Accounting Commons^™

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 …

Using Unstructured And Qualitative Disclosures To Explain Accruals, Richard Frankel, Jared Jennings, Joshua A. Lee

Faculty Publications

We examine the usefulness of support vector regressions (SVRs) in assessing the content of unstructured, qualitative disclosures by relating MD&A-based SVR-accrual estimates (MD&Aaccruals) to actual accruals. We find that MD&A accruals explain a statistically and economically significant portion of firm-level accruals and identify more persistent accruals. We find that the explanatory power of MD&A accruals is higher for more readable 10Ks, thereby providing evidence for the construct validity of the readability measures. To highlight the flexibility of the SVR method, we apply it to other dependent variables and disclosures. We find that MD&A-based cash-flow forecasts produced by SVR predict next …

Understanding Audit Quality: Insights From Audit Professionals And Investors*, Brant E. Christensen, Steven M. Glover, Thomas C. Omer, Marjorie K. Shelley

Faculty Publications

Projects seeking to define, measure, and evaluate audit quality are on the agendas of auditing standards setters as well as audit firms. The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) currently provides information regarding audit quality through the release of inspection reports, and the Board intends to establish and report audit quality indicators. To provide additional perspective on audit quality, we obtain auditors’ and investors’ views, definitions, and indicators of audit quality. We find that investors’ definitions of audit quality focus more on inputs to the audit process than do auditors’, and that investors view the number of PCAOB deficiencies as …

Comparing The Publication Process In Accounting, Economics, Finance, Management, Marketing, Psychology, And The Natural Sciences, David A. Wood

Faculty Publications

I present two types of data about the publication and review process in the accounting, economics, finance, management, marketing, psychology, and natural science disciplines. First, I collect all articles published in 2012 in top tier journals of these disciplines and compare the articles based on word counts, figures and tables included in each article, the time it took to be published, citations, the number of co-authors, and submission fees. I then survey academics in each discipline. Survey questions were designed to evaluate overall perceptions of the review process; changes in the review process in the last 5 years; opinions about …

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 …

Obscure U: Complexity And Complicity In For-Profit University Financial Statements, Caroline R. Counts

CMC Senior Theses

The prominence and size of For Profit Universities (FPUs) today has led to increased regulation and oversight. One important regulation is the 90/10 rule which states that FPUs cannot receive more than 90% of their revenue from government Title IV funds. The regulations require publicly traded For Profit Universities to not only comply with the 90/10 rule but also to disclose their score on their financial statements. There however, is little research studying the quality of these disclosures. My paper studies the readability and complexity of the 90/10 score disclosure in relation to the 90/10 score. My findings suggest that …

Delta Air Lines: A Financial Analysis And Corresponding Recommendations For Delta Air Lines, Inc., Emily Bush

Honors Theses

This alternative thesis project is a financial analysis of Delta Air Lines, Inc. Utilizing the 10-K Financial Statements from 2009 to 2013, along with some correlating outside resources, a full business and financial analysis was completed. Starting with the business background and operations, and then working into analysis of the Financial Statements, corresponding recommendations were created for tax, audit and advisory planning strategies.. The bulk of the analysis utilized the 10-K data provided by the SEC, only using minimal other resources for background research. The research found that since filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy Delta Air Lines has improved substantially. Delta's …

A Multi-Dimensional Evaluation And Strategic Exploration Of Institutional Investing With Focus On State Street Corporation, Jack Badger

Honors Theses

This report examines State Street Corporation in a way similar to that of a professional in an advisory role. Included in this analysis is a brief history of the firm, financial ratio analysis and implications, audit and tax recommendations, and tools to help improve State Street's strategic outlook and outlast its competitors.  

