Accounting Commons^™

Information Technology Audits By Internal Auditors: Exploring The Evolution Of Integrated It Audits, Joy M. Gray

2016

The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) defines integrated auditing as auditing that looks at more than one aspect of the area under review; which may include financial, operational, information technology (IT), compliance, environmental, and/or fraud related audit objectives. I examine the internal auditing function’s (IAF’s) use of integrated IT auditing and provide evidence of how internal auditors’ IT audit activities contribute to IT governance, a critical subset of corporate governance. Importantly, increased understanding of these IT audit practices assists educators in curriculum design reflective of practitioner needs.

I have three interrelated studies. The first synthesizes literature through an historical lens …

Correlates Of Ethical Sensitivity And Reasoning And Their Potential Influence On Accounting Education, Michael Francis Ruff

2016

This dissertation consists of three studies investigating the impact of accounting ethics interventions on graduate students in accountancy. This dissertation relies primarily on neo-Kohlbergian theory and Rest’s framework of ethical behavior (Rest 1979, 1986) because this framework has figured prominently in the body of accounting and auditing research on ethics and professionalism.

The first study reviews and synthesizes the current state of the literature regarding accounting ethics. This literature review starts with definitions and follows with a history and evolution of ethics theories, with an emphasis on neo-Kohlbergian theory, Rest’s Four Component Model of ethical behavior, the Defining Issues Test …

Three Empirical Studies Of Internal Audit Quality, Steven M. Desimone

2016

This dissertation contains three studies that examine the IAF’s role in corporate governance, factors that lead IAFs to take a deliberate approach to improve IAF quality, and how IAFs influence financial reporting quality in the public sector.

The first study examines factors that are associated with IAF involvement in corporate social responsibility (CSR) auditing. Results suggest that organizations with more formally documented corporate governance guidance and IAF guidance are more likely to engage their IAFs in CSR auditing than those without such documentation. Findings also indicate that IAFs of governmental organizations and those within larger organizations engage in significantly more …

The Structure Of Work Placement In A Third-Level Accounting Programme : Employers' Perspective, Laura O'Callaghan

Theses

Extant literature on the benefits of work placement extols the virtues of embedding work placement in accounting degree programmes, not only for the students, but also for the employers. It provides employers with an extended period to vet students for graduate position (Gault et al, 2000; Beard, 2007), a cost-effective solution to hiring for short-term projects (Ferkins, 2002) and a valuable link with local colleges (Gault et al, 2000; Me Gann and Anderson, 2012). However, there is a dearth of literature exploring how placement should be structured to maximise these benefits (Buckley and El Amond, 2010; Sheridan and Linehan, 2003). …

Is Accounting For Stock Options Manipulated Before And After An Initial Public Offering?, Natalie Marie Flood

Honors Theses

Stock option accounting is an area in financial statements that requires substantial estimates and management discretion. Previous research in the area of stock option accounting has found that valuations of options and subsequent accounting methods have been incorrectly stated to aid a company to look financially stronger. Companies that are about to undergo an initial public offering have the most incentive to incorrectly state the value of their options. However, all of these studies have used financial data from financial statements dated before 2004. This is significant because FASB Standard 123(R) (2004) and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (2000) have both been …

Prediction Models For Corporate Financial Distress In Southeast Asia, Viet Dung Dinh

ECU Posters

Building prediction models of corporate financial distress plays a critical part of evaluating and managing credit risk. There is a combination of financial statements and volatility in market values of firm assets to measure distance to default as well as discriminate between distressed and non-distressed firms

Directory Of Accounting Faculty, Academic Year 2016-2017, 39th Edition, James R. Hasselback

Individual and Corporate Publications

No abstract provided.

The Effect Of Increased Regulation On Option Use Within The Information Technology Industry, Ahmed H. Eltamami

CMC Senior Theses

Exorbitant executive compensation packages have drawn large criticism from the public eye and with the recent financial crisis and the previous tech bubble opinion on executive incentives has forced government institutions to respond. Over the past two decades the SEC and FASB have aimed to respond to the public and with three large regulation changes in the 2000s, pay for performance compensation has gone through many changes. In this study I build on previous work in an attempt to answer whether or not executives within the Information Technology industry have seen a larger decline in option compensation when compared to …

The Impact Of Technology Acceptance And Openess To Innovaion On Software Implementation, Michael Marin Bertini

