The influence of auditor ethics, auditor independence and auditor experience with audit fees as moderating variables on auditors in public accounting firms in the Sumatera, Kalimantan, Bali and Eastern of Indonesia Regions

This research aims to determine the influence of auditor ethics, auditor independency, and auditor experience on audit quality and to find out whether audit fees can moderate the influence of these variables on audit quality. The data used is primary data with the population in this study being auditors who work at public accounting firms in the Sumatera, Kalimantan, Bali & Eastern of Indonesia Regions. In this study, an Area Sample was used which obtained 118 auditors in that area and 60 people responded or 51% of the auditors. The analytical methods used in this research are Multiple Linear Regression and Moderation Regression Analysis using SPSS as a data processing tool. The results show that auditor ethics influence audit quality, while auditor independence and experience do not influence audit quality. Likewise, audit fees cannot moderate the influence of audit ethics, audit independence and auditor experience on audit quality, and also audit fees cannot influence the audit quality.


Introduction
A public accounting firm is a place where a public accountant that called an independent auditor is based in providing audit, verification, consultation services and analyzing financial reports for companies or entities.Based on data from the Financial Professional Development Center of the Indonesian Ministry of Finance's that published on late 2023, the number of active public accountants is 1,552.Meanwhile, the active public accounting firm in the Republic of Indonesia were 480 public accounting firms.The Sumatera region has 48 public accounting firms, Kalimantan region has 10 public accounting firms, Bali region has 14 public accounting firms, and in the Eastern of Indonesia region has 16 public accounting firms.Only 18% of public accounting firms are in the capital city of Jakarta and Java.This implies that job opportunities in this field are wide open The Contrarian: Finance, Accounting, and Business Research Volume 3, Issue 2, 2024 pp. 192-203 but only a few people are interested in this profession.
Moreover, there is still a lack of auditors who live in the region, where this region produces large natural resources, which makes it possible for many corporate entities in the region to be targets of auditors and public accounting firms.In the Kalimantan region, The Capital City of Nusantara (or IKN) is being built as the center of Indonesian government for the 2045 vision.In Sumatera, there are many industries that operate in biological and non-biological natural resources, with the potential for many companies operating in this field.Bali is one of the world's tourist destination centers.There are several regions in Eastern of Indonesia that are no less valuable or rich in natural resources.
Nowadays, several scandals in the world of auditing often occur, such as violations of the professional code of ethics and independence, manipulation of financial reports, and fraud in public accountant certification.Looking at the list of audit scandals above, it is still necessary for an auditor to understand the factors that influence audit quality.Several evidence by Alfiati (2017), Septayanti et al. (2021), Suhariadi and Arif (2022), and Suprianto (2023) show the relationship between auditor ethics, auditor independence, auditor experience, audit fees, and audit quality.Likewise, Kusuma and Prabowo (2019), Naila and Rachmawati ( 2021 This research is important to carry out with the aim of analyzing whether auditor ethics, auditor independence and auditor experience have a positive effect on audit quality with audit fees as a moderator.On this research, the auditor is domiciled in an area that has the greatest natural resources, industrial areas, world tourism and also the center of national government in the future.The auditors also registered by the Indonesian Ministry of Finance's and especially lived in the Sumatera, Kalimantan, Bali and Eastern Indonesia regions.

Basic concept
Attribution theory by Heider (1958) explains the process of how causes and motives of a person's behavior.Related to a person's behavior, goal setting theory by Locke (1968) shows that there was a connection between goals and a person's performance on tasks.Audit quality is a systematic, independent and documented process for obtaining audit evidence and objective evaluation to determine the extent to which audit criteria are met (Mocuta & Spiridon, 2013).Generally, ethic is the rules, norms or procedures that are usually used as guidelines or principles for an individual in carrying out actions and behavior.Specifically, auditor ethics is rules, norms or procedures for someone to behave in an audit (Arens et al., 2019).
Furthermore, independence takes an unbiased point of view in conducting audit testing, evaluating test results and issuing audit reports (Arens et al., 2019).Auditor experience is experience in auditing financial reports both in terms of length of time, number of assignments and types of companies that have been handled (Pratiwi & Kusumawati, 2024).Audit fees are also called service fees, namely mutually agreed upon fees received by public accountants from their entities or clients which is regulated by the Indonesian accountant's code of ethics.

