Estimating Audit Fees Post-SOX Free

SYNOPSIS: This article discusses the findings of structured interviews with audit practitioners with a goal of increasing our understanding of the audit fee estimation process and how that process has changed following the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX). The data provide practicing auditors with information that may be helpful in the development or revision of their own audit fee pricing practices. The data are also relevant to audit committee members as they seek to better understand the audit fee pricing process and how potential risk areas or other matters may impact audit fees. Researchers may also find the results of the interviews useful for the enhancement of audit fee pricing models, whether to more-closely align estimation models with the reported fee estimation process, or to revise models to reflect post-SOX economic and regulatory changes.