Accounting Commons^™

Public Accounting Vs. Private Accounting: Student Intentions, Robert Lazzaro

Honors Projects in Accounting

Most accounting students are faced with a big decision as they near the end of their undergraduate career. Will they work toward the Certified Public Accountant license and enter public accounting or will they will choose private accounting? Both fields have their pros and cons which makes this a difficult decision. This research indicated that students more focused on extrinsic rewards, such as compensation, are more likely to choose public accounting, while students more focused on lifestyle factors, such as work-life balance, are more likely to choose private. These findings were derived from surveys distributed to accounting students at Bryant …

Financial Literacy: Impact On Student Success, Alexandra Cummingham

Honors Projects in Accounting

Financial literacy has proven to be an essential skill for young adults to help in achieving success and reaching one’s potential. Many studies find that those with a stronger background in financial literacy are more likely to demonstrate positive behaviors, both financially and in other areas. This study will attempt to draw a link between Bryant University students’ background in financial literacy and benefits within the college classroom. Specifically, my study will look at whether having a stronger background in financial literacy leads to increased confidence in the classroom, decreased accounting anxiety, and superior academic performance. The study uses primary …

Are Csr Activities Associated With Shareholder Voting In Director Elections And Say-On-Pay Votes?, Charles Cullinan, Lois S. Mahoney, Pamela B. Roush

Accounting Department Faculty Journal Articles

When making investment decisions, many investors now regularly consider a company’s CSR activities along with traditional financial performance measures (Elliott et al., 2014). Our study considers whether shareholders may also consider CSR activities when voting in director elections and say-on-pay votes. We find that CSR performance is associated with shareholder support in both director elections and say-on-pay votes. In particular, we find higher support for both director elections and executive compensation when there are more CSR strengths. Additionally, we find that the social strength aspect of CSR is the most important component in the relationships between CSR and director elections …

An Historical Analysis Of The Role Of Accounting For The Japanese Internment Camps During World War Ii, Midori Knowles

Honors Projects in Accounting

On December 7th, 1941, the United States was the victim of a tragic attack on a naval base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. This resulted in the United States’ entry into World War II, including the declaration of war against the country of Japan. On February 19th, 1942, just two months after the attacks, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which permitted the War Relocation Authority (WRA) to relocate over 110,000 Japanese- American citizens. The forced relocation sent these Japanese-Americans to ten relocation centers spread throughout the west and mid-west of the country. The government declared that this relocation …

The Perceptions Of Accounting: What Do You Think?, Brianna Darin

Honors Projects in Accounting

Accounting is often considered “the language of business,” but is sometimes perceived to be a difficult topic. This study seeks to get a deeper understanding as to why business students and other students perceive accounting to be such an intimidating subject. The ultimate research question addressed is: What are the perceptions of accounting among accounting students, non-accounting business students, and non-business students? A review of the relevant background literature led to two hypotheses that assist in answering the research question. Following the literature review and hypotheses development, a two-part process took place: (1) we conducted focus groups and (2) we …

An Investigation Of Accounting Education To Help Students Improve Important Job Skills, Alec Schuberth

Honors Projects in Accounting

Upon graduation, many college students embark on their professional careers in accounting. These graduates have completed their degree and moved to their new, exciting, and challenging jobs; but have these corporations recently expressed satisfaction with the performance of these young employees? Some studies suggest that many executives do not think that their new employees have developed the skills needed to be successful in today’s competitive business landscape. This project extends the literature by examining professional development in college graduates and applying it within the context of accounting education in college and universities nationwide. Overall, this project aims to investigate why …

Do Some Stakeholders In Publicly Traded Firms Benefit At The Expense Of Others As A Result Of Corporate Inversions?, Ryan Hitchcock

Honors Projects in Accounting

This report examines corporate inversions to determine whether this practice benefits the majority of stakeholders or merely a select few. A sample of firms previously incorporated in the United States that have since undergone inversions is examined to answer this question. Annual stock price returns, stock price volatility, and earnings per share changes from the sample of inversion firms are the main sources of data examined. These results are compared to the S&P 500 and peer firms to determine whether the changes can be attributed to the inversions, or are merely a result of general economic conditions. Supporting topics addressed …

