Anecdotal evidence says that professional fees are being squeezed during the credit crunch, but auditors’ earnings have been climbing. What does it mean, asks Liz Fisher.

Fees earned by the Big Four firms – plus the sole mid-tier firm in the survey, BDO Stoy Hayward – through their work as auditors to the FTSE 100 have climbed sharply over the past year. This year’s survey of the audit fees that the FTSE 100 auditors earned showed that fees paid for the statutory audit rose by 18% over the year, with total fees earned by company auditors rising by 11% over the previous year. This compares with a 6% rise in statutory audit fees earned in last year’s survey, and a rise in total fees of 6.2% (though comparisons are confused by the fact that there were only 99 companies in last year’s survey, as the newly-merged TUI Travel had yet to produce an annual report).

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