Business Law, Public Responsibility, and Ethics Commons^™

An Analysis Of Fraud Prevention And Detection In Not-For-Profit Organizations In The State Of South Carolina, Mary Gibson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study analyzed fraud detection and prevention techniques and analyzed if there was a relationship between the techniques and the detection of fraud. The combined techniques were fraud risk assessment, fraud risk register, code of conduct, fraud assessment training, whistle-blower policy, fraud control plan, fraud control policy, and internal control review. Nonprofits are vulnerable to fraud and costly for the organizations that rely heavily on donations to provide needed services or goods to a community. Through analyzing 109 nonprofits surveyed in South Carolina, the researcher found 59 reported fraud occurrences and 86 percent were using fraud detection and prevention techniques. …

Ethics Readiness: An Analysis Of Community College Students' Moral Sensitivity Scores, Julie Wallace

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

In this retrospective causal-comparative study, the readiness of Virginia community college students to receive an accounting ethics curriculum was analyzed by measuring and comparing their moral sensitivity scores to the moral sensitivity scores of a group of four year university students. A sample of college students attending community college principles of accounting courses and a sample of college students attending four year university principles of accounting courses were administered a nationally recognized moral sensitivity survey instrument, the Defining Issues Test 2 (DIT2). The survey results were analyzed using a t-test for differences between means. It was found that there was …

Accounting For Goodwill Pre&Post Sfas 142 And The Implications For Earnings Management, Liang Jian Wu

Honors Scholar Theses

This thesis explores how impairment charges driven by management assessment have led to the possibility of earnings management under the SFAS 142 standard. The goal of carrying out this research is to help the user understand the implications behind allowing management to judge impairment charges (US GAAP) versus pre SFAS 142 when intangibles such as a goodwill were amortized (currently IFRS).

How has SFAS 142 opened the door for earnings management? If there is evidence to prove this assumption, then what factors drive management's impairment decisions. This information is pertinent to investors when analyzing a potential investment as goodwill can …

Backdated Stock Options Ownership Impact On The Corporation, Management, & Shareholders, Karen Cascini, Alan Delfavero

WCBT Faculty Publications

In the post-Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOx) world, there has been an unprecedented crackdown on fraudulent activity occurring within corporate America. During recent years, many companies have granted stock options to their executives and employees as part of compensation packages. While the issuance of stock options as a component of compensation is considered to be a legal practice, corruption has taken this corporate resource to unlawful heights. Recently, numerous corporations have been in the news for potentially backdating stock options. Accordingly, the purpose of this paper is to distinguish between legal and illegal aspects of backdating stock options, and to examine the …

Heedless Globalism: The Sec's Roadmap To Accounting Convergence, William W. Bratton

All Faculty Scholarship

The Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) has introduced a "Roadmap" that describes a process leading to mandatory use of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) by domestic issuers by 2014. The SEC justifies this initiative on the grounds that global standardization yields cost savings and an ultimate gain in comparability, facilitating the search for global opportunities by u.s. investors and making u.s. capital markets more attractive to foreign issuers. This Article shows that the offered justification is inadequate. The SEC frames the matter as a choice between two institutional frameworks for standard setting, holding out high quality sets of standards, asking which …

Treatment Differences And Political Realities In The Gaap-Ifrs Debate, William W. Bratton, Lawrence A. Cunningham

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Quality Control Defects Revealed In Smaller Firms' Pcaob Inspection Reports, Dana R. Hermanson, Richard W. Houston

Faculty and Research Publications

The article reports the study of Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) on the quality control (QC) defects of small audit firms. Topics including the accounting lapses of small auditing firms, tips on complying QC standards and importance of inspection on the auditing industry are discussed. Study reveals that smaller firms have deficient processes in conducting audit quality. The article notes that PCAOB is expected to increase campaign in assisting audit firms while small audit firms are encouraged to address their QC deficiencies.