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Senior management decisions to foster innovation and adopt new technology solutions have serious implications for the success of their organization change initiatives. This project examined the issue of senior management decision or reasons of their decision to adopt new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems as a solution to solve their business problems. This project investigated the degree that perceived ease of use and usefulness of the ERP system influenced decisions made by senior managers to innovate. Roger's diffusion of innovations theory and Davis technology acceptance model theory were used to predict when senior managers were open to innovation, and whether …

Measuring The Quality And Identifying Influencing Factors Of Sustainability Reporting: Evidence From The Resources Industry In Australia, Siew Hoon Ong

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The lack of a standardised reporting framework in sustainability reporting has resulted in companies producing unaudited generic sustainability information that are not reflective of companies’ actual sustainability performance. The disclosures also differ in quality and hinder comparison. This study addresses these problems with the development of a new scoring index that integrates the hard and soft principles in Clarkson, Li, Richardson and Vasvari’s (2008) environmental index with performance indicators of the Global Reporting Initiatives (GRI) framework. The newly developed index comprises all three aspects of sustainability (economic, environmental and social) and adopts a standardised scoring scale that is reflective of …

Features Affecting The Quality Of Sustainability Reporting Within An Egyptian Context: An Empirical Study And Evaluation, Noha Abdelrahman

Business Administration

Despite of the general agreement among academics and practitioners on the massive importance of sustainability reporting, the quality level of sustainability reporting is unsustainable. There is an obvious increase in the number of sustainability reports that is not associated with a parallel or even acceptable increase in their quality. This research aims at contributing knowledge within sustainability reporting in the context of Egypt. This aim will be achieved by providing insights in the knowledge and reporting of sustainability through testing certain features for their impact on the quality of sustainability reporting. Data will be collected for the Global 100 companies, …

An Exploration Of Modern Financial Reporting, Jane C. Case

Honors Theses

The following are solutions to a series of case studies in financial reporting completed in fulfillment of the requirements of the honors ACCY 420 course at the University of Mississippi for both the fall and spring semester of the 2015/2016 academic year. Each case study focused on a particular area of financial reporting for a specific company or set of companies in the same industry. Each case contained a problem set requiring comprehension of accounting concepts, analysis of financial stability, mathematical calculations, and preparation of journal entries and financial statements.

3d Systems: An In-Depth Look Into The Past, Present, And Future Of 3d Printing, John Lars Ely

Honors Theses

This thesis revolves around the 3D printing industry. I focused the majority of my research on the company, 3D Systems. I looked into the various factors that are holding the company back and what it can do to overcome then. I concluded that 3D Systems needs to focus more on developing and marketing printers for the domestic market. I also found that the company has to gain a stronger foothold in the Asian market if it wants to emerge as the leader of the industry.

Healthways: A Financial Analysis And Recommendations, Katherine Adcock

Honors Theses

The Accy 420 course at the University of Mississippi serves to provide students who are in both the Patterson School of Accountancy and the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College an alternative route in which to write their theses. The course uses research methods and financial statement analysis to allow students to produce an in-depth analysis on a company of their choosing. Both a written thesis and a presentation are aspects of the course. Through ten weekly chapter submissions, students compose their final thesis made up of general company information, industry and geographical analysis, strategy analysis, financial statement analysis, accounting quality, …

Essays In Accounting And Finance, Sayan Sarkar

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

In my first essay, I investigate changes in a number of firm characteristics surrounding the change in debt policy (i.e., becoming unlevered). I do so to investigate why firms may lower their debt levels, and add insights to the zero-leverage puzzle. My main findings are that tax based explanations and market timing explanations do not explain the observed behavior of firms that become totally unlevered. My findings are most consistent with the pecking order theory (Myers and Majluf, 1984) and with Jensen's (1986) theory of free cash flows. I also investigate whether financial constraint is somehow related to the decision …

Mapping Decisions Of Reporting Asset Misappropriation Within An Accounting Department Using Behavioral, Cognitive, And Cultural Traits, Nora Alaniz Bouqayes

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The problem of global fraud continues to be pandemic with the cost to organizations exceeding $3.9 trillion of lost revenues every year. Accounting research is slowly embracing the behavioral science research and has expanded limited literature addressing the traits of fraud perpetrators. This study begins to examine behavioral, cognitive, and cultural traits of reporters of fraud in accounting departments. This study narrows the area of interest to asset misappropriation as part of the Occupational Fraud and Abuse Classification System created by the Association of Fraud Examiners. An initial instrument to measure traits is developed and used to map decision paths …

