Accounting Commons^™

Enhancing Audit Quality Through Artificial Intelligence: An External Auditing Perspective, Jonah Mitan

Accounting Undergraduate Honors Theses

The evolving landscape of the audit profession has been significantly influenced by the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and automation, marking a pivotal shift in audit methodologies, the auditors' roles, and the overarching quality of audits. This thesis delves into the breadth of AI's impact on the industry through a comprehensive review of academic literature, professional publications, and industry insights, highlighting the transformative effects of AI on audit processes. AI-driven tools, including machine learning, deep learning, and natural language processing can expedite laborious audit tasks, enhancing data analytics capabilities, and enabling more accurate risk assessment and fraud detection. AI technologies …

Effect Of Black- Or White-Sounding Name And Impact Of Intergroup Contact With Black Individuals On Auditor Judgments, Vanessa J. Tijerina

Doctor of Business Administration (DBA)

The accounting profession in the United States continues to reflect a gap in racial diversity, with the majority of accountants being white. Implicit racial bias results in discrimination in the U.S. today, specifically against Black individuals. Within accounting, the auditing specialty requires exercising professional judgment that could present opportunities for implicit racial bias to affect the financial statements. This study aims to fill gaps in the existing research by answering the following questions: 1) How does the race of the CFO affect the accounting judgments of auditors? 2) How does intergroup contact with Black individuals impact auditors’ accounting judgments when …

Could Sox Be Better? : Exploring The Advantages And Shortfalls Of Sarbanes-Oxley, Christopher Clark

Honors Theses

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act was ratified in 2002 to mixed reviews. Over the past 18 years, many researchers have come to different conclusions about the effectiveness of SOX. This paper proposes amendments to make SOX as effective as possible without increasing compliance costs and as cost effective as possible without decreasing efficacy.

Business Risk And Attest Service Fees: Understanding The Effect Of Low Fed Interest Rates On Bank Audit Fees, Lucas Erik Jones

Honors Theses and Capstones

No abstract provided.

The Effect Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On The Issuance Of Going Concern Opinions And Financial Restatements, Jessica Oswald

Honors Theses and Capstones

No abstract provided.

Auditor Information Spillovers And Company Operating Performance: Evidence From Targeted Auditor Switches, Tyler Kleppe

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this study, I examine whether companies realize operational benefits from making “targeted auditor switches” (i.e., engaging a new auditor recently dismissed by a competitor company). While prior work provides evidence consistent with companies perceiving that auditor information spillovers are costly, there is sparse extant evidence as to whether auditors actually do transfer operational information across companies. I find that companies that switch to a competitor’s former auditor realize significant subsequent improvements in operating performance, and I provide evidence that the association between targeted auditor switches and improvements in operating performance varies predictably with several across- and within-market factors. In …

The Evolution Of The Auditor And Auditing Profession: The Impact Of The Sarbanes-Oxley Act Of 2002, Kylie Pollack, Scott Delanty

Honors Thesis

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) was arguably the most influential piece of legislation passed to affect the accounting profession. Over the past nearly two decades since SOX was enacted, the auditor and auditing profession has evolved. The public’s perceptions of auditors and the profession have improved as a result of major legislation such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. This paper explores the evolution of the auditor and audit profession over the course of three different time periods to understand the function of the auditor. This paper is broken down into four major components. First, this paper explores what …

Data Analytics In An Audit: Examining Fraud Risk And Audit Quality, Sondra Smith

Doctor of Business Administration Dissertations

ABSTRACT

DATA ANALYTICS IN AN AUDIT: EXAMINING FRAUD RISK AND

AUDIT QUALITY

by

Sondra Smith

This study is comprised of two papers which examine, through interviews and an experiment, the current practices of data analytics of CPA firms, whether and how fraud risk impacts the usage of data analytics in an audit, and the effect data analytics has on the efficiency and effectiveness of an audit. The implementation of data analytics in an audit is relatively new, and there is not a good understanding of how it is currently being used in practice. Although historically the auditing profession has been …

Association Of Insider Trading Patterns With Earnings Management Citations From 2002-2012, Anne-Mary Emuobonuvie Nash-Haruna

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Insider trading and earnings management (EM) have traditionally been associated with fraud and corporate scandals. Corporations involved in fraudulent financial reporting or earnings manipulations were assumed to have used insider trading patterns to manipulate earnings, thereby concealing information from investors. The purpose of this quantitative, non-experimental study was to examine the association between insider trading patterns and EM citations among a randomly selected sample of publicly traded companies. The research question pertained to the association between the number of EM citations and whether a firm exhibited patterns of insider trading among publicly traded firms. The theoretical framework was based on …

Blockchain And The Future Of The Audit, Connor Ortman

CMC Senior Theses

“In the future, virtually every function in the world of financial services will be displaced, disintermediated and decentralized. The Internet gave us a powerful way to share and access information. Blockchain now gives us a powerful way to share and access value.”

