The effect of the characteristics of audit offices on the level of sectoral specialization: an exploratory study on a sample of auditing offices and companies in Iraq

This study aims at measuring the impact of the characteristics of the audit offices represented by (the size of the audit office, the length of the engagement period, the professional experience, the reputation of the office) on the level of sectoral specialization. This goal is achieved by addressing the issue of the characteristics of audit offices in all their details and identifying the impact that these characteristics have on the level of sectoral specialization. The researchers adopted the questionnaire form to collect the necessary information, as (155) questionnaires are distributed to the research sample represented by auditing offices and companies licensed to practice the profession according to the bulletin issued by the Board of Audit and Profession of Auditing in Iraq for the year (2021). A number of (120) valid questionnaires are retrieved for analysis. The research concludes that there is a significant correlation relationship between the characteristics of audit offices and sectoral specialization, as well as the presence of a significant effect of the characteristics of audit offices on the level of sectoral specialization. The most important issue recommended by the research is the need for audit offices to pay attention to all the characteristics that enable it to improve its professional performance at a time when competition is increasing between these offices, in addition to urging audit offices and companies to follow sectoral specialization as one of the most important strategies to distinguish between them.