Why Some Public Accounting Reforms Tend to Fail: Evidence from Belgian Public Accounting Reform

2020 ◽  
pp. 165-184
Author(s):  
Christos Tsatsis
Keyword(s):  
Public Accounting

Determinant of Audit Report Lag Among Mining Companies in Indonesia

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 68
Author(s):  
Sari Angriany Natonis ◽  
Bambang Tjahjadi
Keyword(s):  
Stock Exchange ◽  
Sampling Technique ◽  
Annual Reports ◽  
Fiscal Year ◽  
Company Size ◽  
Audit Report ◽  
Public Accounting ◽  
Audit Opinion ◽  
Accounting Firm ◽  
Mining Companies

Time period in completing the audit work until the date of publishing audit report is called audit report lag. BAPEPAM requires each of going-public companies to publish their annual reports not later than three months after the fiscal year ends. The aim of this research was to determine the effect of profitability, solvency, company size, audit opinion, and size of public accounting firm on audit report lag at mining companies listed on Indonesia Stock Exchange during the period of 2013-2017. As many as 12 samples were obtained through purposive sampling technique. The data analysis technique used was the multiple regression analysis. The results showed that the profitability and company size negatively affected the audit report lag, while the other variables, such as solvency, audit opinion, and size of public accounting firm, had no significant effect on the audit report. The result of simultaneous test showed that all independent variables influenced audit report lag with 32.8% of determination coefficient.

It's about Time! Introducing Students to the Concept of Billable Hours and Improving Their Excel Skills By Creating a Spreadsheet to Track Their Time

2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy C. Hinson ◽  
Lorraine S. Lee ◽  
David C. Hayes
Keyword(s):  
Public Accounting ◽  
Tracking Time ◽  
Spread Sheet ◽  
Excel Spread Sheet

ABSTRACT The concepts of billable hours and tracking time are a reality in public accounting. The purpose of this case is to educate students on the concept of billable hours and to improve the student's Excel skills through the development of a spreadsheet to track their time. Students were required to create the time-tracking Excel spread-sheet and to track all (personal and school-related) of their time for two weeks. Students were given pre/post tests and surveys and the results reflect that students significantly increased their performance in intermediate and advanced Excel skills, billable hours concepts and realize the difficulty in tracking time. Even though the students acknowledged the difficulty in tracking time, they did enjoy learning more about billable hours that they may encounter in their future professions.

PENGARUH INDEPENDENSI AUDITOR DAN KOMPETENSI AUDITOR TERHADAP KUALITAS AUDIT DENGAN TEKANAN KLIEN SEBAGAI VARIABEL MODERASI

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 381-390
Author(s):  
Prayogi Gunawan ◽  
Abriandi Abriandi
Keyword(s):  
Regression Analysis ◽  
Audit Quality ◽  
Ideal Condition ◽  
Certified Public Accountants ◽  
Public Accounting ◽  
Accounting Firm ◽  
The Public ◽  
Questionnaire Form ◽  
Client Pressure ◽  
Survey Approach

This study aims to test whether client pressure can moderate the influence of auditor’s independence and auditor’s competence on audit quality. This study used a survey approach with questionnaire form which filled by 80 auditors who work at the Public Accounting Firm of North Jakarta listed at the Indonesian Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Regression analysis was used to test the hypothesis. The result of the research shows that if the auditor has high independence and competence, then audit quality will be higher also. Based on testing of a pure moderator, client pressure is able to moderate and strengthen each influence of auditor’s independence and auditor’s competence on audit quality. This suggests that this study produces an ideal condition in which client pressure makes the auditor more independent and competent to the job. Keywords: Auditor’s independence, Auditor’s competence, Audit quality, Client pressure

PREPARING AN ACCOUNTING PROFESSIONAL: THE ARTICLES OF CLERKSHIP (1892–1897) OF GEORGE OLIVER MAY

2014 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dale L. Flesher ◽  
Gary J. Previts
Keyword(s):  
Ohio State University ◽  
Professional Responsibility ◽  
State University ◽  
American Institute ◽  
World Congress ◽  
Public Accounting ◽  
Hall Of Fame ◽  
The Ohio State University ◽  
British Education

George O. May, one of, if not ‘the’ leading spokesman for the American Institute of CPAs for most of his lifetime, was the product of British education and an articled clerkship. This paper reviews the features and information about May's clerkship (indentureship) articles, including aspects of what is now called professional responsibility. Also mentioned are selected highlights and sources related to his career in public accounting, including his ‘cameo’ role at the l904 World Congress of Accountants in St. Louis where he participated with prominent leaders of the emerging United States CPA community, including Staub, Sterrett, Montgomery, and Sells, as well as his countrymen Pixley and Dickinson [Official Record, p. 164]. This study of George O. May's preparation provides details about a relatively unnoticed chapter in the career of an individual who was among the first group of inductees, in l950, along with William A. Paton and Robert H. Montgomery, to the Accounting Hall of Fame at The Ohio State University. Additionally, May's clerkship requirements are indicative of the role of professional responsibility in the decade before the turn of the twentieth century.

