A Summary of Research and Enforcement Release Evidence on Confirmation Use and Effectiveness

2008 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 253-279 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Caster ◽  
Randal J. Elder ◽  
Diane J. Janvrin

SUMMARY: Confirmations are extensively used and are often perceived by practitioners to be one of the most persuasive forms of audit evidence. Yet academic research has found limitations that restrict confirmation effectiveness for many management assertions. In addition, a number of problems with false and forged confirmations are identified in Accounting and Auditing Enforcement Releases (AAERs). The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) and the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) have put confirmation evidence on their respective agendas. Academic research indicates that receivable confirmations can be effective evidence for the existence assertion. Low response rates, as well as respondent errors and directional bias in detecting errors, are key barriers to confirmation effectiveness. Our review of AAERs identified failure to authenticate responses, collusion between auditee management and customers, and concealed side agreements and special terms as specific problem areas. We also identify a number of research questions for future research.

2016 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 255-275 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean Bédard ◽  
Paul Coram ◽  
Reza Espahbodi ◽  
Theodore J. Mock

SYNOPSIS The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB), and the U.K. Financial Reporting Council (FRC) have proposed or approved standards that significantly change the independent auditor's report. These initiatives require the auditor to make additional disclosures intended to close the information gap; that is, the gap between the information users desire and the information available through the audited financial statements, other corporate disclosures, and the auditor's report. They are also intended to improve the relevancy of the auditor's report. We augment prior academic research by providing standard setters with an updated synthesis of relevant research. More importantly, we provide an assessment of whether the changes are likely to close the information gap, which is important to financial market participants and other stakeholders in the audit reporting process. Also, we identify areas where there seems to be a lack of sufficient research. These results are of interest to all stakeholders in the audit reporting process, as the changes to the auditor's report are fundamental. Additionally, our summaries of research on the auditor's report highlight where there is limited research or inconsistent results, which will help academics identify important opportunities for future research.


2012 ◽  
Vol 32 (Supplement 1) ◽  
pp. 385-421 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Robert Knechel ◽  
Gopal V. Krishnan ◽  
Mikhail Pevzner ◽  
Lori B. Shefchik ◽  
Uma K. Velury

SUMMARY This study presents a review of academic research on audit quality. We begin with a review of existing definitions of audit quality and describe general frameworks for establishing audit quality. Next, we summarize research on indicators of audit quality such as inputs, process, and outcomes. Finally, we offer some suggestions for future research. The study should be useful to academics interested in audit quality as well as to the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) and other regulators.


2014 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. A10-A24 ◽  
Author(s):  
David N. Herda ◽  
James J. Lavelle

SUMMARY: A research synthesis team formed by the Auditing Section of the American Accounting Association recently authored a paper (Chung et al. 2013) addressing the audit of subsequent events (SEs). The audit of SEs is a difficult audit area, as approximately one-third of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board's inspection reports and numerous Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement releases identify deficiencies in this area (Chung et al. 2013). Chung et al. (2013) developed a model and proposed a series of research questions encouraging future academic research in this area. In this paper, we address several of these questions by surveying 76 practicing auditors. We summarize the auditors' responses and present recommendations that may be useful in improving audits of SEs.


2018 ◽  
Vol 56 (1) ◽  
pp. 146-151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Idean Salehyan

This conclusion to the special issue highlights the role of scholars in advancing the public discussion about forced migration. As countries around the world are adopting increasing restrictions on the entry of refugees, academic research can help to dispel some of the myths and apprehensions regarding the risks that forced migration entails. While refugees may be linked to conflict and violence in limited circumstances, the research generally demonstrates that robust international cooperation to manage refugee settlements, provide adequate humanitarian assistance, and integrate refugees into host communities, among other policies, can help to mitigate potential risks. Directions for future research and analysis are also discussed. Forced migration scholars should endeavor to collect more individual-level data; seek to understand factors that exacerbate or reduce security risks associated with cross-border militancy; conduct research on the long-term integration of refugees; and seek to understand the causes and consequences of resettlement and repatriation policies.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergey Kazakov ◽  
Olga Oyner

Purpose This paper aims to examine the development and significant contributions in a growing array of relevant publications spanning from 1946 to date and discuss future developments of the wellness tourism topic until the year 2095. Design/methodology/approach This perspective study traces down the wellness tourism evolution research by re-viewing and analysing an extant body of the relevant literature over the last 75 years. This paper builds a rigorous perspective review by examination of publications derived from several scientific domains, including tourism, medicine, economics and social sciences. Findings As a result of this study, wellness tourism can be attributed as a profuse and proliferating research stream in the recent 75 years. Its relevance to significant aspects of life, such as health and also due to effects on human, social, and economic well-being, drives its proliferation. The paper anticipates the relevance and topicality of wellness tourism studies for academic research in the next 75 years. Originality/value This paper contributes to the theory by addressing the ambiguous nature of wellness tourism, recapping the debate on the most debated research questions, and revealing the perspectives for future research in this area.


