Business Commons^™

The Influence Of Irrelevant Information On Is Auditor Key Risk Factor Predictions, Daniel D. Selby

Accounting Faculty Publications

Can information systems (IS) auditors ignore irrelevant information when they assess key risk factors (KRFs)? Irrelevant information is information that is of little or no value to a specific task or predicted future outcome. When assessing a KRF, IS auditors sift through numerous pieces of information to target items that are relevant to understanding the KRF. Some items encountered by IS auditors may be relevant to understanding the KRF, while other items encountered may be irrelevant. IS auditors should ignore irrelevant information when they assess KRFs.

An example of irrelevant information that an IS auditor may encounter during a financial …

Do Ceos And Principal Financial Officers Take A "Bath" Separately Or Together?: An Investigation Of Discretionary Accruals Surrounding Appointments Of New Ceos And Pfos, Marshall A. Geiger, David S. North

Accounting Faculty Publications

This study presents the first targeted examination of changes in financial reporting surrounding the appointment of both new CEOs and Principal Financial Officers (PFOs). We identify companies that appoint new CEOs and PFOs in the period 1995 to 2002 and find that the change in discretionary accruals is negative and significant in the year of hire (from t-1 to t) for firms appointing a new CEO or both a new CEO and PFO (i.e., the "big bath"), but not for firms appointing only a new PFO. We also find that firms appointing both executives in the same year report significant …