WARREN W. NISSLEY: A CRUSADER FOR COLLEGIATE EDUCATION

1996 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elliott L. Slocum ◽  
Alfred R. Roberts
Keyword(s):  
Independent Schools ◽  
College Graduates ◽  
Accounting Education ◽  
Graduate Level ◽  
Public Accounting ◽  
Accounting Firms ◽  
Public Accounting Firms ◽  
College Programs

Warren W. Nissley's intense dedication to public accounting led him to crusade for development of schools of accountancy and improvement of education of accountants. Nissley conceived and championed the Bureau for Placements, 1926–1932, which resulted in: public accounting firms recruiting college graduates and developing permanent professional staffs, publishing the first Institute career publication, academic and student awareness of public accounting, and improved quality of college programs and graduates. Nissley's campaign for independent schools of accountancy, 1928–1950, influenced the Institute's committee on education. Many elements of his recommendations may be recognized in the evolution and current developments of accounting education. However, Nissley would continue to express disappointment in the failure to establish separate professional, graduate level, schools of accountancy for public accounting.

A Contemporary Analysis of Accounting Professionals' Work-Life Balance

2015 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steve Buchheit ◽  
Derek W. Dalton ◽  
Nancy L. Harp ◽  
Carl W. Hollingsworth
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Support ◽  
Work Life ◽  
Work Life Balance ◽  
Public Accounting ◽  
Important Distinction ◽  
Life Balance ◽  
Accounting Firms ◽  
Accounting Professionals ◽  
Big 4 ◽  
Public Accounting Firms

SYNOPSIS In recent years, work-life balance surpassed compensation as the most important job satisfaction factor among AICPA members (American Institute of Certified Public Accountants [AICPA] 2004). Despite the continued importance of this issue in the accounting profession (AICPA 2011), prior research has not examined work-life balance perceptions across different segments of the profession. We survey 1,063 practicing CPAs in order to assess the comparative work-life balance perceptions across (1) Big 4 versus smaller public accounting firms, (2) audit versus tax functions, and (3) public accounting versus industry work contexts. Consistent with predictions based on institutional logics theory, we find that work-family conflict and job burnout perceptions (our proxies for work-life balance) are highest in the Big 4. We are the first study to measure both support-for and viability-of traditional alternative work arrangements (AWAs), and we report an important distinction between these two constructs. Specifically, while CPAs across all public accounting firms (i.e., Big 4, national, regional, and local firms) report similar levels of organizational support-for AWAs, Big 4 professionals report significantly lower perceived viability-of AWAs (i.e., the ability to use AWAs and remain effective at one's job) compared to accounting professionals at smaller public accounting firms. Further, we find no differences between audit and tax professionals' perceptions across any of our work-life balance measures. We also document nuanced differences regarding work-life balance perceptions in public accounting versus industry. For example, contrary to conventional wisdom, work-life balance is not uniformly “better” in industry (e.g., burnout is actually lower in smaller public accounting firms compared to industry). Finally, we use open-ended responses from a follow-up survey to provide several recommendations for firms to improve their work-life balance efforts.

Audit and Tax Career Paths in Public Accounting: An Analysis of Student and Professional Perceptions

2013 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 213-231 ◽  
Author(s):  
Derek W. Dalton ◽  
Steve Buchheit ◽  
Jeffrey J. McMillan
Keyword(s):  
Business Processes ◽  
Data Availability ◽  
Accounting Students ◽  
Daily Routine ◽  
Limited Information ◽  
Student Survey ◽  
Public Accounting ◽  
Accounting Professionals ◽  
Job Opportunities ◽  
Client Relationships

SYNOPSIS Upper-division accounting students frequently direct their public accounting careers toward audit or tax “tracks” based on what appears to be limited information. Surprisingly, prior research has not investigated the factors that affect this fundamentally important career decision. We conduct two surveys to investigate the relevant factors of the audit-tax decision from the perspectives of upper-division accounting students and experienced public accounting professionals. Our student survey documents the underlying factors that influence the audit-tax decision. For example, accounting students who plan to pursue careers in audit believe that they will have more client interaction, better future job opportunities (i.e., industry positions), and greater knowledge of business processes if they work in audit (as opposed to tax). In contrast, accounting students who plan to pursue careers in tax perceive that they will have a more stable daily routine, develop more specialized skills, and build more collaborative client relationships if they work in tax (as opposed to audit). While our public accounting respondents agree with many of the students' perceptions, professionals also disagree with several of the students' perceptions, suggesting misimpressions of practice. Our results should be of interest to the accounting professionals, firm recruiters, and accounting professors who advise future accounting professionals. Data Availability: Data are available upon request.