2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. 295-303
Author(s):  
Lee A. Crandall ◽  
Sharon M. Holder

People with disabilities face problems, not only because of their specific impairments but because of social stigma. This article focuses on stigma as it relates to a broad range of physical, social, and behavioral characteristics, and on the effect of stigma on academic research. Effects examined here include decisions regarding the ways in which research questions are defined, what research is funded and how it is funded, the ways in which research is conducted (e.g., the use of community-based participatory research versus traditional approaches), the way in which publication decisions are made, and the way in which research is received by professional colleagues and the public.


2009 ◽  
Vol 84 (3) ◽  
pp. 811-837 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vicky B. Hoffman ◽  
Mark F. Zimbelman

ABSTRACT: The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board recently reported that its inspections show that auditors fail to effectively modify their standard audit procedures in response to fraud risk. Prior academic research is consistent with this finding. Our study examines the effects of two interventions on auditors' planning decisions in a high-fraud-risk setting: strategic reasoning and brainstorming in groups. Both interventions are predicted to lead auditors to more effectively modify their planned audit procedures. We use a panel of fraud experts to identify effective modifications to the audit plan of a specific fraud case. The experts' recommendations are then used to evaluate the effectiveness of practicing auditors' audit plans with and without the two interventions. We predict and find that each intervention leads to more effective modifications to the standard audit procedures and that the combination of the interventions is not significantly more effective than either intervention used alone.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy Doyle ◽  
Almuth McDowall

PurposeThe aims of the paper were to highlight the dearth of applied practitioner research concerning the expression of neurodiversity at work and develop an epistemological framework for a future research agenda.Design/methodology/approachA systematic empty review protocol was employed, with three a priori research questions, inquiring as to the extent of neurodiversity research within mainstream work psychology, psychology in general and lastly within cross-disciplinary academic research. The results of the final search were quality checked and categorized to illustrate where studies relevant to practice are currently located.FindingsThe academic literature was found to be lacking in contextualized, practical advice for employers or employees. The location and foci of extracted studies highlighted a growing science-practitioner gap.Research limitations/implicationsThe research focused on common neurominority conditions such as autism and dyslexia; it is acknowledged that the neurodiversity definition itself is broader and more anthropological in nature. A need for a comprehensive research agenda is articulated, and research questions and frameworks are proposed.Practical implicationsGuidance is given on applying disability accommodation to both individual and organizational targets.Social implicationsThe disability employment gap is unchanged since legislation was introduced. The neurodiversity concept is no longer new, and it is time for multi-disciplinary collaborations across science and practice to address the questions raised in this paper.Originality/valueThis paper offers an original analysis of the neurodiversity paradox, combining systematic inquiry with a narrative synthesis of the extant literature. The conceptual clarification offers clear directions for researchers and practitioners.


125 scholarly articlesThe Oxford Encyclopedia of Martin Luther is a collaboration of the leading scholars in the field of Reformation research and the thought, life, and legacy of influence – for good and for ill – of Martin Luther. In 2017 the world marks 500 years since the beginning of the public work of Luther, whose protest against corrupt practices and the way theology was taught captured Europe’s attention from 1517 onward.Comprising 125 extensive articles, The Oxford Encyclopedia of Martin Luther examines:• the contexts that shaped his social and intellectual world, such as previous theological and institutional developments• the genres in which he worked, including some he essentially created• the theological and ethical writings that make up the lion’s share of his massive intellectual output• the complicated and contested history of his reception across the globe and across a span of disciplinesThis indispensable work seeks both to answer perennial questions as well as to raise new ones. Intentionally forward-looking in approach, The Oxford Encyclopedia of Martin Luther provides a reliable survey to such issues as, for instance, how did Luther understand God? What did he mean by his notion of “vocation?” How did he make use of, but also transform, medieval thought patterns and traditions? How did Luther and the Reformation re-shape Europe and launch modernity? What were his thoughts about Islam and Judaism, and how did the history of the effects of those writings unfold?Scholars from a variety of disciplines – economic history, systematic theology, gender and cultural studies, philosophy, and many more – propose an agenda for examining future research questions prompted by the harvest of decades of intense historical scrutiny and theological inquiry.


Author(s):  
Frederic M. Stiner ◽  
Susan A. Lynn

Recently there have been two issues related to Chinese companies seeking capital in the United States.   The first issue is frauds that have been perpetrated by companies using reverse mergers in order to go public.   The second issue is fraud in continuing audit engagements when there has been reliance by an American audit firm on a foreign accountant’s audit work.  There is also conflict between the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) demanding to inspect audit workpapers for companies in China and the Chinese government’s refusal to let the PCAOB see these workpapers.   These issues relate to characteristics of the practice of accounting and auditing in China that threaten auditor independence and audit quality. The paper discusses: (1) issues involving reverse mergers and the response of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to these issues, (2) issues involving reliance on the work of foreign Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) and the response of the PCAOB to these issues, (3) issues involving conflicts between U.S.  regulatory agencies and the Chinese government over access to audit-related documents, and (4) suggestions for future research.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document