Purpose This study examines whether joint tenure between the engagement audit partner (EAP) and the chief financial officer (CFO) is associated with audit fees. Design/methodology/approach Using 1,492 firm-year observations from 262 non-financial firms listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand during 2016–2021, this study estimates audit fee models with firm-clustered standard errors and year and industry fixed effects. EAP–CFO joint tenure is measured as consecutive shared years and as an indicator of above-average joint tenure. Findings Longer EAP–CFO joint tenure is positively and significantly associated with audit fees. The association is concentrated in non-ESG100 firms, lower-leverage firms, non-loss firms, firms without foreign subsidiaries, economically important clients and non-Big 4 engagements. A first-difference specification shows that within-firm increases in joint tenure are associated with higher audit fees, while alternative cutoff tests indicate that the fee effect becomes most visible after the relationship persists for multiple years. Originality/value This study extends Asian auditing research by examining partner-level professional continuity between the signing audit partner and CFO, rather than social ties or audit firm-level mutual tenure. The additional tests contribute beyond a baseline association by identifying where the pricing effect is concentrated, whether it survives within-firm changes, and when repeated collaboration becomes economically salient.
Singhasomboon et al. (Mon,) studied this question.