Auditor’s Reporting in the Dutch Market of Public Interest Entities: Exploring New Developments in a Diverse Market

Abstract

As of 2014, the extended auditor’s report has been introduced for all Dutch PIEs, including but not limited to listed entities. With this explorative study, we provide early insights into how reporting on key audit matters and materiality are applied in practice and whether this differs per category of Dutch PIEs. It appears that the Dutch PIE market is a rather heterogeneous market, including a large number of finance and holding companies, which also results in considerable differences regarding the numbers and subjects of key audit matters and the levels and bases of materiality, which could affect the informative value of auditor’s reporting. Therefore, the question arises whether reporting on key audit matters and materiality has the same relevance for all PIEs, while the results may also give reason to make these elements mandatory for companies that are not yet covered by the PIE-definition.