Influence Audit Fee Stickiness, Abnormal Audit Fee, And Audit Delayon Earnings Management with Auditor Industry Specialization as a Moderating Variable
In the Transportation and Logistics Sector Companies Listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange in 2021–2025
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24905/icobis.v2i1.99Keywords:
Audit Fee Stickiness, Abnormal Audit Fee, Audit Delay, Auditor Industry Specialization, Earnings ManagementAbstract
This study examines the influence ofaudit fee stickiness, abnormal audit fee, And audit delayon earnings management, with auditor industry specialization as a moderating variable, in transportation and logistics sector issuers listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange for the 2021–2025 period. This study was motivated by the sector's financial performance volatility following the COVID-19 pandemic, which is suspected of driving opportunistic management behavior in earnings reporting. Meanwhile, the role of external audit as a monitoring mechanism has not been widely tested in an integrated manner in this sector. The study used a quantitative approach with a purposive sampling technique, resulting in 12 issuers meeting the sample criteria with a five-year observation period, resulting in 60 observations. Earnings management is proxied throughdiscretionary accrualbasedModified Jones Model,while hypothesis testing uses multiple regression analysis andModerated Regression Analysis (MRA). The test results show thataudit fee stickinesshas a negative impact on earnings management,abnormal audit feehas a positive effect, whereasaudit delaywas not found to have a significant effect, and auditor industry specialization failed to moderate these three relationships. These findings indicate that audit fee stability is associated with more conservative earnings reporting practices, while fee deviations from fair value open up opportunities for accrual manipulation, regardless of the auditor's sectoral expertise level handling the assignment.
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