Exploring the determinants of audit quality

Audit quality remains a critical global concern due to high-profile corporate failures, exemplified by incidents like Enron and WorldCom. In response to these challenges, this study underscores the importance of robust governance structures to oversee audit practices and ensure the sustained quality of financial statements. Recognizing the pivotal role financial statements play in the decision-making process for potential investors, the research delves into key factors influencing audit quality, offering valuable insights for informed investment decisions. This paper prioritizes examining factors such as abnormal audit fees, non-audit service provision, firm size, auditor expertise, and audit rotation in shaping audit quality. The study uses a systematic literature review approach to draw on a wealth of secondary data sources, including journal articles and related audit-quality publications. The findings illuminate the nuanced relationships between these factors and the overall quality of audits, shedding light on elements that can enhance or undermine audit quality in practice. In conclusion, this research contributes to the ongoing discourse on audit quality by comprehensively analysing factors crucial to its understanding. The implications extend to audit firms, regulators, and investors, emphasizing the need to focus strategically on the identified factors to ensure optimal financial statement quality. The paper suggests avenues for further research and emphasizes the importance of maintaining vigilance in governance structures to uphold the integrity of audit practices worldwide