Audit firm changes at U.S. public companies

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Kris Bennatti, CEO of Hudson Labs


All publicly listed U.S. companies must engage a registered accounting firm to audit their annual financial statements. These audit firms report their engagements to the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB).

There are a number of reasons why a public company may choose to change its accounting firm, including cost or reputation concerns. However, changes in audit firms can also be caused by tension between the management team and the team reviewing their work. These changes are therefore often considered to be a red flag.

Hudson Labs provides access to auditor turnover tracking data, derived from the PCAOB database. Our datasets make it easy to see which companies use reputable audit firms, which may not, as well as making it easy to spot companies where auditor changes are frequent.

Coverage universe: U.S. issuers filing a 10-K

Coverage initiation date: Jan 1, 2019

Screen for companies with at least one auditor change

Find the auditor turnover screen on the "Ideas" page of the Hudson Labs platform.

Screen inclusion criteria: At least one auditor change (per PCAOB database) since 2019. See note on interim turnover below.

Data dictionary:

Display Name Definition
Number of auditor changes
Number of times the company has switched their audit firm, according to the PCAOB records over the past 10 years.
Current auditor
The most recently reported audit firm in the PCAOB database. Auditor changes that happen in between filing periods may not be immediately incorporated.
As-of date for current auditor
The date of the most recent filing for which there is available PCAOB data
Previous auditors
List of previous audit firms over the last 10 years.

Company page - Auditor turnover view

Find company-specific auditor and auditor turnover details on the "Red flags" section of the relevant company page of the Hudson Labs platform.

Access auditor turnover data and more on the Hudson Labs platform.  Book a demo today.

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