Auditing models for the detection of qualified audit opinions in the UK public services sector

We develop classification models that could assist auditors during the examination of firms operating in the public services sector. The sample consists of 228 firms from the Health and Social work and the Education UK sectors. The models, both sector-specific and general ones, are developed with discriminant and logit analysis through a 10-fold cross-validation procedure. The models achieve a satisfactory accuracy in classifying financial statements as qualified or unqualified. The variables that are important across all models are the logarithm of total assets, the return on capital employed, and whether the auditor is one of the big four or not.