Viewing the 1996 FAF Restructuring as Policy Making without a Formal Due Process

2002 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 199-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul B. W. Miller
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Due Process ◽  
Accounting Standards ◽  
Sole Source ◽  
Securities And Exchange Commission ◽  
Financial Accounting ◽  
Perceived Threat ◽  
Financial Accounting Standards Board ◽  
Public Accounting

In 1996, a major financial reporting controversy emerged, escalated, and was resolved without substantial exposure or a formal due process. Specifically, a committee of the Financial Executives Institute (FEI) sent a letter to the chair of the Financial Accounting Foundation (FAF) asserting that the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) “process is broken and in need of substantive repair.” When Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Arthur Levitt determined that neither FAF nor public accounting leaders were dealing with the FEI proposals to his satisfaction, he acted to defeat this perceived threat to FASB's independence, focusing on the composition of the FAF. In response, the FAF trustees resisted because they viewed his intervention as a threat to FASB's independence. When the trustees did not voluntarily change, Levitt proposed reconsidering Accounting Series Release No. 150, which designates FASB as the sole source of GAAP for SEC filings. Eventually, Levitt prevailed. This paper describes this intervention as a case of policy making without a formal due process and adds to the already weighty evidence that accounting standards are political.

The Effects of Corporate Ownership on Public Accountants' Professionalism and Ethics

2002 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
William E. Shafer ◽  
D. Jordan Lowe ◽  
Timothy J. Fogarty
Keyword(s):  
Current Trend ◽  
Auditor Independence ◽  
Corporate Ownership ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Public Accounting ◽  
Corporate Acquisitions ◽  
Accounting Professionals ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
And Control ◽  
First Time

The current trend toward corporate acquisitions of CPA firms poses potential threats to the autonomy and ethical standards of public accounting professionals. This recent consolidation movement suggests that for the first time a significant number of public accounting professionals are subject to the supervision and control of nonprofessionals. In addition to acknowledging the potential threats to auditor independence and objectivity, this paper suggests that these new organizational arrangements for the provision of public accounting services have other negative effects on professionalism and ethics such as desensitizing CPAs to traditional professional values, and subverting professional institutions to the goals of corporate employers. This paper develops a framework that identifies several specific research questions related to the effects of corporate ownership on professionalism and ethics in public accounting.

An Analysis of Cross-Sectional Differences in Big and Non-Big Public Accounting Firms' Audit Programs

2006 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans Blokdijk ◽  
Fred Drieenhuizen ◽  
Dan A. Simunic ◽  
Michael T. Stein
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Audit Quality ◽  
Audit Fees ◽  
Public Accounting ◽  
Accounting Firms ◽  
Big 5 ◽  
Public Accounting Firms ◽  
Audit Approach ◽  
Control Risk

A significant body of prior research has shown that audits by the Big 5 (now Big 4) public accounting firms are quality differentiated relative to non-Big 5 audits. This result can be derived analytically by assuming that Big 5 and non-Big 5 firms face different loss functions for “audit failures” and is consistent with a variety of empirical evidence from studies of audit fees, auditor changes, and the stock price reaction to audited earnings. However, there is no existing evidence (of which we are aware) concerning the underlying production differences between Big 5 and non-Big 5 audits. As a result, existing empirical evidence cannot distinguish between the possibility that Big 5 audits are simply perceived to be different (e.g., by investors) or actually differ in how they are produced. Our research objective is to identify the production characteristics of audit engagements that may explain the differences in expected audit quality between Big 5 and non-Big 5 firms. In this archival study, we examine the total audit effort and the allocation of effort to four audit phases—planning, (control) risk assessment, substantive testing, and completion—for a cross-section sample of 113 audits of Dutch companies in 1998/99 by 14 public accounting firms. We find that, after controlling for client characteristics: (1) both types of auditors exert about the same amount of total audit effort; (2) Big 5 auditors allocate relatively more effort to planning and (control) risk assessment, and relatively less to substantive testing and completion; and (3) client size, use of the business-risk-based audit approach, and reliance on client internal controls affect audit hours differently for the two auditor types. We conclude that the Big 5 firms actually produce a higher audit quality level, and that this quality difference is related to how audit hours are deployed in a more contextual and less procedural audit approach.

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