Food With Integrity: A Financial Analysis Of Chipotle Mexican Grill, Kaylie M. Rowell

Honors Theses

For the accounting alternative thesis, we were to pick a publicly traded company domiciled in the U.S that we were interested in and research their financials, business, and industry. I chose Chipotle Mexican Grill due to their unique restaurant brand. Chipotle's Food with Integrity campaign makes up their main brand, but brings the issue of finding enough suppliers to meet their needs. If Chipotle has to use processed food to fulfill the lack of the natural, organic food then they will eventually lose their customer's trust. Chipotle has also expanded globally so there are always issues that appear when dealing …

An Experimental Investigation Of The Effects Of Contract Frame And Discretion In Performance Evaluation On Effort, Robert Ewing

Theses and Dissertations--Accountancy

The design of incentive compensation plans is critical to a company’s success. This study develops and validates a theoretical model to examine how incentive contract framing affects effort. This study uses an experiment to observe the effect of the manipulation of incentive contract frame and the presence or absence of principal discretion in performance evaluation on effort. The results of the experiment show that when principal discretion in performance evaluation is absent, penalty contracts induce greater effort than bonus contracts. The results of the experiment also demonstrate that the interaction of principal discretion in performance evaluation and contract frame influences …

Firms’ Non-Reliance Judgment, Restatement Venue Choice, And Litigation Risk, Keunho Philip Chung

Theses and Dissertations--Accountancy

This paper examines the determinants of firms’ non-reliance judgment and the effect of restatements disclosure venue choice on future litigation risk. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requires firms to disclose any error that will undermine investors’ reliance on previously issued financial statements in Item 4.02 of Form 8-K starting on August 23, 2004. The requirements for non-reliance judgments lack clear guidelines; raising concerns that firms are cloaking errors and mistakes through opaque disclosure venues instead of the more prominent Form 8-K.

This paper is the first to investigate the quantitative and qualitative criteria that firms use for non-reliance judgments …

How The Prospect Of Fault Influences Managers' Compliance, Matthew T. Sooy

Theses and Dissertations--Accountancy

The SEC relies heavily on ‘no-fault’ settlements in its enforcement, where targets avoid costly litigation by accepting sanctions without admitting or denying fault. This policy is argued to enable the agency to pursue greater numbers of violators. However, opponents argue that no-fault sanctions may be less effective, reducing fines to a ‘cost of business’. In an experiment, I examine the effects of fault assignment on managers’ cost perceptions, ethical framing and compliance. I manipulate the presence of fault assignment in prospective sanctions, and additionally manipulate sanction strength and sanction target - attributes that commonly vary in sanctions and which may …

التمايز السلوكي لدى القادة ودوره في التماثل التنظيمي للحد من سلوك العمل المنحرف (دراسة تحليلية في الكلية الاسلامية الجامعة), فاضل راضي غباش الغزالي

Muthanna Journal of Administrative and Economics Sciences

المستخلص تهدف الدراسة الحالية الى إيضاح الدور الذي يمارسه التمايز السلوكي في بلورة التماثل التنظيمي للحد من سلوك العمل المنحرف . وقد جمعت بيانات الدراسة من آراء منتسبي الكلية الاسلامية الجامعة في القادسية وقد بلغ عدد الذين ابدوا آرائهم (55) فرداً ما بين موظف وتدريسي وقائد ادري . تم اختبار فرضيات الدراسة التي تدور حول علاقات الارتباط والتأثير المباشر وغير المباشر بين متغيرات الدراسة . اثبتت نتائج الدراسة صحة اغلب الفرضيات والتي اصيغ بصددها مجموعة من التوصيات التي يمكن الاستفادة منها في تطوير واقع التعليم العالي في العراق بشكل عام وفي المنظمة المبحوثه بشكل خاص .