Ceo Ownership And Firm Performance: Evidence From The 2003 Dividend Tax Cut, Hong Kim Duong

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This study investigates whether and how CEO ownership impacts firm performance by using the large tax cut on individual dividend income enacted in 2003 (The 2003 Dividend Tax Cut) as an exogenous shock. My findings suggest that CEO ownership of dividend payers significantly increased after the shock in the form of higher annual restricted stock grants and more option exercises. I document that the change in CEO ownership has an asymmetric impact on firm performance and investment efficiency. Only dividend payers with CEOs who moved closer to optimal ownership experienced improvement in investment efficiency and performance. In contrast, dividend payers …

A Collaborative Approach To Budgeting And The Impact On The Budgeting Process: A Case Study, Michael Van Roestel

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Corporations budget and strategize to set targets for planning purposes. Review of the literature indicated that methods of budget creation, including input from operational employees, are not fully understood by corporate budget officers. The problem addressed in this study was whether a collaborative approach to budgeting would improve implementation of the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles of relevance and reliability within the budgeting process. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the benefits of a collaborative approach to budgeting since non-inclusive budget preparation could alienate members of the operations team. Participative leadership was the conceptual framework guiding this study …

Related Parties: Audit Risk When 63 Entities Act As One, Alyssa Lieb

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This paper delves into the fraud committed by Adelphia Communications for fiscal year 2001. Former Adelphia owner, the Rigas family’s background is scrutinized in an effort to understand how an environment fostering the ideals of financial statement fraud was created. The fraud itself is analyzed to uncover the potential warning signs that were available to then auditor, Deloitte. The audit process is outlined to determine where audit risk was greatest, and how audit guidelines in place at the time may have been ineffective in helping auditors to mitigate such risks. Audit guidelines in place at the time are then compared …

The Impact Of Disclosing Auditor Independence And Tenure On Non-Professional Investor Judgment And Decision-Making, L. Tyler Williams

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study experimentally investigates how disclosing both the auditor’s obligation to remain independent of its client and auditor tenure in the audit report influence non-professional investors’ judgments and decision-making, especially the decision about whether to invest in a particular auditee. In the Auditor’s Reporting Model (ARM) proposal, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) asserts that inclusion of additional information in the audit report will improve the informativeness of the audit report for investors and as a result will modify its relevance to investment decisions. Using an experiment, I find that these disclosures positively influence non-professional investor judgments of auditor …

How Proposed Legislation Could Affect Corporate Taxes, Kaitlin Aspinwall

Honors Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to explore in detail three tax reform proposals and to determine the effects that each would have on three different industries, manufacturing, service based, and technology. This study looks at the detailed tax reform plans of Congressman Dave Camp, Congressman Devin Nunes, and Senators Marco Rubio and Mike Lee. In order to determine the effects that each of these plans would have on the three industries, the financial statements of Lockheed Martin, Liberty Mutual, and Facebook are analyzed as representatives of their industries. This analysis revealed the effects that the proposals would have on …

Exploring The Role Of Bookkeeping In Business Success, Mary-Jo Zimmerman

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Small businesses support local economies by creating jobs and providing products and services, yet 50% of them fail within 5 years and only 30% of them survive for 10 years or more. The purpose of this qualitative explanatory case study was to explore how bookkeeping strategies helped 1 small business owner to sustain business growth over time. The sample was comprised of 1 small business owner who has been in business at least 5 years, experienced success, and achieved sustainability in Wake County, North Carolina. Systems theory served as the conceptual framework for this study. The data were collected through …

Short Selling Pressure And Corporate Social Responsibility Performance, Louise Yi Lu, Yangxin Yu, Liandong Zhang

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

Using Regulation SHO as a natural experiment, we show that managers respond to apositive exogenous shock of short selling pressure by enhancing corporate socialresponsibility (CSR) performance. The positive effect of short selling on CSR is mainlydriven by improvements in stakeholder CSR, rather than third party CSR; and byimprovements in CSR strengths, rather than reductions in CSR concerns. We further findthat the effect is more pronounced for firms that locate in environments where CSR isemphasized by their stakeholders. Moreover, we find that managers are more likely toissue CSR reports that convey information about firms’ CSR activities to the publicduring the implementation …