Accounting For Ethics: Emphasis On Ethics Education In Us Collegiate Business Curricula, Sarah Stokowski

Honors Projects in Accounting

The accounting field holds a background in ethical understanding to be of great importance. The purpose of this project was to investigate the extent to which ethics education is emphasized and implemented within the business, and specifically accounting, curricula of US collegiate level institutions. Course curricula from a sample of 445 AACSB (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business) accredited business programs in the US were examined for their emphasis on ethics education. This emphasis was quantified through a novel measurement, the Ethics Education Index, which is an originally constructed weighted measure of the number of stand-alone courses dealing with …

Analyst Ratings For Firms Filing And Reorganizing Under Chapter 11, Elena Precourt, Henry Oppenheimer

Accounting Department Faculty Journal Articles

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine analyst followings of firms starting from one year prior to their filing for Chapter 11 and as the firms progress through bankruptcy proceedings with a focus on firms receiving “Hold” or better recommendations. The authors attempt to answer questions such as what the common characteristics of the firms receiving stronger than expected recommendations one year prior to filing for bankruptcy reorganization or while in bankruptcy are, and how the market reacts to the issuance of stronger ratings for those firms.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors design various regressions and apply them to a …

Accounting Outsourcing And Audit Lag, Charles Cullinan, Xiaochuan Zheng

Accounting Department Faculty Journal Articles

This paper examines the relationship between accounting outsourcing and audit lag. Accounting outsourcing may reduce misstatement risk, reducing the amount of audit effort necessary and thereby decrease audit lag. Alternatively, outsourcing may increase the amount of coordination necessary between the auditor, client management and the outside accounting service provider and thereby increase audit lag.

Sino-Forest Corporation: The Case Of The Standing Timber, Gail B. Wright, Charles Cullinan

Accounting Department Faculty Journal Articles

The Sino-Forest Case provides a real-world example of financial misstatement and audit failure.2 The case encompasses related parties, auditing procedures for tangible assets, and internal controls. Sino-Forest Corporation was engaged primarily in the purchase and sale of standing timber in the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The principal executive office was in Hong Kong and its securities were traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange until 2011. The management of Sino-Forest created a complex web of subsidiaries and related entities whereby it controlled the purchase and sale of standing timber in widely dispersed regions of the PRC. Sino-Forest personnel created false …

Size Variables In Audit Fee Models: An Examination Of The Effects Of Alternative Mathematical Transformations, Charles Cullinan, Hui Du, Xiaochuan Zheng

Accounting Department Faculty Journal Articles

We consider the mathematical transformations used for assets of different valuation complexity in audit fee models. These mathematical transformations (such as logs and square roots) relate to the non-linear relationship between client size and audit fees. We use closed-end mutual fund audits to examine this question because virtually all fund assets are reported at fair value. We find that more complexly valued assets are less likely to follow the traditional log transformation because the presence of these assets has a stronger relationship with audit fees that is not fully captured by the coefficient on the logged variable alone. The significance …

Cooking And The Books: A Guide To Restaurant Accounting, Lena Lambrou

Honors Projects in Accounting

The restaurant industry is known for particularly low profit margins; this project aims to understand where restaurants spend money and how expenses can be allocated for in this fast-paced environment. Through research of various cost accounting methods and the adaptability of those methods to restaurant culture, activity based costing (ABC) provided the most useful data for the restaurant. This project focuses on small business restaurants, specifically those that serve pizza. The backbone of experimentation for applying these accounting processes is a local pizza restaurant, in which the managers are unaware of how food cost and operating expenses could be combined …

