Non-audit service (sna) fees in the biggest Brazilian companies

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to characterize the costs of Non-Audit Services - SNA of the largest companies listed at BM&FBOVESPA. To achieve this study, the Reference Form - FR and Management Report - RA were used to find information about SNA disclosed in 2010 by the top 100 companies ranked by market value, which were listed at Exame magazine. To identify elements that characterize groups of firms with different SNA fees analysis of variance was used, evaluating variables from the total assets, equity, net income and external audit services - SAE fees. The results show that most SNA are used by companies to audit tax (31%). Moreover, the audit SOX holds a significant cost, representing 16% of total SNA, but there is a low incidence, which can be justified by a concern with recent corporate governance. One concern with the disclosure of SNA can arise because 50% of the costs evidenced by the companies comprising the group "other services" and the types of services that are part of this group are not explained. In addition, information inconsistencies were found between RF and RA in 35% of the companies. Concerning the cost variable of SNA, this study provides evidence that the highest SNA fees were evidenced by the sample companies which evidenced the highest SAE fees.