Les honoraires du réviseur d'entreprises

Abstract

This thesis focuses on the fees of the réviseur d’entreprises (a.k.a auditor). The first part will shed light on the various theoretical studies that have been conducted by professionals of the audit sector. The main purpose of these studies was to determine which elements impact the audit fees. This chapter also addresses the rules specific to the audit sector. These rules are very peculiar and strict and are frequently modified and made more severe, especially in order to preserve the réviseur d’entreprises’ independence and the quality of his work. The second part of this thesis focuses on some interviews of active auditors. They will answer a few questions and provide us with opinions regarding the current fees of the réviseur d’entreprises. They come from different companies, whether it be a small cabinet or a big four, and will thus express their own point of view regarding this matter. In the audit sector, the auditor’s fees are currently regarded as lower than during the previous years and these réviseurs d’entreprises will also help us try to figure out why and also suggest various solutions to help solve this problem. Since these auditors come from different companies, they work in different sections of the same market, and they will thus provide us with varied opinions. We will therefore get a global point of view regarding the auditor’s fees. The next part consists in a case analysis. The first section investigates the Belgian audit market and the réviseur d’entreprises’ fees in Belgium. The second section consists in an analysis of four companies which are part of the BEL20. The various notions that have been addressed in the first chapter also appear in this analysis. We round off this chapter with an example of a budgeting tool used by an auditor to determine his fees for each of his audit missions.