Dhana
Vol. 3 No. 2 (2026): DHANA - JUNE

The Effect of Auditor Reputation, Audit Fees, and Audit Tenure on Audit Delay, with Financial Distress as a Moderating Variable, in Manufacturing Companies Listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange

Ego Salman (Program Magister Ilmu Akuntansi, Fakultas Ekonomi Bisnis, Universitas Jambi)
Afrizal Afrizal (University of Jambi)
Fitrini Mansur (University of Jambi)



Article Info

Publish Date
18 Jun 2026

Abstract

This study aims to examine the effect of auditor reputation, audit fees, and audit tenure on audit delay with financial distress as a moderator. The sample consists of 99 manufacturing companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) for the 2023–2025 period, with a total of 297 observations after removing 9 outliers. The analysis used Partial Least Square (PLS) with SmartPLS 4.0. The results show that auditor reputation, audit fees, and audit tenure have a significant negative effect on audit delay. Big 4 accounting firms complete audits 11.2 days faster, a 1-unit increase in Ln_Fee decreases the delay by 6.8 days, and an additional 1-year tenure decreases the delay by 2.1 days. Financial distress, proxied by the Altman Z-Score, is proven to moderate these three relationships. The advantages of Big 4 firms, high fees, and long tenure are greater in healthy companies and weaken in distressed companies because auditors become more conservative. The model has R² = 0.486, Q² = 0.461, and SRMR = 0.051. Practical implications: Regulators need to consider tiered deadlines for distressed issuers, public accounting firms need to implement risk-based pricing, and issuers should improve their financial health before turning to the Big 4.

Copyrights © 2026






Journal Info

Abbrev

JD

Publisher

Subject

Economics, Econometrics & Finance

Description

The journal publishes original articles on current issues and internationally occurring trends in Financial Reporting, Tax Compliance, Cost Analysis, Internal Control, Financial Accounting, Management Accounting, Taxation, Auditing, Financial ...