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Articles 1 - 30 of 57
Full-Text Articles in Accounting
Audit Evidence, Technology, And Judgement: A Review Of The Literature In Response To Ed‐500, Dereck Barr‐Pulliam, Christopher G. Calvin, Marc Eulerich, Arpine Maghakyan
Audit Evidence, Technology, And Judgement: A Review Of The Literature In Response To Ed‐500, Dereck Barr‐Pulliam, Christopher G. Calvin, Marc Eulerich, Arpine Maghakyan
Accounting Faculty Publications
In October 2022, the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) issued Exposure Draft 500 (ED-500). This is focused on revising and integrating the standard auditors use when evaluating audit evidence during an external audit. This study contributes to the ongoing discourse as the IAASB evaluates feedback to ED-500 and executes its standard-setting agenda. We review academic literature published in the past 10 years to synthesize extant knowledge specifically on the use of technology and the application of professional skepticism during audit evidence evaluation. Our review offers factors the IAASB should consider when seeking to modernize and future-proof its standards, …
An Extension Of The Theory Of Technology Dominance: Capturing The Underlying Causal Complexity, Steve G. Sutton, Vicky Arnold, Matthew Holt
An Extension Of The Theory Of Technology Dominance: Capturing The Underlying Causal Complexity, Steve G. Sutton, Vicky Arnold, Matthew Holt
Accounting Faculty Publications
The Theory of Technology Dominance (TTD) provides a theoretical foundation for understanding how intelligent systems impact human decision-making. The theory has three phases with propositions related to (1) the foundations of reliance, (2) short-term effects on novice versus expert decision-making, and (3) long-term epistemological effects related to individual deskilling and profession-wide stagnation. In this theory paper, we propose an extension of TTD, that we refer to as TTD2, primarily to increase our theoretical understanding of how, why, and when the short-term and long-term effects on decision-making occur and why advances in technology design have exacerbated some weaknesses and eroded some …
Fraud, Sridhar Ramamoorti
Fraud, Sridhar Ramamoorti
Books and Book Chapters by University of Dayton Faculty
Entry in the SAGE Encylopedia of Criminal Psychology
The Velocity Of Risk, Sridhar Ramamoorti, James H. Wanserski, Richard Stover
The Velocity Of Risk, Sridhar Ramamoorti, James H. Wanserski, Richard Stover
Accounting Faculty Publications
Only a few decades ago, the onset of problematic risk events often was slow, and organizations handled the corresponding aftermath over a manageable time frame. Organizations armed with extensive public relations resources responded to most postevent crises after planning and analyzing thoughtful responses. Additionally, organizations carefully calculated their transparency with stakeholders regarding the event to manage its impact on the organization. Fast forward to today, and the pace of information is almost instantaneous. For example, when a popular U.S. fast food restaurant chain experienced an outbreak of E. coli-infected lettuce, its stock price decreased 44 percent within 90 days amid …
Risk Consumption, Sridhar Ramamoorti, Rick Stover
Risk Consumption, Sridhar Ramamoorti, Rick Stover
Accounting Faculty Publications
Understanding the difference between risk appetite and risk tolerance can deter organizations from digesting too much risk.
