This study examines the relevance of modified audit opinions (MAO) in private debt contracting. We use the auditor's explanatory language to partition MAOs into Inconsistency opinions, resulting from an accounting change or a restatement; and Inadequacy opinions, arising from a material...

We investigate the effect of audit partner style on financial statement comparability in a U.S. setting using newly-available data from 2016 to 2020. We document an audit partner style effect on comparability incremental to audit firm and audit office effects. Our results are consistent across...

Analyzing a large sample of non-U.S. public firms from 31 countries that obtain private loans, we find that loan syndicates that lend to borrowers that employ Big N auditors are larger and less concentrated and that the lead arrangers and largest investors of these syndicates are able to hold a...