The Effect of Audit Partner National Office Experience on Audit and Career Outcomes
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Large public accounting firms routinely tout national office rotational experience; however, there is little empirical evidence on the costs and benefits of national office experience for audit partners and their firms. We examine the implications of this experience using a mixed-methods approach. We begin by conducting 18 (4) semi-structured interviews with audit partners with (without) national office experience. These interviewees share their perceptions on why auditors obtain such experience, the benefits and challenges stemming from this experience, and how this experience influences subsequent audit work. Then, we empirically examine how national office experience affects partners’ careers, client assignments, and audit outcomes. First, we find that while, on average, national office experience earlier in one’s career is associated with a longer time to partner, it does help auditors from smaller offices be promoted to partner a year earlier than small office partners without it. Second, we find that it helps audit partners, in general, later obtain coveted firm leadership positions. Third, while we do not find evidence of an average effect of audit partner national office experience on audit quality, we find that such experience earlier in an audit partner’s career leads to higher audit quality when the experience is matched to specific company needs. Our study provides the first comprehensive analysis of the perceived and actual benefits of auditor national office experience, which should interest students, audit firms, audit committees, audit regulators, and scholars researching the audit profession.
Language: English
Subfield: Accounting
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7135183103