The concepts of risk appetite and risk tolerance were introduced in 2004 in The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission’s (COSO’s) Enterprise Risk Management–Integrated Framework. Specifically, COSO defines risk appetite as “the amount of risk — on a broad level — that an entity is willing to accept in pursuit of value.” Naturally, organizations will have different risk appetites depending on their industry, management philosophy, operating style, culture, and objectives. Therefore, a range of appetites potentially exist for distinct risks, which …
Voluntary Changes In Accounting Principle: Literature Review, Descriptive Data, And Opportunities For Future Research, Marsha B. Keune, Timothy M. Keune, Linda C. Quick
Voluntary Changes In Accounting Principle: Literature Review, Descriptive Data, And Opportunities For Future Research, Marsha B. Keune, Timothy M. Keune, Linda C. Quick
Accounting Faculty Publications
Voluntary changes in accounting principle represent explicit and fundamental decisions by managers to exercise accounting discretion. This paper develops an organizing framework to review prior literature on voluntary changes, provides descriptive insights on contemporary changes, and identifies opportunities for future research on voluntary changes. The voluntary change literature is robust and has examined many questions using data prior to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX). We find that contemporary voluntary changes often vary across the pre-SOX, post-SOX, and post-SFAS No. 154 periods by the materiality of their income effect, issue type, and justifications provided by managers, suggesting that manager use …
A Case Study On Inventory Costing Methods, Natalie Hunton
A Case Study On Inventory Costing Methods, Natalie Hunton
Honors Theses
Firms use costing methods to determine the price of a product and to analyze the efficiency of resource consumption. These methods often comply with the external financial reporting rules set forth by the U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), which require all manufacturing costs, including overhead, to be assigned to goods in inventory for costing purposes. However, firms can internally use alternative costing methods that do not comply with GAAP. The purpose of this case study is to understand and evaluate the costing method currently employed by a company in the Dayton, OH area1, and identify the most beneficial costing …
Materiality Defined: Differing Concepts Of Materiality Can Cause Confusion Among Stakeholders, Michael P. Fabrizius, Sridhar Ramamoorti
Materiality Defined: Differing Concepts Of Materiality Can Cause Confusion Among Stakeholders, Michael P. Fabrizius, Sridhar Ramamoorti
Accounting Faculty Publications
Because the term materiality arose within the context of financial reporting and statement assurance, internal auditors have been challenged in adapting or creating a definition that is relevant for themselves and their stakeholders. In the context of financial reporting, materiality is relevant to three stakeholder groups: 1) preparers of financial statements, 2) auditors, and 3) users of financial statements. Although materiality decisions are made by only two of these three groups--preparers and auditors--most internal auditors' conception of materiality likely has a user orientation. The auditor might ask, "How would a reasonably prudent investor react to the magnitude of misstatement (under- …
A Strategy For Teaching Critical Thinking: The Sellmore Case, Joseph F. Castellano, Susan Lightle, Bud Baker
A Strategy For Teaching Critical Thinking: The Sellmore Case, Joseph F. Castellano, Susan Lightle, Bud Baker
Accounting Faculty Publications
The importance of teaching and applying critical thinking skills is apparently matched by its difficulty in doing so. Sara Rimer, writing for the January 18, 2011, edition of The Hechinger Report, discussed a study by Richard Arum that followed several thousand undergraduates from when they entered college in fall 2005 to when they graduated in spring 2009. Arum’s research, published in his book Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses, found that large numbers of students did not learn critical thinking, complex reasoning, and written communication skills. Arum used testing data and student surveys from 24 colleges and universities ranging …
Accounting For Change: Assessing Top-Line Implications Of New Revenue Recognition Principles, Kevin M. Wargo
Accounting For Change: Assessing Top-Line Implications Of New Revenue Recognition Principles, Kevin M. Wargo
Honors Theses
The impending implementation of new FASB guidance regarding the practice of revenue recognition will presumably alter the periodic presentation of top-line business performance. In anticipation of these impacts, this study seeks to isolate contractual business relationships within the automotive supply chain industry in order to illuminate certain changes and make financial statement users aware that corresponding adjustments may have to be made to their perception of revenue results. By outlining the differences between new and historical U.S. GAAP, and applying the anticipated quantitative effects of such shifts within a propositional study, I seek to produce conclusions that investors and analysts …
