Auditor Independence, Audit Fee, Tenure, and Report Lag with Audit Quality in Indonesian Energy Firms

Abstract

This study examines the associations between auditor independence, audit fees, audit tenure, audit report lag, and audit quality in Indonesian energy firms during 2021–2025. This explanatory quantitative study uses financial statements, annual reports, and independent auditors’ reports. Purposive sampling yielded 16 firms and 80 firm-year observations. Audit quality is proxied by absolute discretionary accruals under the Kasznik model and transformed using the natural logarithm for the final test. Multiple linear regression shows that auditor independence and audit fees are negatively and significantly associated with Ln absolute discretionary accruals, whereas audit tenure and audit report lag are not significant. The model was jointly significant and explained 88.0% of the reported variation. The findings suggest that professional distance and adequate engagement resources are more informative than tenure or completion speed in this study sample. This study uses one audit quality proxy, a small purposive sample, and a transformed regression output that does not report the constant. This study adds sector-specific evidence from Indonesian energy firms facing operational risk, commodity volatility, and demand for credible reporting, while identifying directions for controls and robustness analysis.

Keywords

Audit Fee Audit Tenure Audit Quality Audit Report Lag Auditor Independence Energy Sector