Who is this article for?

Users that want to understand auditor relationships in the platform.

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Ideagen Audit Analytics tracks auditor relationships across four interrelated databases, each capturing a different dimension of the auditor-company relationship.

1. Databases

Ideagen Audit Analytics does not track auditor relationships in a single database. Instead, it uses four interrelated databases, each capturing a different dimension of the auditor-company relationship:

• Auditor Engagements tells you who the current auditor is
• Auditor Changes tells you when and why auditors were hired or dismissed
• Audit Opinions tells you what the auditor reported on the financial statements
• Form AP tells you which individual partners performed the work

The answer to "Where do I find auditor data?" depends on what you're trying to learn. These databases are designed to answer different questions and are structured differently as a result. Understanding how they relate to each other saves time and prevents incomplete analysis.

The databases are connected in various ways:

• Engagements is derived; the others are collected - Engagements doesn't have its own source filings. It's the product of logic applied to data from Changes and Opinions. The Activity field in Engagements tells you which dataset provided the basis for the current auditor determination. The exception is Fund Engagements, which uses opinion data only.
• Changes and Opinions track different things about the same relationship - Changes tracks the hiring and firing of auditors. Opinions tracks the reports those auditors issue. A company that has had the same auditor for 10 years will have zero records in Changes (for that period) but 10 records in Opinions.
• Form AP is layered on top of Opinions - It adds partner-level detail to the opinion record. You won't find Form AP data on its own. It's accessed through the Opinions database.
• Auditor keys link across databases - Auditor key fields (for example, Auditor Key in Engagements, Departed/Engaged Auditor Key in Changes) provide a consistent identifier for matching auditor records across databases. Affiliate keys work the same way for tracking member firms within global networks.

2. Getting information

2.1. Auditor Engagements

The Auditor Engagements database identifies the current auditor for each entity.

For SEC registrants, there is one record per company. The current auditor is determined using auditor change and audit opinion data. The Activity field shows the data source: "Engagement" for auditor changes, "Opinion" for audit opinions. The Activity Year indicates the record's recency.

A company enters the database when Ideagen Audit Analytics collects its first audit opinion. Inactive companies remain included, so entities like those deregistered in 2016 still show their last auditor. Thus, the database covers all entities ever tracked, not just active filers.

Auditor tenure is included. For SEC, the Auditor Since Year shows when the current auditor began, and the Auditor Since Code indicates if this date is exact ("Since") or approximate ("Since at Least").

Sometimes, current auditor info is blank, usually during gaps between auditor dismissal and new engagement. Until the new auditor starts, fields remain empty after the dismissal date.

With one record per company, this database is ideal for point-in-time queries: Who audits this company? How long have they served? How many SEC clients does a firm have?

Important

Engagements does not contain historical records. If you need to know who the auditor was in a prior year, you'll need to use Changes and Opinions to reconstruct that history.

2.1.1. Regional differences

The Engagements structure varies for Canada and Europe, both permitting multiple auditors per company due to common dual audits outside the US. Canada includes Auditor Since Date and Auditor Since Code. European Engagements add Auditor Since Date, Auditor Since Year, Auditor Since Code, a calculated Auditor Tenure (years engaged), and an Estimated Rotation Year based on EU rotation rules. The US and Canada have no auditor rotation requirements.

Fund Engagements also allow multiple auditors per entity but rely solely on audit opinion data, not auditor change data, ensuring no missing auditor information.

2.2. Auditor Changes

The Auditor Changes database records individual auditor dismissal and engagement events, with each row representing a single change: departure, new engagement, or both.

For SEC registrants, auditor changes mainly come from 8-K filings (Item 4.01 – Changes in Registrant's Certifying Accountant), supplemented by 6-K, N-CEN, and N-CSR filings. Data collection involves multiple passes to capture initial disclosures, responses, and amendments.

Key fields include auditor names and keys, change date, dismissal or resignation status, and flags for issues like internal control problems, restatements, going concern opinions, disagreements, or SEC investigations.

This event-driven database helps answer when a company changed auditors, if issues were involved, and how many changes occurred within an industry or period.

2.3. Audit Opinions

The Audit Opinions database records the auditor's formal report on financial statements for each periodic filing.

Each entry corresponds to one opinion per filing, making this database the most detailed. Companies have multiple records over time, one per annual filing.

It includes the opinion type (unqualified, qualified, adverse, disclaimer), any going concern modifications, and other report details. Since 2018, SEC opinions also show auditor tenure from the opinion text, which may differ from Engagements data as they are sourced separately.

2.4. Form AP

Form AP data identifies individual partners responsible for audits and supplements the Audit Opinions database.

Since 2017, the PCAOB requires registered audit firms to file Form AP, revealing the engagement and sometimes review partners. This data is available for download from the Audit Opinions database and company profiles (Audit Opinion tab), and included in data feeds.

Form AP also lists other accounting firms involved, aiding understanding of audit structures for complex multinational entities.

In Canada and Europe, partner names appear directly in audit opinions, so they are recorded in those regions' Audit Opinions databases.

3. Choosing a database

Below are some common questions and the right database to use.

4. Working with data feeds

Each of the core databases has a corresponding feed across regions.

4.1. Auditor Engagements

• Feed 7 – SEC
• Feed 69 – Canada
• Feed 73 – Europe
• Feed 81 – Funds

4.2. Auditor Changes

• Feed 2 – SEC
• Feed 54 – Canada
• Feed 75 – Europe

4.3. Audit Opinions

Including Form AP for SEC:

• Feed 34 – SEC
• Feed 62 – Canada
• Feed 72 – Europe

A historical engagements feed also exists for SEC only (Feed 8), though it is not available on the platform or for other regions. This dataset is complex and may require additional guidance. Contact us if you are interested.

Note

Feed field names may differ from the platform. Refer to the data dictionary for the specific feed you are working with, and use the Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD) included with the dictionary for joining across tables.