Auditing Organizational Governance: Internal Audit Has An Integral Role To Play In Improving The Organization's Strategic Performance, Sridhar Ramamoorti, Alan N. Siegfried, P. Alan White
Auditing Organizational Governance: Internal Audit Has An Integral Role To Play In Improving The Organization's Strategic Performance, Sridhar Ramamoorti, Alan N. Siegfried, P. Alan White
Accounting Faculty Publications
Organizational governance is a broad concept that ensures superior strategy formulation, development, and execution in ways that balance performance, conformance, and accountability. It includes systems, controls, and associated processes that promote ethics and values, performance and accountability, and risk communication and coordination among the board, external and internal auditors, and management in meeting and exceeding stakeholder expectations. Internal audit’s role in organizational governance has always been recognized and valued, but it has become increasingly important in the wake of governance failures in financial and public sectors throughout the world. As a result, more and more boards as well as executive …
Why Audit Teams Need The Confidence To Speak Up, Susan Lightle, Joseph F. Castellano, Bud Baker
Why Audit Teams Need The Confidence To Speak Up, Susan Lightle, Joseph F. Castellano, Bud Baker
Accounting Faculty Publications
A climate of psychological safety is an important prerequisite for effective interpersonal relationships among audit team members and for audit teams to properly meet their fiduciary responsibilities. Audit processes can be more effective and the quality of audits can be improved if auditors understand the concept of psychological safety and its application for audit teams. The failure to create a climate of psychological safety among audit team members can have harmful effects on audit quality, but fortunately CPA firms can take steps to enhance psychological safety and enable more effective audit processes and audit work.
Public Corruption: Causes, Consequences & Countermeasures, Victor Hartman, Sridhar Ramamoorti
Public Corruption: Causes, Consequences & Countermeasures, Victor Hartman, Sridhar Ramamoorti
Accounting Faculty Publications
The article discusses the cause and consequences of public corruption in the U.S. It mentions several countermeasures against public corruption which include strengtening the organizational commitment, behaviour, and emphasizing code of ethics. The article also mentions the conflict of interests, challenges on law enforcement, and asset misappropriation.
Promoting And Supporting Effective Organizational Governance, Sridhar Ramamoorti, Alan N. Siegfried
Promoting And Supporting Effective Organizational Governance, Sridhar Ramamoorti, Alan N. Siegfried
Accounting Faculty Publications
Internal audit’s role in organizational governance has become increasingly important in the wake of the recent global financial crisis and the continuing spate of governance failures in both financial and public sectors throughout the world. Informed observers and commentators have asked initially, “Where were the external auditors?” then “Where was the audit committee?” and finally, “Where was internal audit in all this?” This report draws on survey responses from internal auditors in 166 countries to take stock of the current role of internal audit in the governance process and learn how internal audit can better position itself to contribute to …
Lost Opportunities: The Underuse Of Tax Whistleblowers, Sarah J. Webber, Karie Davis-Nozemack
Lost Opportunities: The Underuse Of Tax Whistleblowers, Sarah J. Webber, Karie Davis-Nozemack
Accounting Faculty Publications
Legal literature on whistleblower programs often assumes an agency’s ability to effectively use a whistleblower tip. This article challenges that assumption in the context of tax enforcement by exposing the Internal Revenue Service’s dismal performance. The article uses Fourth Amendment jurisprudence, taxpayer privacy law, as well as whistleblower and tax enforcement literature to propose a new approach to using information from tax whistleblowers.
Should Religious Organizations Worry About Irs Audits?, Sarah J. Webber, Janet S. Greenlee
Should Religious Organizations Worry About Irs Audits?, Sarah J. Webber, Janet S. Greenlee
Accounting Faculty Publications
A great deal of media attention has focused on recent perceived financial abuses of churches and religious organizations. Cases of fraud within religious organizations have fueled the public perception that churches require some form of monitoring to prevent financial abuse. However, the IRS has limited authority to audit religious organizations under section 7611, and the results of such audits are generally unavailable to the public.