Acquisitions Of Bankrupt And Distressed Firms, Elena Precourt, Henry Oppenheimer

Accounting Department Faculty Journal Articles

In this paper we focus on acquisitions of bankrupt firms and firms that recently emerged from Chapter 11 and compare these firms with acquired distressed firms to determine whether or not transaction timing plays a role in the outcomes of the mergers. We analyze deal premiums (or lack thereof) and evaluate post-merger operating cash flows to determine whether or not timing of the transactions impacts their effectiveness and success. We also evaluate targets and their acquirers’ stock price reactions to the announcements of acquisitions. We find that distressed targets sell their assets at a premium or at a discount smaller …

What Do Institutional Investors Know And Act On Before Almost Everyone Else: Evidence From Corporate Bankruptcies, Elena Precourt, Henry Oppenheimer

Accounting Department Faculty Journal Articles

We analyze investment behavior of institutional managers who hold and trade shares of firms that file for bankruptcy. We find that during the five-year period preceding a bankruptcy filing, institutional investors (except those managing investment companies) are net buyers with a positive abnormal net number of shares traded during the period. Institutional managers start to sell shares of bankrupt firms sooner in some firms than in others; these earlier sales are of smaller firms with weaker operating performance, and lower equity risk. We do not find evidence that institutional stockholders trade strategically and avoid material price declines before they occur.

The Affordable Care Act Raises The Stakes On Worker Classification; What Does This Mean For The Voluntary Classification Settlement Program, Sagar Parmar

Honors Projects in Accounting

This research considers worker classification and the many implications an employer must consider when classifying a worker as employee or independent contractor. One implication relates to healthcare benefits and healthcare taxes. As such, this research will evaluate the new healthcare taxes and implications resulting from the Affordable Care Act. Furthermore, this research will relate and explain worker classification with regards to the Voluntary Classification Settlement Program. This is a program offered by the Internal Revenue Service allowing employers to prospectively classify workers as employees with tax relief for past misclassification. The healthcare implications from the Affordable Care Act have raised …

Does Minority Ownership Concentration Influence The Relationship Between Board Independence And Tunneling?, Charles Cullinan, Fangjun Wang, Peng Wang, Xi Yu

Accounting Department Faculty Journal Articles

Tunneling is a type of expropriation of resources from the minority shareholders of a company by its largest shareholder. Previous research has found mixed results on the relationship between board independence and tunneling, and on the relationship between minority shareholder concentration and tunneling. We examine whether more independent boards may be better at limiting tunneling when there is greater minority shareholder concentration. Using a sample of 3,084 firm-years of Chinese companies, we find a significant interaction between board independence and minority shareholder concentration in a model of tunneling. These results suggest that more independent boards are more likely to inhibit …

Lessons From Health Care Fraud Cases: Implications For Management Of Health Care Entities, Haley Onofaro

Honors Projects in Accounting

Fraud has been a major issue all throughout the health care industry. There have been many cases around the world in relation to health care fraud. There are several laws now that do try to reduce the amount of healthcare fraud, but more changes could and should be made to reduce it even more. Four different cases that have occurred within the health care industry have be analyzed in this project. It looks at the positives and negatives of each company’s internal control structure and provides suggestions for how to improve these internal controls to prevent fraud from reoccurring in …

An Examination Of Localization Success Factors Of Chinese Big Four Accounting Firms, Alexa Mcisaac

Honors Projects in Modern Languages

In May 2012, the Chinese government mandated that once the Big Four accounting (KPMG, PwC, Ernst & Young, and Deloitte) joint venture agreements expire, the firms must begin to localize most of the senior management. Although most of the Big Four firms employ many locals, there are more expatriate partners than Chinese counterparts. Because of this, the Big Four firms must quickly find qualified local senior management personnel. Amongst compliance and global regulatory issues, the Big Four firms must develop a strategy for localizing. Through a survey, this study aims to examine how expatriates and local Chinese managers perceive the …

An Investigation Into The Factors That Lead To Career Success In Accounting: Are Great Accountants Born Or Made?, Kelly Cocco