During a February 2017 AICPA roundtable, Chairman of the Wall Street Blockchain Alliance and previous Global Head of Trading Analytics at Thomson Reuters, Ron Quarantana spoke to the revolutionary scale of blockchain. Quaranta, viewed by many as an expert in financial technology, predicts that the adoption of blockchain, both by the Big Four accounting firms and their clients, …

The Expanded Auditor's Report: A Case Study From The United Kingdom, Maria Jones

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

This paper examines whether or not the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board should adopt new standards similar to those recently adopted in the United Kingdom by performing a qualitative analysis of the information provided in the expanded auditor’s reports of four major UK grocery store chains both prior to and after the adoption of the new standard. In my analysis I find that the external auditor is frequently reporting on key audit matters and risks that are already being reported by management, and therefore already known to investors, suggesting little to no added value in the expanded auditor’s report.

The Influence Of Cognitive Factors On The Relationship Between Accounting Standard Precision And Aggressive Financial Reporting, Kara E. Hunter

2017

The U.S. SEC has formally advocated for the creation of a single set of global accounting standards. As the SEC considers converging U.S. GAAP with IFRS, there is heightened interest in how the precision of accounting standard influences the quality of the financial reporting process. My dissertation consists of three studies that seek to address how accounting standard precision interacts with different behavioral factors to influence aggressive financial reporting decisions and auditor judgment. Paper one presents evidence of a significant interactive effect of standard precision and preparer incentive horizon. Specifically, we find evidence that when the incentive horizon is long …

Managing Informal Learning In The Auditing Profession: How Auditors Develop Proficiency, Michelle Kusaila

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The auditing environment is in a period of innovation, and auditors need to maintain their financial reporting commitment to financial statement stakeholders. The purpose of this quantitative cross-sectional survey study was to examine the impact of auditors' perceptions of informal workplace learning contexts on the external auditing profession using a perceived organizational support lens. Organization support theory includes four aspects used to explore informal workplace learning: management support, peer support, supportive organizational culture, and access to work resources. These aspects were used to examine the impact of informal learning on auditors' engagement and performance. Multiple linear regression was used to …

Audit Firm Rotation, Audit Firm Tenure, And Audit Committee Support In Accounting Disputes, Janice E. Rummell

Doctor of Business Administration Dissertations

Since the late 1990s, U.S. regulators have sought to increase auditors’ independence from management and to reduce the presumed detrimental effects of economic bonding on public company financial reporting. Implementation of mandatory audit firm rotation that limits auditor tenure to reduce potential independence impairment has been discussed in the U.S. and other jurisdictions, and adopted in some non-U.S. jurisdictions. While audit firm rotation is expected to increase auditor independence, the opponents of mandatory rotation cite decreasing auditor expertise as a significant counter-argument. This independence/expertise trade-off is integral to much of the academic discussion of mandatory audit firm rotation. The audit …

The Effect Of Hypothesis Framing, Prior Expectation And Professional Trait Scepticism On Experts’ And Novices’ Evidence Selected In A Complex Task, Abhijit Das

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This study examines evidence selection strategy among external auditors (i.e. professionals) and accounting students (i.e. novices) in a going concern assessment task considering three factors; hypothesis framing, prior expectation and professional “trait” scepticism as measured by Hurtt (2010) scale. Within this context, the study sets out to accomplish three goals: (1) to re-examine evidence selection strategy based on hypothesis framing and prior expectation, (2) to validate the Hurtt (2010) scale using expert reviews and confirmatory factor analysis and (3) to investigate whether professional trait scepticism influences selection strategy.

Owing to the incidence of high-profile accounting and auditing scandals worldwide, the …

From Legally Confidential To Financially Confident: Resolving The Tension Between Lawyers And Auditors Over Contingent Liability Disclosure, Samantha Nicole Kunz

CMC Senior Theses

Auditors review documented financial figures to test for their accuracy and materiality. Lawyers analyze evidential facts and records to build sound legal arguments. These parties work toward a mutual purpose: to present their clients as legitimate and compliant businesses. But what happens when the concrete facts upon which lawyers and auditors base their work are obscured by their inability to see into the future? In other words, how can these professions conjunctively handle potential future obligations brought about by contingent liabilities?

