Abstract: Taking China’s A-share listed companies from 2007 to 2012 as the objects, this paper conducts an empirical test of the relationship between the abnormal audit fees and the dimensions of each earnings quality and the response coefficient of future earnings. The empirical results show that the absolute value of abnormal audit fees has a significant negative correlation with the dimensions of each earnings quality and the response coefficient of future earnings, while the correlation coefficient of the level value of abnormal audit fees has changed significantly in the two kinds of samples: excessive audit fees and insufficient audit fees. The companies with excessive or insufficient audit fees have worse earnings quality. This result suggests that the abnormal audit fees can be used as an indirect measurement for earnings quality, and the absolute value, rather than the level value, of the abnormal audit fees should be adopted in China’s capital markets.

Key words: abnormal audit fees; earnings quality; forward-earnings response coefficient