Audit Fees at U.S. Non‐Profit Organizations

SUMMARY: Non‐profit organizations account for a significant share of the U.S. national economy. Some recent scandals and governance failures in non‐profits have led to increased scrutiny of non‐profits, including new state laws related to external audits. In this paper, we extend audit fee research by developing a model that seeks to explain non‐profit audit fees. Results from data provided by 125 of the largest non‐profits indicate that auditee size, complexity, liquidity, and resource dependency are associated with audit fees; in addition, audit fees are higher for non‐profits with a Big 4 auditor. The results also suggest that alternative monitoring mechanisms, such as a good audit committee and internal auditing, are complements rather than substitutes for monitoring by external auditors. Our results can be useful for researchers examining non‐profit auditing‐related issues and for non‐profit organizations seeking to benchmark their audit fees.