Audit fee is a fee that company is expected to pay to an external auditor for performing audit and assurance services. This type of fees is of interest to both auditors and their clients as it represent cost to companies as much as reputation of quality of audit services. Companies are required by law to have their accounts audited at reasonable fee without compromising on quality of audit. On the other side, auditors expect to receive adequate fees for their services to maintain their services at a satisfactory level.
Al-Ajmi and Saudagaran (2011) stated that “audit market in Bahrain is governed by the Amiri Decree (no. 26) of 1996. Although this Act does not deal with the auditing standards, audit firms are expected to comply with International Standard on Accounting (ISA)”. “The Bahrain Commercial Companies Law of 1975”emphasizes that companies with limited liability status must get their financial statement audited by external auditors but does not specify any accounting standard guidelines. Joshi and Al-Bastaki (2000) stated that companies listed in the Bahrain Bourse follow ISA standards. The Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) is mandated with legislative powers in effecting its requirements on auditing guidelines. This research is to determine the implication of the factors such as i) Number of transactions ii)The sum of account receivable and inventory, iii) Information technology iv) Number of subsidiaries and v) Regulations that influence the audit fees in Bahrain.