FEI Survey: 'Slight' Audit Fee Increase in 2008

Companies saw only a slight increase in audit fees in 2008 compared with the previous year, according to an annual survey from Financial Executives Research Foundation (FERF), the research affiliate of Financial Executives International.

The sample included "more than 360 executives representing both U.S. publicly held companies (of which 76% were either "accelerated filers" or "large accelerated filers") and privately held companies and foreign companies, to gauge the total fees companies paid to external auditors in 2008 and overall satisfaction with audit firms," according to a press release.

From the survey: Publicly held companies paid on average $3.7 million in total audit fees for fiscal year 2008, representing an increase of 2.2 percent over total audit fees paid for the prior fiscal year. In comparison, total audit fees paid by privately held companies responding to the survey averaged $219,500, a 3.7 percent increase over the prior year. Public company audits averaged approximately 9,881 hours in 2008, while private companies averaged about 1,903 hours.

This year's survey also indicated that private company respondents are more active in seeking a new audit firm, when compared to their public company counterparts -- and "an overwhelming majority of public company respondents" used Big Four audit firms.