Through a Freedom of Information Act request, we obtained the outcomes of all section 7611 IRS audits of religious organizations conducted between 2001 and 2010. We found that although the number of both churches and …
Standard Costing Variances: Potential Red Flags Of Fraud?, Cecily A. Raiborn, Janet B. Butler, Lucian Zelazny
Standard Costing Variances: Potential Red Flags Of Fraud?, Cecily A. Raiborn, Janet B. Butler, Lucian Zelazny
Accounting Faculty Publications
This article focuses on how standard cost variances can be used in detecting potential fraudulent activities. Each primary type of variance (material, labor, and overhead) is addressed with a discussion of possible inappropriate causal factors. Additionally, internal controls, graphic techniques, and other methods that can be implemented to combat fraud are provided.
The Importance Of Information Integrity: In A Data-Driven World, Unreliable And Inaccurate Information Can Lead To Bad Decision-Making, Sridhar Ramamoorti, Madhavan K. Nayar
The Importance Of Information Integrity: In A Data-Driven World, Unreliable And Inaccurate Information Can Lead To Bad Decision-Making, Sridhar Ramamoorti, Madhavan K. Nayar
Accounting Faculty Publications
What is information integrity? It is the trustworthiness and dependability of information. The credibility of information depends on whether we are getting it from sources we can trust. After all, the value of information to the decision-maker and problem-solver consists first in its integrity, and then in its usefulness and usability. Why? Because, even the best chef knows that you can't make a good omelet out of bad eggs! Consider the emerging trend of big data (see" Big Data" on page 34). According to IBM, people create 2.5 quintillion bytes of data every day (a quintillion is 1 followed by …
Nol Poison Pills: Using Corporate Law For Tax Purposes, Sarah J. Webber, Karie Davis-Nozemack
Nol Poison Pills: Using Corporate Law For Tax Purposes, Sarah J. Webber, Karie Davis-Nozemack
Accounting Faculty Publications
Hundreds of thousands of corporations report net operating loss (NOL) carryovers every year.1 Corporations, with the benefit of NOL rules, may turn disappointing losses into favorable tax results. During economic recovery, corporations are in better position to fully utilize the benefits of NOLs generated in prior years. NOL usage is not without peril, however. Corporations should carefully monitor corporate ownership changes to ensure that NOLs are not lost to the NOL trafficking rules. Under the NOL trafficking rules, excessive shareholder turnover triggers substantial NOL limitations. Unfortunately, corporations are not in control of their shareholder turnover, and therefore not in complete …
Paying The Irs Whistleblower: A Critical Analysis Of Collected Proceeds, Karie Davis-Nozemack, Sarah J. Webber
Paying The Irs Whistleblower: A Critical Analysis Of Collected Proceeds, Karie Davis-Nozemack, Sarah J. Webber
Accounting Faculty Publications
Congressional changes to the IRS Whistleblower Program were intended to induce more participation in the program by allowing larger incentives and greater certainty that whistleblowers would be paid. Since the Program was amended, tax whistleblower tips have increased 76 percent1 and revenue collected due to whistleblowers has increased 79 percent.2 Despite a rise in tips and revenue collected, whistleblower payments have not increased. In fact, the number of tax whistleblower awards paid has decreased 44 percent.3 We hypothesize that this trend is due to the administration of the program but also to the interpretation of “collected proceeds.” Collected proceeds are …
The Corporate Ethics Audit: To Prevent And Detect Management Fraud, Internal Auditors Must Have A Sound Understanding Of Human Behavior, Sridhar Ramamoorti, R. Luke Evans
The Corporate Ethics Audit: To Prevent And Detect Management Fraud, Internal Auditors Must Have A Sound Understanding Of Human Behavior, Sridhar Ramamoorti, R. Luke Evans
Accounting Faculty Publications
In theory, management is responsible not only for designing and implementing strong systems of internal control but also confirming their continued effectiveness over time through monitoring activities. Yet, management override of these monitoring activities — -Soften described as the Achilles' heel of internal controls — is a growing trend at the executive level, as indicated by both of The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission's fraud studies of 1998 and 2010. When the “overseer” becomes the perpetrator of fraud, how do shareholders protect themselves? Indeed, as the Roman satiric poet Decimus Juvenal wrote, “But who will guard the …
Don’T Burst The Bubble: An Analysis Of The First-Time Homebuyer Credit And Its Use As An Economic Policy Tool, Sarah J. Webber
Don’T Burst The Bubble: An Analysis Of The First-Time Homebuyer Credit And Its Use As An Economic Policy Tool, Sarah J. Webber
Accounting Faculty Publications
In 2008, faced with a looming real estate crisis, Congress hastily acted to stabilize the economy by offering a first-time homebuyer credit. This tax credit was trumpeted as a solution to the excess inventory of homes for sale and to stop the free-fall in home values. The credit, however, failed to deliver on its promises. By analyzing the first-time homebuyer credit, its creation, its implementation and its economic impact, this Article concludes that, when compared to alternative policy solutions, Congress erred in using the tax code to implement a first-time homebuyer credit.