Hypothesis development -The auditor ethics and audit quality.
Auditors can improve the quality of their audits by adopting and implementing ethical requirements embodied in objectivity, prudence, confidentiality, independence, competence and integrity (Suprianto, 2023) (2021) shows that audit fees strengthen the influence of auditor experience on audit quality.However, Suhariadi and Arif (2022) find that audit fees cannot strengthen or weaken the influence of auditor experience on audit quality.
According to Raya et al. (2024), determining audit fees is often related to the complexity of a company's business.Based on review, the hypothesis of this study can be written as follows.H7: auditor experience moderated by audit fees is significant on audit quality

Research method
This research uses quantitative approach for hypothesis testing.The data collection using instruments and statistical data analysis of relationships between variables, testing theories, and looking for generalizations that have predictive value.The data used is primary data using a questionnaire/questionnaire consisting of questions and measured by Likert 1 to 5. The sample is 118 respondents (auditors) who work in public accounting firms, especially in the Sumatera, Kalimantan region, Bali and in Eastern Indonesia.Questionnaires were distributed to respondents using communication tools via WhatsApp or e-mail and using Google forms.The sampling technique uses area sampling where the population can be identified by several geographic areas.Area samples are also called regional samples (Cooper & Emory, 1991).
The classical assumption test is an initial stage that must be fulfilled before multiple linear regression analysis (Ghozali, 2016).This test is carried out to provide certainty that the regression coefficients are unbiased and consistent and have accuracy in estimation.The classical assumption test is carried out to show that the test carried out has passed data normality, multicollinearity, autocorrelation and heteroscedasticity so that the test can be carried out into linear regression analysis.The classical assumption test is based on ordinary least squares (OLS) which aims to provide assurance that the regression equation obtained is accurate in estimation, unbiased and consistent.

Result
Table 1 shows the validity and reliability tests.The validity test is using Pearson correlation with significance levels of 5%.The reliability test is based on Cronbach's Alpha with a minimum value of 0.60.Based on those tests, the results show that data is valid and reliable.3 presents the results of multiple regressions for both models.The results show that the auditor ethics (X1) consistently significant for both models especially at level of significance of 5%.On findings, only H1 is accepted while others are rejected.The F-test shows that the regression model is fit.The R value shows that the relationship between independent and dependent variables is strong.The R 2 also shows that the independent variables can explain the dependent variable for 71.9% (for model 1) and 73.2% (for model 2).The results also show that the audit fees (X4) cannot play as moderator for other independent variables.(2022).In context of goal setting theory, the audit fees applied so far have been regulated so both experienced and inexperienced auditors with standard fees will provide quality audits.

Table 2 . The classical assumption tests
though the audit fee given is large or small.The audit fee received by the auditor is in accordance with the standards set by Indonesian Institute of Certified Public Accountants, so that the auditor can provide an appropriate opinion as appropriate.-The auditor experience and audit quality with audit fees as moderator.The findings on both models show that the audit fee variable cannot moderate the influence of the auditor experience variable on audit quality.The results of this research are not in line with Dewi and Ramantha (2019), Murdiansyah et al. (2021), and Suhariadi and Arif Auditor independence has no effect on audit quality for public accounting firm auditors in the Sumatera, Kalimantan, Bali and Eastern Indonesia regions.c.Auditor experience has no effect on audit quality for public accounting firm auditors in Sumatera, Kalimantan, Bali and Eastern Indonesia.d.Audit fees cannot moderate the influence of auditor ethics on audit quality for public accounting firm auditors in Sumatera, Kalimantan, Bali and Eastern Indonesia.e. Audit fees cannot moderate the influence of auditor independence on audit quality for public accounting firm auditors in Sumatera, Kalimantan, Bali and Eastern Indonesia.f.Audit fees cannot moderate the influence of auditor experience on audit quality for public accounting firm auditors in Sumatera, Kalimantan, Bali and Eastern Indonesia.g.Audit fees have no effect on audit quality for public accounting firm auditors in Sumatera, Kalimantan, Bali and Eastern Indonesia.