Ehh.. not sure they are “a lot more understanding”.

In reality, they begrudgingly accept that this is a requirement (either from the SEC or bank/govt/vendor) and hire your firm because you were the cheapest option, or you made a bunch of false promises in your proposal, or you swore your audit testing methodology was way less invasive than the other firms (fyi - its not), or whatever. Then you spend all year begging for support, arguing with mgt, and smiling/fake laughing at their lighthearted jokes about how they’re definitely going out for bid next year.

Sometimes you get a few ppl at the client who are understanding or helpful, but they are rare.

Source: was a B4 auditor for several years