2026 Audit Trust Index
Audit plays a critical role in capital markets by underpinning confidence in large companies and shaping investor decision-making. In the past decade, a string of corporate failures had led to calls for fundamental reform of UK audit, but the government decided in January of this year to stop work on the legislation that would have delivered it.
Although there is broad satisfaction with the quality of audit in the UK today, many challenges still lie in store, especially as a rapidly changing world requires new data and new decisions to be made on a near constant basis.
As an autonomous research and policy institute we bring together leaders from across the profession to support reform, shape best practice in UK public interest entity (PIE) audits, and drive meaningful change. It is essential, therefore, to understand how PIE audits are perceived by key stakeholder groups. Our annual Audit Trust Index tracks this sentiment in detail over time.
Explore our findings
Audit quality: Stakeholders remain satisfied
Stakeholder satisfaction with the quality of audit processes remains very high: 96% of respondents are ‘very’ or ‘somewhat’ satisfied with the quality of audit processes – close to the 100% satisfaction recorded in 2025 and significantly higher than the 83% recorded in 2024.
Key takeaway
UK audit is not perfect; there is no room for complacency. But key audit users are clear that they are happy with what is on offer and have been consistently happy over the past couple of years. It’s important to recognise the current strength of UK audit.
Explore our findings
Audit Value: Stakeholders happy but consistent concern on fees
This year’s ATI now measures stakeholders’ views on three types of value: the value of assurance that audit provides that a company’s financial statements are true and fair; the value of the insights audit provides that might otherwise have been unavailable to a company’s external or internal stakeholders; and audit’s value for money.
As with audit quality, the headlines are positive ones: 91% are satisfied with audit’s assurance that company financial statements are true and fair, 86% are satisfied with the value of its additional insights, and 80% are satisfied with audit’s value for money. The most obvious area for improvement, however, is on value for money. Audit fees are, if not a sore point (65% of stakeholders are satisfied), certainly not making all stakeholders happy. Satisfaction with audit fees is also down 16 percentage points from last year.
Key takeaway
Although UK PIE audit fee increases have plateaued recently, they are higher than they were just a few years ago. Higher fees have followed the sector’s significant investment in the systems, expertise and infrastructure needed to deliver high-quality audits consistently. The impact of COVID-19 also put upwards pressure on fees at the start of this decade. Auditors should communicate clearly with stakeholders about what is driving fees – and what stakeholders are getting in return.
AI in Audit: There’s still space for ‘human’ auditors
AI is transforming the delivery of audits, with rapid advancements in capability each year. Seventy-nine per cent of stakeholders are ‘somewhat’ or ‘very’ satisfied with how auditors are deploying technology and AI, down from 87% last year.
But as AI technology has improved and embedded itself into audits and day-today working life, some of last year’s key AI risks have receded. Stakeholders’ top AI risk is now auditors’ over-reliance on AI and a related drop in professional scepticism. Indeed, the survey results underlined stakeholders’ support for the importance of auditors’ human judgement.
Key takeaway
It’s important for the profession to communicate clearly about the role AI plays in the audit process, especially to investors and other external stakeholders, and why – when used correctly – it’s reliable. We will continue to examine how adoption of AI can strengthen audit quality and benefit all stakeholders in the process.
