In this study, using a large sample of firms from 27 countries around the world, we examine the relationship between disaggregated earnings forecasts and audit fees. We find that the positive association between management earnings forecasts and audit fees in prior studies is primarily driven by firms issuing management forecasts that contain disaggregated performance measures. We further find that better developed country‐level institutions can weaken the positive relation between disaggregated earnings forecasts and audit fees. Taken together, our findings support the important role of disaggregated earnings forecasts in signalling the credibility of prospective financial information provided by firms and shed light on the debate over the positive association between management earnings forecasts and audit fees.