Audit fees for small filers vary wildly, and it's hard to know if yours is reasonable. This benchmarks your fee against comparable sub-$200M filers and shows what pushes it up or down.
What this tool does
You enter your size and a few complexity markers; it estimates a peer fee range so you can see whether you're high, low, or in-band — and why.
Who it's for
CFOs and audit-committee members at small-cap and micro-cap companies negotiating or sanity-checking audit fees.
How to use it — step by step
- Enter your size. Revenue / assets / market cap band.
- Add complexity markers. Restatement, material weakness, foreign ops, going concern, number of entities.
- Read your range. Where your fee sits versus comparable filers.
- Use it in the conversation. Bring the range to your audit-committee or fee negotiation.
How to read your result
Being above the range isn't automatically wrong — complexity, restatements, and first-year audits justify higher fees. Use it to ask better questions, not to demand a cut.
Worked examples
The same tool behaves differently depending on what you put in. Here are 3 situations.
$30M-revenue SRC, clean history
Inputs: Simple ops, one entity, no issues.
What the tool shows: Shows a typical peer band; if you're well above it with no complexity, that's worth a conversation.
What to do: Ask your firm what's driving the premium.
Pre-revenue biotech
Inputs: Little revenue, but complex equity and R&D.
What the tool shows: Explains why low revenue doesn't mean a low fee — warrants, going concern, and equity complexity drive hours.
What to do: Set expectations internally before you're surprised.
Company coming off a restatement
Inputs: Prior-year restatement and remediation.
What the tool shows: Flags that fees are expected to be materially higher during and after a restatement.
What to do: Budget for it; it normalises once controls are proven.
Common questions
Where does the benchmark come from? Public audit-fee disclosures for comparable small filers — it's an estimate range, not your firm's quote.
Will this get my fee reduced? It gives you leverage and context; the fee is still a negotiation.
Is fee alone a quality signal? No — cheapest isn't best. Match fee to risk and firm capability.