دور التمكين الإداري في تعزيز الابتكار التنظيمي, حميد سالم الكعبي

Muthanna Journal of Administrative and Economics Sciences

المستخلص تتناول الدراسة الحالية اختبار دور التمكين الإداري في تعزيز الابتكار التنظيمي لعينة مكونة من (118) فرداً ، وكان مجتمع الدراسة كلية الرافدين الجامعة . وقد استخدم الباحث التكرارات ، والنسب المئوية ، والوسط الحسابي ، وتحليل الانحدار البسيط في تحليل فرضيات الدراسة . وقد أثبتت معظم نتائج الدراسة صحة الفرضيات التي تم افتراضها وخلصت الدراسة إلى مجموعة من الاستنتاجات والتوصيات ، ومن أهم تلك الاستنتاجات (يتعزز الابتكار التنظيمي من خلال التمكين الإداري في ظل بيئة الإعمال سريعة التغيير ، والذي أصبح الابتكار جوهرياً من اجل البقاء ، ولان بقاء المنظمة لا يمكن إن يتحقق إلا من خلال مجموعة من …

خارطة تدفق القيمة: كمدخل لمواجهة الهدر دراسة حاله في المعهد التقني/ الديوانية, طاهر حميد عباس

Muthanna Journal of Administrative and Economics Sciences

تتطلع هذه الدراسة إلى توظيف خارطة نشاط العملية بأنَّها أحد أهم أدوات خارطة تدفق القيمة في إعادة تصميم الخدمة في البيئة التعليمية ، وقد تم اختيار المعهد التقني/ الديوانية كونه أحد المؤسسات العلمية الراعية للعلم وتقدم أفرادها بما يسهم في تقديم أفضل الخدمات التي يتطلعون اليها وبذل الجهود من أجل الوصول إلى ميزة تنافسية تنعكس من خلال إزالة الهدر بجميع أنواعه الذي يجعل من وقت انتظار طالب الخدمة عبئاً من الناحيتين المعنوية والمادية. تتمثل مشكلة الدراسة في كثرة وطول الاجراءات لإنجاز معاملة احتساب شهادة ماجستير ومنح القدم واللقب العلمي لمستحقيها ما أدى الى زيادة وقت الانتظار، ما أنعكس سلباً على …

Client Importance And Audit Quality In Highly Connected Jurisdictions, Kelly Grani Yuen

Lingnan Theses

The study focuses on the audit quality issue in three culturally and commercially highly connected jurisdictions with very different legal systems which affect auditors. Hong Kong practices common law, Taiwan practices civil law, and the People’s Republic of China (Mainland China) practices a socialist legal system. Taiwan adopts a civil law system with heavy influence by common law countries. It is therefore motivating to assess how auditors in each of the three connected jurisdictions with distinctive legal environments handle the audit quality for important clients. Accounting scandals and auditing frauds are perceived to be driven by aggressive companies and misrepresentation …

Aicpa Annual Report, 2016; Ready For Next, American Institute Of Certified Public Accountants (Aicpa)

AICPA Annual Reports

No abstract provided.

Foxes In The Henhouse: An Exploratory Inquiry Into Financial Markets Fraud, Joseph Wall, Timothy J. Fogarty

Accounting Faculty Research and Publications

Conventional understandings of fraud are organized around the fraud triangle first developed in the 1950s by Cressey. This conceptual device remains central in our pedagogy and research on this especially timely topic. As long as fraud is imagined to be not much different than a stereotypical act by a single individual out of financial desperation and impulsiveness, the fraud triangle provides a reasonably powerful conceptual organization. However, when applied to abuses that occur in highly organized financial markets, its application takes on new meanings that push the boundaries of its usefulness. Using interviews with traders and other securities market participants, …

Audit Quality Indicators: Perceptions Of Junior-Level Auditors, Veena L. Brown, Jodi L. Gissel, Daniel Neely

Accounting Faculty Research and Publications

Purpose

In an effort to develop an audit quality (AQ) framework specific to the US audit market, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) recently issued a concept release proposing 28 audit quality indicators (AQIs) along three dimensions: audit professionals, audit process and audit results. Using AQIs initially proposed by the PCAOB, as well as AQIs suggested by prior literature, the authors solicit perceptions from junior-level (senior and staff) auditors to investigate the current state of practice along many of the AQIs relating to audit professionals and audit process.