The Abcs Of Communicating Results, Deborah S. Archambeault, Morgen Rose
The Abcs Of Communicating Results, Deborah S. Archambeault, Morgen Rose
Accounting Faculty Publications
Communicating results is an integral part of the internal auditor's job, and The IIA's International Standards for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing recognizes its importance by specifying in Standard 2420 that communications should be "accurate, objective, clear, concise, constructive, complete, and timely." In its 2009 survey. The Biggest Internal Audit Challenges in the Next Five Years, Protiviti, a global consulting firm, ranked communication with management and the audit committee as one of the biggest challenges facing internal auditing through 2012. Their subsequent 2010 Internal Audit Capabilities and Needs Survey identified presentation skills as the top "need to improve" personal …
Carrots And Sticks: By Auditing Executive Compensation And Benefits, Auditors Can Help Their Organization Move From Risk To Rewards Management, Sridhar Ramamoorti, Usha R. Balakrishnan
Carrots And Sticks: By Auditing Executive Compensation And Benefits, Auditors Can Help Their Organization Move From Risk To Rewards Management, Sridhar Ramamoorti, Usha R. Balakrishnan
Accounting Faculty Publications
Although the focus of risk management traditionally has been on downside risk, the time is right to focus this dialogue on upside risk — the management of value-creation opportunities through "rewards management." After all, rewards such as bonuses and stock options are typically greater for those who identify and leverage new value-creation opportunities. For-profit organizations favor those individuals who are well-connected and leverage their relationships to bring in clients and attract customers. Their selling ability, revenue-generating strategies, and overall modus operandi quickly earn them the coveted title of "rainmakers."
Nevertheless, rewards and incentives can encourage undesirable behaviors. Executives quickly learn …
Maximized Monitoring, Constance M. Lehmann, Sridhar Ramamoorti, Marcia Weidenmier Watson
Maximized Monitoring, Constance M. Lehmann, Sridhar Ramamoorti, Marcia Weidenmier Watson
Accounting Faculty Publications
During the last few years, global financial companies and investment banks have taken billions of dollars in write-downs owing to exposure in the subprime lending market. Lack of risk function visibility, insufficient communication of risks to top management, and siloed risk approaches have been cited as reasons for these failures. New York University finance professor Nouriel Roubini, one of the few who predicted the crisis, famously observed at the World Economic Forum's 2009 Davos Summit that risk cannot be priced correctly "when the opacity and lack of transparency of financial firms and new instruments lead to unpriceable uncertainty rather than …
Continuous Controls Monitoring Can Help Defer Fraud, Sridhar Ramamoorti, Joseph Dupree
Continuous Controls Monitoring Can Help Defer Fraud, Sridhar Ramamoorti, Joseph Dupree
Accounting Faculty Publications
The biannual survey of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) found that US organizations lose an estimated 7 percent of annual revenues to fraud. Based on corresponding United States GDP figures from the World Bank, this percentage indicates a staggering estimate of losses — around $994 billion — among U.S. organizations, despite increased emphasis on anti-fraud controls and recent legislation to combat fraud. As the survey suggests, almost every large and small organization is potentially susceptible to fraud risk, both internally from employee theft and corruption and externally by vendors and other third parties engaged in fraud against the …
