The aim of the present study is to evaluate the relationship between auditor and client and the effect of such a distance on the audit quality and timely audit report in companies listed on Tehran Stock Exchange. A total of 108 companies was selected for this purpose during 2010-2016 and the obtained results indicated that in case of presence a local auditor, either he/she is a high-ranked one or not, the possibility of signing a contract with the nonlocal auditor will decline, significantly. Finally, there is a positive and significant relationship between selecting a local auditor and timeliness of the audit report. The results of this study show that there is no significant relationship between client risk and local auditor selection as well as auditor and client and audit quality. No study is conducted so far on the distance between auditors and the employer. The topic of the use of non/local auditors and their impact on reporting risk, audit fee, audit quality, and the issuance of a timely report is not studied so far, so the project contributes to the innovation and presents some new ideas in this area.

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