An Assessment Of The Impact Of The Sarbanes-Oxley Act On The Investigation Violations Of The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Karen Cascini, Alan L. Delfavero

WCBT Faculty Publications

During the late 1990s and early 2000s, a plethora of corporate scandals occurred. Due to these corporate debacles, corporate executives have been placed under fire. In response to such unethical conduct with regard to internal practices and financial reporting, legislation has been passed in order to ensure that corporations conduct their business in an ethical manner. The purpose of this paper is to assess the connection between the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 (FCPA) and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOx), to determine whether SOx has influenced the FCPA’s investigative violation activities by examining the number of such investigations …

Private Standards, Public Governance: A New Look At The Financial Accounting Standards Board, William W. Bratton

All Faculty Scholarship

The Financial Accounting Standards Board (the “FASB”) presents a puzzle: How has this private standard setter managed simultaneously (1) to remain independent, (2) to achieve institutional stability and legitimacy, and (3) to operate in a politicized context in the teeth of op-position from its own constituents? This Article looks to governance design to account for this institutional success. The FASB’s founders made a strategic choice to create a regulatory agency that sought independence rather than political responsiveness. The FASB also set out a coherent theory of accounting, the “Conceptual Framework,” to contain and direct its decisions. The Conceptual Framework contributed …

How Sales Executives Can Avoid Accounting Fraud Allegations, Mark S. Beasley, Dana R. Hermanson

Faculty and Research Publications

Is accounting fraud only a concern for CEOs and financial executives? This article discusses recent cases in which the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged Sales Vice Presidents for their role in accounting fraud. The authors offer suggestions to help sales executives steer clear of accounting fraud allegations.

Rules, Principles, And The Accounting Crisis In The United States, William W. Bratton

All Faculty Scholarship

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the Securities Exchange Commission move too quickly ·when they prod the Financial Accounting Standards Board, the standard setter for US GAAP, to move immediately to a principles-based system. Priorities respecting reform of corporate reporting in the US need to be ordered more carefully. Incentive problems impairing audit performance should be solved first through institutional reform insulating the audit from the negative impact of rent-seeking and solving adverse selection problems otherwise affecting audit practice. So long as auditor independence and management incentives respecting accounting treatments remain suspect. the US reporting system holds out no actor plausibly positioned …

Financial Information Resources For Special Librarians, Di Su

Publications and Research

Speed has always been a competitive factor and corporate asset in business world. The growth of the Internet has created an equal opportunity for information service professionals in both big and small companies to improve their efficiency. The prominent advantages of Web source are currency, accessibility, and thus, the speed. You are provided with instant updates on issues like rules, official statements, interpretations, statistics, etc., and these documents can be accessed twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. There are so many valuable Web sites on the Internet that it is impossible to include them all in this article, …

Corporate Regulation In Australia: Fact Or Fiction, K. Cooper

Faculty of Business - Accounting & Finance Working Papers

This paper recognises and takes as given there is a recurring cycle of regulatory failure, regulatory reform. It also accepts the arguments of a small number of authors that there are flaws within the regulatory mechanism which contribute to the perpetuation of the regulatory failure, regulatory reform cycle. However, this paper argues that these flaws are but a symptom of more deeply seated problems. The regulatory framework is weak in very fundamental and strategic areas including the nature of legislation and accounting standards, enforcement and overall administration. The fact that these weaknesses are not adequately addressed or rectified suggests that …

Accountants’ Liability To Third Parties For Negligent Misrepresentation: The Search For A New Limiting Principle, J. H. Leibman, Anne Kelly

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

Examines the liability of accountants in the United States to third parties for negligent misrepresentation.

Ethical Issues And Practising Accountants' Perceptions Of The Code Of Ethics: Some Malaysian Evidence, L. C. Choo

Faculty of Business - Accounting & Finance Working Papers

This study attempted to provide some empirical evidence of the ethical issues and conflicts faced by practitioners and to gauge their perceptions on the relevance and usefulness of the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA) Code of Ethics as a guide to ethical behaviour. The results showed that a majority of respondents agreed that the Code helped them to be more aware of ethical concerns in their work and decisions, and that it also enhanced public confidence and professional image besides improving intraprofessional relationships. No significant relationship was seen by respondents between the Code and a firm's competitive position. Rules on …