Auditors play a crucial role in keeping the financial system honest. Their job is to protect investors by making sure financial reports are accurate and trustworthy, helping people have confidence in financial markets.

Auditors are trained to be level-headed, impartial watchdogs that remain skeptical when evaluating evidence so they can give an objective opinion on whether a company’s financial statements are fairly reported.

Without auditors, the public would struggle to trust what companies say about their finances. But this, of course, depends on auditors doing their jobs objectively and consistently.

Our new study, co-authored with Tim Bauer from the University of Waterloo and Sean Hillison from Virginia Tech, shows something unexpectedly human gets in the way of auditors doing their job well: incivility, or rudeness. When clients snap at, dismiss or belittle auditors, it doesn’t just sting — it can wear away at audit quality.

The quality of audits has become a growing concern among regulators. In recent years, both Canadian and American audit watchdogs have reported concerning rates of audit deficiencies.

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