Investor Reactions To Company Disclosure Of High Ceo Pay And High Ceo-To-Employee Pay Ratio: An Experimental Investigation, Khim Kelly, Jean Lin Seow

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

There is significant debate about the usefulness of disclosing the CEO-to-median employee pay ratio, as required under Section 953(b) of the Dodd-Frank Act in the United States. Using an experiment, we find that disclosing higher-than-industry CEO pay (versus comparable-to-industry CEO pay) marginally decreases perceived CEO pay fairness and perceived workplace climate, which is counteracted by a significant positive effect on perceived CEO attraction/retention ability, although there are no significant indirect effects through these perceptions on perceived investment potential. However, incrementally disclosing a higher-than-industry pay ratio (versus disclosing only higher-than-industry CEO pay) significantly decreases perceived CEO pay fairness and marginally deceases …

Government Auditing Standards And Single Audit Developments, 2016/17; Audit Risk Alerts, American Institute Of Certified Public Accountants (Aicpa)

Industry Guides (AAGs), Risk Alerts, and Checklists

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of International Financial Reporting Standards On Key Financial Indicators Of Canadian Companies, Clint W. Smith

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Companies throughout the world use different methods for reporting their financial information to capital market investors and regulators. These different methods have caused financial reporting of statements to become less transparent, has increased adjustment errors and forecasting errors, and has reduced investor confidence. As a result, the International Accounting Standards Board created International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) to establish a global standard. Currently, 140 jurisdictions worldwide have implemented IFRS. The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of IFRS on 248 Canadian companies and to analyze whether the 2011 implementation of IFRS affected corporate stock prices, key financial …

Examining Small Business Adoption Of Computerized Accounting Systems Using The Technology Acceptance Model., Alan D. Rogers

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Small business owners who fail to adopt modern technology risk placing themselves at a competitive disadvantage. Drawing on Davis's technology acceptance model, the purpose of this study was to examine how small business owners in Central Ohio come to accept and use computerized accounting systems (CAS). The research question addressed the correlation between perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, and the intent to adopt CAS using multiple linear regression. Data were collected using a survey mailed to 347 small business owners which yielded a sample size of 71 respondents. Results showed a positive correlation between perceived ease of use, perceived …

Effects Of Management Control Systems And Strategy On Performance Of Minority-Owned Businesses, Raymond Onyema Obinozie

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This study addressed the perceived relationships among management control systems, business strategy, and organizational performance in U.S. minority-owned manufacturing businesses. Hofer's contingency theory provided a framework for the study, which included a quantitative, survey-based correlational design. Research questions focused on the relationship between financial- and nonfinancial-based management control systems as well as low-cost leadership and differentiation strategies, and how these practices impacted organizational performance. A random sample of 1,000 participants was selected from a population of 2,583 minority-owned manufacturing businesses in the United States. Results of the principal component analysis, Pearson's zero order correlation coefficient, and multiple regression analysis indicated …

The Effect Of Board Independence On Information Asymmetry, Beng Wee Goh, Jimmy Lee, Jeffrey Ng, Kevin Ow Yong

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

Boards have an important role in ensuring that investors’ interests are protected. Our paper first examines whether the independence of a firm's board affects information asymmetry among investors. We provide evidence that greater board independence leads to lower information asymmetry. Next, we provide evidence that more voluntary disclosure and greater analyst coverage are two underlying mechanisms via which greater board independence reduces information asymmetry. Of the two mechanisms, we find that analyst coverage is more significant in influencing how board independence affects information asymmetry. Overall, our paper contributes to a better understanding of the effect of board independence on information …

Analyzing The Analysts: The Effect Of Technical And Social Skills On Analyst Career, Congcong Li, An-Ping Lin, Hai Lu

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

This paper investigates how technical and social skills of financial analysts affect theirperformance and career advancement. Using a sample of LinkedIn profiles of financial analysts,we document that analysts with good social skill, proxied by the number of social connections,generate more accurate earnings forecasts and produce more informative stock recommendations.These analysts are also more likely to be voted as All-Star analysts and to move to high-statusbrokers when changing jobs. However, the effect of technical skills, proxied by the quantitativeskills disclosed on LinkedIn, only affect earnings forecast accuracy. The analysts with technicalskills are indifferent in the likelihood of being voted as star …