2,514 changes reported over the past two years
That's about one-fourth of all U.S. publicly traded companies.
More than 1,600 companies changed their outside accounting firm in 2004, up 78 percent from 2003, reported proxy research firm Glass Lewis & Co.
Smaller businesses were more likely to changes auditors. According to the study, 85 percent of the companies that did so rang up $100 million or less in revenues last year.
The most common reasons that companies switched auditors:
-- Audit firms discontinuing public-client work because of extra regulatory demands;
-- Corporate mergers; and
-- Lower fees at the new firm.
Only 19 companies last year, versus 27 a year earlier, switched auditors because of disagreements over accounting matters.
The increased changes are "inconsistent with the arguments put forth in the past by the accounting firms, that changing auditors reduced audit quality," a Glass Lewis analyst said.
The biggest beneficiaries are the second-tier audit firms, which got a net gain of 117 clients last year.
The Big Four netted a loss of 400, 200 from Ernst alone.
BDO Seidman picked up the most new clients, 109.
And 61 companies changed auditors at least twice last year; most had less than $25 million in revenue. The report explained it as "opinion shopping."