Bringing Freud To Fraud: Understanding The State-Of-Mind Of The C-Level Suite/White Collar Offender Through “A-B-C” Analysis, Sridhar Ramamoorti, Daven Morrison, Joseph W. Koletar
Bringing Freud To Fraud: Understanding The State-Of-Mind Of The C-Level Suite/White Collar Offender Through “A-B-C” Analysis, Sridhar Ramamoorti, Daven Morrison, Joseph W. Koletar
Accounting Faculty Publications
In this paper we use a primarily “behavioral lens” (cf. Ramamoorti, 2008; Ramamoorti & Olsen, 2007) to try to understand the state-of-mind and motivations of the C-level suite/white collar offender before, during, and after the perpetration of management fraud. We offer a useful conceptual approach called “A-B-C Analysis” to understand the incidence of fraud from individual and group perspectives, as well as more macro-oriented, cultural/contextual levels. It is our hypothesis that fraud occurs either because of an individual criminal’s calculated/intentional betrayal of trust, a duo or team of “bad boys” who push ethical envelopes, and/or an organizational/social/national culture of passivity, …
Is Something Missing From Your Company's Satisfaction Package?, Deborah S. Archambeault, Richard Burgess, Stan Davis
Is Something Missing From Your Company's Satisfaction Package?, Deborah S. Archambeault, Richard Burgess, Stan Davis
Accounting Faculty Publications
Conventional wisdom suggests that salary, benefits, and other monetary factors are important aspects of keeping employees satisfied. But which factors have the biggest impact on overall satisfaction? While companies focus on the monetary factors, there are other components of the overall “satisfaction package,” that are just as important, yet often overlooked.
It comes as no surprise that satisfied employees are important to the success of any organization. In short, higher satisfaction increases productivity, improves service levels, and positively impacts a company’s bottom line. While keeping employees satisfied should be an important goal for any organization, a recent job satisfaction survey …
Engineering Value Into Enterprise Risk Management; Six Sigma Techniques Can Improve The Quality Of Erm Processes And Enable Organizations To Manage Risks More Successfully, Sridhar Ramamoorti, Marcia Weidenmier Watson, Mark Zabel
Engineering Value Into Enterprise Risk Management; Six Sigma Techniques Can Improve The Quality Of Erm Processes And Enable Organizations To Manage Risks More Successfully, Sridhar Ramamoorti, Marcia Weidenmier Watson, Mark Zabel
Accounting Faculty Publications
Organizations should not only recognize and minimize traditional downside risks, but also embrace upside risks, or opportunities, as a strategy for success. According to a 2005 survey by management consulting firm Booz Allen, 87 percent of the market value lost by large companies with market capitalizations over US $1 billion was the result of strategic and operational blunders. Compliance failure, typically the focus of downside risk, destroyed only 13 percent of market value during the five-year study. Faced with this counter-intuitive finding, companies may wish to pursue a more balanced and positive approach to risk management. Enterprise risk management (ERM) …
The Changing Components Of The Corporate Annual Report: An Update, Deborah S. Archambeault, John G. Fulmer Jr., Richard A. Turpin
The Changing Components Of The Corporate Annual Report: An Update, Deborah S. Archambeault, John G. Fulmer Jr., Richard A. Turpin
Accounting Faculty Publications
Recent regulatory changes affect not only the content of annual reports but also the population of companies that are required to comply with these reporting regulations. Lenders need to stay abreast of the information provided in corporate reporting packages. This article provides an update on regulatory changes and discusses how these changes affect the information that can be found in corporate annual reports.