Honors Projects in Accounting

Are great accountants born or made? This paper examines various factors and personality traits which lead to career success in accounting, as perceived by accountants with various levels of earnings and job satisfaction. The current literature indicates that a gap exists between employer expectations of potential employees and the skills and traits that accounting graduates prioritize as most important when they are about to enter the workforce (Muda 2009). This study extends the literature by attempting to identify the traits and characteristics of successful accountants by surveying accounting professionals, who are defined as those who have careers in accounting functions …

Has The Likelihood Of Appointing A Ceo With An Accounting/Finance Background Changed In The Post-Sarbanes Oxley Era?, Charles Cullinan, Pamela B. Roush

Accounting Department Faculty Journal Articles

Congress passed the Sarbanes–Oxley Act (SOX) in July 2002 to improve the accuracy and reliability of financial reporting. The Act increased boards of directors’ responsibilities for financial reporting and control. Did it consequently increase boards’ preferences for a CEO with financial experience to protect against the potential reputational and/or legal losses that directors incur when financial scandals happen? We investigated whether newly appointed CEOs in the post-SOX period were more likely to have accounting or finance experience than in the pre-SOX period. Using a sample of 264 CEO changes from 2001 to 2004, we found that the percentage of newly-appointed …

Tax Reform In Rhode Island: Developing A High Quality Revenue Stream, Nicholas A. Denice

Honors Projects in Accounting

The present study explores the current state of taxation in Rhode Island in relation to its sales tax. An analysis of the literature will examine how the current sales tax system compares with other alternatives and if it hurts the state's economic competitiveness as shown in tax burden studies. Using Rhode Island tax data from the Annual State Audit and Consumer Expenditure Survey, this study will analyze the current sales tax system in the state and determine whether an alternative model would lead to a higher-quality revenue stream. Data from the State of Rhode Island General Audit Report and the …

Fair Value Accounting And Reporting Disclosures, Stephanie Lynn Olson

Honors Projects in Accounting

No abstract provided.

The Influence Of Women In Business: Is A Higher Percentage Of Women On A Company’S Board Of Directors Associated With The Absence Of Internal Control Weaknesses?, Jamie Goyette

Honors Projects in Accounting

Research shows that larger, more profitable and more visible companies are less likely to disclose internal control weaknesses. Firms with similar characteristics tend to hire more female board members. This paper examines whether there is an association between companies that have a higher percentage of female board members and the disclosure of internal control weaknesses. Such an association signifies the importance of board diversity because diversification strengthens corporate governance, promoting a more productive and trustworthy company. In this study, a sample of 500 randomly selected companies is examined to determine a possible correlation. The results will determine the validity of …

A Tale Of Two Standards: An Exploration Of Us Gaap And Ifrs, Allyson Lagasse

Honors Projects in Accounting

The research in this paper has two objectives. Beginning with an examination of the historical development of how financial reporting standards are set in the United States and around the world, the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board will be studied. Setting financial reporting standards in the United States is currently a responsibility of the Financial Accounting Standards Board, while many countries abroad utilize International Financial Reporting Standards, maintained by the International Accounting Standards Board. After detailing the historical development of each of the two boards and the sets of standards they maintain, the paper continues …

A Test Of The Loan Prohibition Of The Sarbanes-Oxley Act: Are Firms That Grant Loans To Executives More Likely To Misstate Their Financial Results?, Charles Cullinan, Hui Du, Gail B. Wright

Accounting Department Faculty Journal Articles

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 was designed to improve the accuracy and reliability of financial reporting and prohibits public companies from granting loans to executives. Without considering the effects of executive loans on financial reporting, some researchers have questioned the appropriateness of the Act’s loan prohibition [Kahle, K., Shastri, K., 2004. Executive loans. Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis 39 (4), 791–811; Henderson, M., Spindler, J., 2005. Corporate Heroin: A defense of perks, executive loans, and conspicuous consumption. The Georgetown Law Journal 93 (6)]. We examine whether executive loans are associated with financial misstatements. We find a significant association between …