DETERMINANTS OF INDEPENDENT AUDIT FEES IN BRAZILIAN COMPANIES

Accounting and financial reports summarize the financial situation of companies and are essential for decision-making. Independent auditors verify this information, and the value of their fees is a point of interest in literature. This study analyzes the determining factors of audit fees for companies listed on B3. The research is quantitative, based on 182 companies listed between 2017 and 2020, using descriptive statistics, mean tests, regression with panel data and bootstrap. The results indicate that companies audited by BIG4 firms, which have larger audit committees and were part of the pandemic year tend to have higher costs. However, a greater number of members on the committee reduces costs. The bootstrap technique confirmed the consistency of the model estimators.