Impact of Key Audit Matters and the auditor’s opinion on the decisions of non-institutional investors
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1590/1808-057x20252313.enKeywords:
Key Audit Matters, BNC TA 701, investment decision, Independent Auditor’s Report, audit opinionAbstract
This study investigates the impact of the adoption of the Brazilian Accounting Standard – Auditing Standard 701, specifically Key Audit Matters (KAMs), and the auditor’s qualified opinion on the investment decisions of Brazilian non-institutional investors. The research fills a gap in the literature by applying an experimental methodology to assess the effects of KAMs on the judgment and decision-making of non-institutional investors, a group that has become increasingly significant in the Brazilian capital market and remains underexplored in national empirical studies. The introduction of KAMs in 2017 aimed to increase the transparency of audit reports. Evaluating their effectiveness among non-institutional investors is essential to understand whether this information is assimilated and considered in their investment decisions. The study contributes to the debate on the importance of the informational content of the auditor’s report, offering relevant insights for regulators, investors, auditors, and other stakeholders. An experiment was conducted using a 2 × 2 between-subjects design, manipulating KAMs (presence vs. absence) and the auditor’s opinion (unqualified vs. qualified). The sample consisted of 112 non-institutional investors, collected online from July 2023 to January 2024. The analysis involved descriptive statistics, tests of differences between means/medians, and analysis of variance. The results did not show a statistically significant impact of KAMs (either in isolation or combined with a qualified opinion) on the investment decisions of Brazilian non-institutional investors. The study contributes by demonstrating that the effectiveness of KAMs depends on the disclosure context and the interpretive capacity of investors, as well as their interaction with other sections of the report. The findings highlight the need for standardization, clarity, and education to maximize the usefulness of Independent Auditor’s Reports.
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