the optimal pattern of selecting audit institutions with an emphasis on independence based on the fuzzy delphi approach

The independence of audit institutions has an effective role in the quality of audit institutions’ reports, the fees of audit institutions, and the disclosure of frank and open opinions of audit institutions, away from any financial and kinship relationships, etc. so far, the independence of the auditor and its criteria have been discussed more than the independence of the auditing institutions. in the current situation, the appearance of the auditor’s choice is based on legal criteria, and this choice is often made by the managers who are responsible for the company’s performance. although the commercial law leaves the selection of the auditor to the general assembly and the charter of the audit committee of the securities and exchange organization entrusts the task of examining and recommending the auditor to the audit committee, but the selection is made by the board of directors, the managing director, the director of the affairs of assemblies and companies and sometimes it is done in lower organizational levels, such as financial managers, which brings many problems. therefore, our goal is to provide the optimal model for the selection of audit institutions by an independent institution and authority, with an emphasis on independence. for this purpose, we used the fuzzy delphi method to collect the opinions of experts in this regard. the selection of the audit institute and the assignment of work to the audit institutes by an independent and reference body will increase the independence of the audit institutes. the results of this study show that we can increase and maintain the independence of the audit institutes and not the auditor in this way. choosing audit institutions with this approach can have many positive effects, including proper distribution of work between audit institutions, increasing the quality of audit institutions’ reports, increasing investors’ trust and as a result increasing investment, preparing a reliable and independent report without the influence of the manager and the company, for the institutions to carry the executive and supervision of the country.