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Talking to New Auditors about Client Service.

Bibliographic Details
Title: Talking to New Auditors about Client Service.
Authors: Ricci, Michael A.1 (AUTHOR), Hatfield, Richard C.2 (AUTHOR), Hoang, Kris2 (AUTHOR), Thomas, Edward3 (AUTHOR)
Source: Accounting Horizons. Sep2026, Vol. 40 Issue 3, p285-297. 13p.
Subject Terms: *Auditors, *Client relations, *Auditing, *Quality of service, Professional-client communication, Face-to-face communication
Abstract: SYNOPSIS: This paper challenges practitioners and educators to reconsider how they talk to new auditors about the client service aspect of auditing. New auditors will undoubtedly be coached to provide excellent client service (e.g., to communicate timely, work around client schedules, make small talk). Whereas it might be tempting to frame these practices as commercial endeavors that are separable from, or even inconsistent with, auditors' responsibility to the public, emerging research links these practices to improvements in audit quality. We synthesize this research and, based on the evidence, propose that high-quality client service can be presented to new auditors as a strategic tool that elicits client cooperation and empowers auditors to ask tough questions. We then report experimental evidence indicating that students respond more positively to strategic than commercial framing of client service when these alternatives are directly contrasted, but not when this contrast is absent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Accounting Horizons is the property of American Accounting Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Business Source Index
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An: 196599152
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PubType: Academic Journal
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IllustrationInfo
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  Data: Talking to New Auditors about Client Service.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Ricci%2C+Michael+A%2E%22">Ricci, Michael A.</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Hatfield%2C+Richard+C%2E%22">Hatfield, Richard C.</searchLink><relatesTo>2</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Hoang%2C+Kris%22">Hoang, Kris</searchLink><relatesTo>2</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Thomas%2C+Edward%22">Thomas, Edward</searchLink><relatesTo>3</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Accounting+Horizons%22">Accounting Horizons</searchLink>. Sep2026, Vol. 40 Issue 3, p285-297. 13p.
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  Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Auditors%22">Auditors</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Client+relations%22">Client relations</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Auditing%22">Auditing</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Quality+of+service%22">Quality of service</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Professional-client+communication%22">Professional-client communication</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Face-to-face+communication%22">Face-to-face communication</searchLink>
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
  Group: Ab
  Data: SYNOPSIS: This paper challenges practitioners and educators to reconsider how they talk to new auditors about the client service aspect of auditing. New auditors will undoubtedly be coached to provide excellent client service (e.g., to communicate timely, work around client schedules, make small talk). Whereas it might be tempting to frame these practices as commercial endeavors that are separable from, or even inconsistent with, auditors' responsibility to the public, emerging research links these practices to improvements in audit quality. We synthesize this research and, based on the evidence, propose that high-quality client service can be presented to new auditors as a strategic tool that elicits client cooperation and empowers auditors to ask tough questions. We then report experimental evidence indicating that students respond more positively to strategic than commercial framing of client service when these alternatives are directly contrasted, but not when this contrast is absent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
– Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright
  Label:
  Group: Ab
  Data: <i>Copyright of Accounting Horizons is the property of American Accounting Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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RecordInfo BibRecord:
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    Identifiers:
      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.2308/HORIZONS-2024-096
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      – Code: eng
        Text: English
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      Pagination:
        PageCount: 13
        StartPage: 285
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Auditors
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Client relations
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Auditing
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Quality of service
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Professional-client communication
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Face-to-face communication
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: Talking to New Auditors about Client Service.
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            NameFull: Ricci, Michael A.
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            NameFull: Hatfield, Richard C.
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            NameFull: Hoang, Kris
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            NameFull: Thomas, Edward
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          Dates:
            – D: 01
              M: 09
              Text: Sep2026
              Type: published
              Y: 2026
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            – TitleFull: Accounting Horizons
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