Analysis
According to a recent Manufacturers Alliance survey, manufacturers spent between $1.58M and $7.51M on U.S. GAAP audit fees in 2021. The Alliance breaks down the details of that number and provides comparisons on many aspects of audit fees and firms, including quote versus actual invoice, reliance on external auditors, and average hourly external auditor fees.
Key Results
- Average audit fee to revenue ratio is .07% in 2021.
- 57% reported that audit fees came in higher than the initial quote in 2021, down from 61% in 2019.
- 56% reported a fixed fee contract with a provision for adjustment if the time required to perform the audit exceeded the estimate. At the same time, 44% were able to negotiate a firm fixed fee contract with no provisions for adjustment.
Manufacturers Alliance has surveyed its CFO, Financial, and Internal Audit Council members about audit fees since 2005. This year’s survey provides data on audit fees and audit fee benchmarks for fiscal years 2020 and 2021, with some comparisons to data from 2019. The Alliance has created an interactive dashboard that allows you to analyze fees by revenue size, type of company (public, private or both) and by audit fee range categories to enhance the value of the survey results for member companies. Hovering over charts will show the number of companies who responded. The full report has been made available to those who responded to the survey.
Note: You can make selections to customize the results and choose the download icon immediately above to download and print the document.
Read more from this survey below:
Impact of Internal Audit work on Audit Fees
Audit Firms & Fees: Current Status and Future Planning
The report below is only available to CFO, Internal Audit, Financial, and Treasury Council members who are logged in.