Design/methodology/approach

In the study, 78 junior-level auditors responded to the survey. …

Re-Thinking The Intentionality Of Fraud: Constructing And Testing The Theory Of Unintended Amoral Behavior To Explain Fraudulent Financial Reporting, Andrew Dill

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

My three-paper dissertation is aimed at applying the concepts of bounded ethicality and ethical fading to accounting fraud. Typical of relatively new fields such as behavioral ethics, theoretical models are scarce (Tenbrunsel & Smith-Crowe, 2008). As such, the purpose of Study 1 is to unify disparate theories and ideas from psychology and behavioral ethics as a means of constructing a theory, the Theory of Unintended Amoral Behavior (TUAB), which includes the concepts of bounded ethicality and ethical fading. In addition, the pressure for management to meet earnings expectations is discussed through the lens of the TUAB as an example of …

Under-Researched Areas Of Audit Quality: Inputs, Firms, And Institutions, Jared Eutsler

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Francis (2011) lists three under-researched units of analysis that affect audit quality: inputs, firms, and institutions. This dissertation analyzes how each of these units of analysis contributes to audit quality. Study 1 examines audit inputs, specifically, characteristics of the individual auditor that affect professional skepticism. Study 2 examines how firm staffing decisions affect audit quality. Study 3 examines how the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board ("PCAOB"), as a regulatory institution, promotes audit quality through their risk-based inspection program. The first study reports the results of two experiments that examine professional skepticism as a function of moral agency. Consistent with the …

Decision Making In Corporate Taxation, Bonnie Brown

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is comprised of three experimental studies that examine corporate tax aggressiveness through an investigation of judgment and decision making in the corporate tax environment. Studies 1 and 2 examine individual judgment involved in decision making (i.e., assessments of tax positions based upon tax scenario facts and tax authority). Study 1 examines how advice from external tax advisors and a tax advisor's association with the company's audit firm influences the aggressiveness of experienced in-house corporate tax decision makers. Study 2 examines how situational factors in the corporate tax environment interact with individual traits to affect individual-level tax aggressiveness, focusing …

Identifying Business Risk Factors Of Identity Theft, Robert K. Minniti

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Businesses are under pressure to identify and control risks affecting profitability, including the risk of fraud. Identity theft, a type of fraud, costs businesses, governments, and individuals in excess of $56 billion a year. In order to develop good internal controls to help prevent and detect fraud, it is necessary to identify the risks to the business, but business owners are not always aware of what risk factors relate to identity theft. A nonexperimental research design formed the basis of this research study. The population for this study was data from all 50 U.S. states, represented via government databases maintained …

Integration Of Sustainability Reporting At An Academic Institution, James William Shimko

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Leaders at nonprofit academic institutions are following the global business trend of embracing sustainability initiatives for positive social change; however, there has been slow growth in sustainability reporting among academic institutions. The purpose of this study was to explore the strategies and processes necessary for leaders and managers to integrate sustainability reporting into the reporting cycle for a nonprofit higher education institution. I conducted a single case study of a nonprofit academic institution that utilized sustainability reporting. The study sample consisted of 4 leaders and managers at a nonprofit academic institution located in the state of Michigan that published sustainability …

Controlling Auditor Interactions To Improve The Quality Of A Financial Statement Audit, Christopher Turner

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Poor quality financial statement audits have a negative impact on the information provided to principals and stakeholders that can increase the risk of corporate fraud. The well-documented collapses of companies, such as Enron and WorldCom, brought the issue of audit quality to the headlines. Using agency theory as the conceptual framework, the purpose of this single case study was to determine what strategies client managers and boards can use to facilitate an engagement with an audit firm and effectively carry out their responsibility to provide effective relevant evidence and support for their management assertions as outlined in the engagement letter. …

Accounting Strategies For Small Business Law Firms' Sustainability, Karen Ann Adams

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Small business family law firms generate jobs within the local community, but often fail because of suboptimal accounting strategies. A multiple case study was used to research the accounting strategies small business family law firm owners use to succeed in business beyond 5 years. The population for this study was three small business owners of family law firms located in West Chester, Pennsylvania. The small business family law firm owners had achieved and maintained profitability of their businesses for a minimum of 5 years. Financial literacy theory and the leadership skill model comprised the conceptual framework for this study. Data …