietary audit engagement-level data, I evaluate whether greater SSC usage by Big 4 audit teams has an association with either, or both, audit quality and audit costs. I find that SSC usage is nearly universal in Big 4 audits, with the percentage of audit hours SSCs perform increasing in recent years. Consistent with the audit firm's objectives, evidence suggests that SSC usage is associated with fewer audit hours and lower audit fees. Importantly, I find no evidence that SSC usage is associated with lower audit quality. Overall, results suggest that SSCs have the intended effect of reducing audit costs without sacrificing audit quality.