Does working from home impact audit quality? evidence from non-pharmaceutical interventions during COVID-19

Monika Causholli; Sung Yuan Mark Cheng; Nargess Golshan

doi:10.1016/j.jaccpubpol.2026.107434

Does working from home impact audit quality? evidence from non-pharmaceutical interventions during COVID-19

Monika Causholli
, Sung Yuan Mark Cheng
, Nargess Golshan

Accountancy

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Catalyzed by the COVID-19 pandemic, many audit firms announced large-scale plans to adopt work-from-home (WFH) policies. It is unclear how this arrangement would affect audit quality. We exploit county-level non-pharmaceutical interventions, such as shelter-in-place orders and lockdowns, that exogenously increased local auditors’ WFH practices. We use a difference-in-differences research design to compare audit engagements that were affected by these policies to those that were not, including those within the same office. We find that WFH is associated with higher audit quality measured by discretionary accruals and going-concern opinions. We also find some evidence that these results are stronger for clients of Big-Six auditors and clients with lower tangible assets. Furthermore, audit fees are higher among auditors impacted by WFH policies. Overall, these findings improve our understanding of the implications of WFH policies for audit quality during COVID-19 and provide useful information for audit firms, audit committees, and regulators.

Original language	English
Article number	107434
Journal	Journal of Accounting and Public Policy
Volume	57
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaccpubpol.2026.107434
State	Published - May 2026

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2026 Elsevier Inc.

Funding

We thank Brian Bratten, Christopher Calvin, Anne Farrell, Jere Francis, Blake Holman, Kathryn Kadous, Sohee Kim, Robert Knechel, Wenyin Li, Miguel Minutti-Meza (Discussant), Anh Pham, Sydney Shu, Matthew Wieland, Michael Willenborg, and participants at the Accounting Ph.D. Colloquium at the University of Kentucky, United States; workshop participants at Miami University, United States and conference participants at the 2022 University of Illinois Audit Symposium and the 2023 Annual Labor and Accounting Conference for helpful comments and suggestions. We gratefully acknowledge financial support from the Deloitte Professorship, Gatton College of Business & Economics, the Von Allmen School of Accountancy at the University of Kentucky, United States and the Deloitte Doctoral Fellowship.

Funders
Lee Business School, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Von Allmen School of Accountancy

Keywords

Audit Quality
COVID-19
Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions
Remote Audits
Working from Home

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Accounting
Sociology and Political Science

Access to Document

10.1016/j.jaccpubpol.2026.107434

Cite this

@article{c625dbe1c78342d48e7b33da516496c7,

title = "Does working from home impact audit quality? evidence from non-pharmaceutical interventions during COVID-19",

abstract = "Catalyzed by the COVID-19 pandemic, many audit firms announced large-scale plans to adopt work-from-home (WFH) policies. It is unclear how this arrangement would affect audit quality. We exploit county-level non-pharmaceutical interventions, such as shelter-in-place orders and lockdowns, that exogenously increased local auditors{\textquoteright} WFH practices. We use a difference-in-differences research design to compare audit engagements that were affected by these policies to those that were not, including those within the same office. We find that WFH is associated with higher audit quality measured by discretionary accruals and going-concern opinions. We also find some evidence that these results are stronger for clients of Big-Six auditors and clients with lower tangible assets. Furthermore, audit fees are higher among auditors impacted by WFH policies. Overall, these findings improve our understanding of the implications of WFH policies for audit quality during COVID-19 and provide useful information for audit firms, audit committees, and regulators.",

keywords = "Audit Quality, COVID-19, Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions, Remote Audits, Working from Home",

author = "Monika Causholli and Cheng, \{Sung Yuan Mark\} and Nargess Golshan",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2026 Elsevier Inc.",

year = "2026",

month = may,

doi = "10.1016/j.jaccpubpol.2026.107434",

language = "English",

volume = "57",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Does working from home impact audit quality? evidence from non-pharmaceutical interventions during COVID-19

AU - Causholli, Monika

AU - Cheng, Sung Yuan Mark

AU - Golshan, Nargess

PY - 2026/5

Y1 - 2026/5

N2 - Catalyzed by the COVID-19 pandemic, many audit firms announced large-scale plans to adopt work-from-home (WFH) policies. It is unclear how this arrangement would affect audit quality. We exploit county-level non-pharmaceutical interventions, such as shelter-in-place orders and lockdowns, that exogenously increased local auditors’ WFH practices. We use a difference-in-differences research design to compare audit engagements that were affected by these policies to those that were not, including those within the same office. We find that WFH is associated with higher audit quality measured by discretionary accruals and going-concern opinions. We also find some evidence that these results are stronger for clients of Big-Six auditors and clients with lower tangible assets. Furthermore, audit fees are higher among auditors impacted by WFH policies. Overall, these findings improve our understanding of the implications of WFH policies for audit quality during COVID-19 and provide useful information for audit firms, audit committees, and regulators.

AB - Catalyzed by the COVID-19 pandemic, many audit firms announced large-scale plans to adopt work-from-home (WFH) policies. It is unclear how this arrangement would affect audit quality. We exploit county-level non-pharmaceutical interventions, such as shelter-in-place orders and lockdowns, that exogenously increased local auditors’ WFH practices. We use a difference-in-differences research design to compare audit engagements that were affected by these policies to those that were not, including those within the same office. We find that WFH is associated with higher audit quality measured by discretionary accruals and going-concern opinions. We also find some evidence that these results are stronger for clients of Big-Six auditors and clients with lower tangible assets. Furthermore, audit fees are higher among auditors impacted by WFH policies. Overall, these findings improve our understanding of the implications of WFH policies for audit quality during COVID-19 and provide useful information for audit firms, audit committees, and regulators.

KW - Audit Quality

KW - COVID-19

KW - Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions

KW - Remote Audits

KW - Working from Home

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105035070475

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105035070475#tab=citedBy

U2 - 10.1016/j.jaccpubpol.2026.107434

DO - 10.1016/j.jaccpubpol.2026.107434

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:105035070475

SN - 0278-4254

VL - 57

JO - Journal of Accounting and Public Policy

JF - Journal of Accounting and Public Policy

M1 - 107434

ER -

Does working from home impact audit quality? evidence from non-pharmaceutical interventions during COVID-19

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this