The Determinants of Audit Fees for Companies in Vietnam. The purpose of this study is analyzing the determinants of audit fees for public companies in Vietnam because audit fees are one of the important factors influencing audit quality and audit tasks. | Journal of Economics and Development, , , August 2017, pp. 68-88 ISSN 1859 0020 The Determinants of Audit Fees for Companies in Vietnam Nguyen Thi Phuong Hong University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Email: hongntp@ Tran Le Hoang My University of Melbourne, Australia Email: hoangmy278@ Abstract The purpose of this study is analyzing the determinants of audit fees for public companies in Vietnam because audit fees are one of the important factors influencing audit quality and audit tasks. According to the research result, this study has identified that only three of ten determinants influence the audit fees significantly, and these are auditee size, auditee complexity and reputation of audit companies, and this result is compared to the previous research on audit fees. Based on the comparison, this study discusses some reasons why only three determinants influence the audit fee significantly while the other factors do not. Finally, some recommendations are proposed in order to help public companies and the audit companies in Vietnam to determine the audit fee more accurately. Keywords: Audit fee; audit tasks; auditor; audit quality. Journal of Economics and Development 68 Vol. 19, , August 2017 1. Introduction Jensen and Meckling (1976) identified that agency theory could include a contract between a principal and an agent to have an agreement that the agent had to represent the principal making decisions based on the benefit of the principal. And the classic agency relationship is the relationship between shareholders (the principals) and managers (the agents). For the purpose of improving the reliability of financial statements and protecting the benefits of shareholders, many public companies in Vietnam have signed audit contracts with an audit company each year. In an audit contract, the audit fee is one of the more important agreements made between two parties because the audit fee influences closely the .