This study will attempt to resolve the tensions that emerge between lawyers and auditors when tasked with estimating the …

Narrowing The Gap Of Financial Fraud Detection In Corporations, Solomon Aborbie

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Business leaders remain exposed to financial and accounting fraud as well as loss of profitability, despite the dictates of the SOX Act of 2002. The most challenging aspect of corporate management is the unexpected nature of an emerging, existing, or an inherent financial risk. Guided by the evolution of fraud theory, this exploratory case study's purpose was to identify and explore the financial management strategies that corporate financial managers need to adequately protect investors. Twenty participants from a population group of corporate auditors of Fortune 1000 corporations within 70 miles of Columbus, Ohio provided input for this study. Data from …

Do Clients Avoid ‘Contaminated’ Offices? The Economic Consequences Of Low Quality Audits, Robert Lowell Whited

Doctoral Dissertations

This study investigates whether local audit offices suffer financially following their association with low-quality audits. The announcement of a restatement indicates that the contracting auditor failed to detect and correct a material misstatement. Therefore, I predict that office reputation suffers following restatements of previously audited financial information. As the frequency of restatement announcements increases, the perceived pervasiveness of systematic audit failures (‘contamination’) within the office will increase accordingly. I document that contaminated offices (Big 4 and non-Big 4) suffer a decline in market share relative to their peers. Furthermore, when examining auditor retention decisions at the individual client level, I …

A Comparison Of Audit Fee Trends For East Tennessee Based Companies And Similar Companies Based In Similar Regions, William J. Saulsbury

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Research examines audit fee trends for a decade. The research focuses on audit fees of companies in the East Tennessee Area and compares the audit fees of these companies to similar companies based in similar regions of the United States. Possible causes for the fluctuations of audit fees during the decade are also discussed.

The Role Of Independence In The Effectiveness Of Continuous Auditing, Dereck D. Barr

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this study, I examine whether and how the frequency of internal audits (continuous vs. periodic), functional independence (separate vs. combined internal audit assurance and consulting functions), and the type of earnings management (accrual-based vs. real) affect internal auditors' perception of the likelihood managers will manipulate earnings. I find that earnings management is less likely when the internal audit function uses continuous auditing, regardless of the level of independence. However, the effect of independence is context-dependent such that internal auditors expect that real (accrual-based) earnings management is less likely when the internal audit function is independent (not independent), regardless of …

Redefining Internal Audit Performance: Impact On Corporate Governance, Razimah Binti Abdullah

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

One of the preventive measures to situations akin to world financial crises increasingly forwarded is effective internal audit function (IAF) (e.g., Imhoff, 2003; Mohamad & Muhamad Sori, 2011). Internal audit, a component of corporate governance, continues to evolve due to changes in business strategies and requirements placed on it by legislators. The roles of internal auditors and audit committees (ACs), the key personnel in IAFs, are changing to a more value-added approach as business strategies move towards corporate sustainability and organisational excellence. Suggestions forwarded to improve the performance or determining the quality of IAF include effective involvement of ACs in …

Fair Value Measurements, Nathan Hatch Cannon

2013

This dissertation consists of two empirical studies that investigate fair value measurement issues currently facing the accounting profession--one from the perspective of the auditor, and the other from the perspective of the financial statement user. The results of each study are described below.

This first study examines experienced auditors' descriptions of specific client experiences in which auditing fair value measurements (FVMs) was particularly challenging. Based on a field survey of high-level engagement team personnel from several large firms, we identify a number of key issues currently facing the profession in auditing FVMs. First, when asked about challenges faced in auditing …

Changes In Auditing: A Three Part Investigation, Denise R. Hanes

2013

This dissertation consists of three studies investigating changes in auditing. This abstract summarizes each study, including purpose, methodology, and findings.

The first study synthesizes the extant literature examining geographically distributed work arrangements in other disciplines such as management and social psychology. Focusing on communication and coordination, knowledge sharing, work design, and social identity in geographically distributed teams, I identify opportunities for future research to expand our understanding of how geographically distributing audit work impacts auditors, the audit process, and audit quality.

