...Padmakumar Sivadasan; Jared S. Soileau; Rui-Zhong Zhang SUMMARY We examine whether auditors helped public clients obtain U.S. Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans to overcome the COVID-19-related economic crisis. Larger auditors had better access to resources to help their auditees with PPP...

... firms receiving PPP loans exhibit greater public audit client selectivity. Specifically, accounting firms receiving PPP loans exhibit an increased likelihood of auditor switching and engage new clients that exhibit less financial and auditor business risk but greater potential for profitability relative...