My second paper explores a key contributor to the success of geographically distributed work highlighted in my literature review: …

Detecting Deception In Client Inquiries, D. Kip Holderness Jr.

2013

Auditors frequently gather information by conducting client inquiries (Bennett and Hatfield 2013; Hirst and Koonce 1996; Trompeter and Wright 2010). When clients are attempting to hide frauds and irregularities, auditors need to be alert during inquiries to verbal and nonverbal cues emanating from clients that might be indicative of intentional deception. This dissertation consists of two studies investigating the detection of deception in client inquiries. The first study provides a summary of extant literature examining deception detection, with an emphasis on those studies that have implications for client inquiries. I propose several avenues for future research that will contribute to …

An Examination Of Issues Related To Professional Skepticism In Auditing, Erin Burrell Nickell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The third general standard of fieldwork requires auditors to maintain a skeptical mindset with regards to the collection and critical assessment of audit evidence. While professional skepticism is frequently referenced by professional standards, a lack of precision in defining the concept presumably leads to variation in how skepticism is exercised in practice. Drawing on theories from the fields of psychology, economics and organizational justice, this dissertation considers different perspectives of what constitutes sufficient professional skepticism and examines how those perspectives differ between audit practitioners and regulators. First, I consider competing perspectives of professional skepticism – neutral versus presumptive doubt – …

Learning The “Craft Of Auditing”: Applications Of The Cognitive Apprenticeship Framework, Kimberly D. Westermann

2011

This dissertation consists of three studies examining component(s) of the cognitive apprenticeship (CA) model applied to on-the-job learning in auditing. This abstract summarizes each study, including purpose, methodology, and findings. The first study provides descriptive evidence on the importance and pervasiveness of CA as a model of on-the-job learning (OTJL) in auditing, investigates changes in its use over time, and assesses factors that promote or hinder auditors’ learning through apprenticeship. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 30 relatively new and more experienced audit partners at a Big 4 firm, seeking their impressions about past and current OTJL practices in public accounting. …

Auditor Stress: Antecedents And Relationships To Audit Quality, Mohd Nazli Mohd Nor

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Research on Reduced Audit Quality Practices (RAQP) has consistently shown serious negative consequences in the auditing profession. It has found that under certain pressure levels, auditors tend to engage in RAQP. However, most of the previous studies that had investigated RAQP failed to examine RAQP from a stress model perspective which incorporates stressors, stress measures and stress consequences into the model and to measure the interactions among these constructs. Previous research has mainly focused on the direct effect of stressors (e.g., time budget pressure, leadership styles, individual personality etc.) on RAQP; there is no single investigation that has simultaneously examined …

Three Studies Investigating The Legal Liability Implications Of The Sarbanes-Oxley Act Of 2002, Jillian Phillips

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the litigation and legal liability exposure of auditors related to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX). Three separate studies were conducted to examine how auditor's litigation exposure is evaluated by potential litigants (lawyers), and how auditor liability is evaluated by jurors, following the bankruptcy of a client. The first study examines whether the auditor's SOX Section 404 reporting decisions influence lawyers' assessments of their litigation exposure. The second study investigates whether voluntary disclosures of significant deficiencies in internal controls within the SOX Section 404 report, and the subjectivity of the internal control judgments made by the auditor, …

Auditor Type, Firm Ownership And Auditor Reporting Under A Joint Audit Requirement : Exploratory Evidence From India, Ting Zou

Theses & Dissertations

India is one of the largest developing countries in the world. Although many issues and phenomena arising from its transitional economy are worthy of research from an accounting perspective, the Indian accounting market is a field that remains relatively unexplored in the extant literature. One of the institutional features of India is that while it is mandatory for public sector companies and banks to have joint auditors, their appointment is voluntary for other companies. In a thesis motivated by this and other institutional features and the absence of related accounting and auditing studies conducted in an Indian setting, I examine …

Culture Effects In The Ethical Decision-Making Process Of Latin American Accountants, Silvia Lopez Palau

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Despite the amount of accounting ethics research conducted over many years, two significant problems remain unsolved. First, there is a need to create accurate measurement instruments capable of predicting behavior within a theoretical framework of ethical decision-making. Second, it is important to develop ways to make measurements appropriate for application in other cultures or countries. Thus, the purpose of this study is twofold. The first objective is to develop a scale to measure the ethical evaluations, judgments, and intentions of Latin American accountants. The second goal is to determine the effects of national culture and gender on the results posited …