Heartland Payment Systems: Cybersecurity Impact on Audits and Financial Statement Contingencies

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Reidenbach ◽  
Ping Wang
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Critical Thinking Skills ◽  
Financial Statement ◽  
Fiscal Year ◽  
Payment Systems ◽  
Data Breach ◽  
External Auditors ◽  
Ethical Implications

During the fiscal year 2008 financial reporting process, Heartland Payment Systems, Inc. experienced a breach of its operational data by international hackers and a U.S. Secret Service informant returning to his criminal life as a hacker. As a result, Heartland's management assessed the data breach to determine both the immediate accounting and long-term operational impact on the viability of the company. Similarly, Heartland's external auditors independently assessed the data breach for their audit of the company's financials. Using this case, students will apply their professional research skills through identifying appropriate accounting and auditing guidance, use critical thinking skills to evaluate the decisions made by the company, external auditors, and shareholders. Students will also evaluate the ethical implications of difficult judgmental decisions facing professional accountants by scrutinizing the activities of both financial statement preparers and auditors in the emerging area of cybersecurity.

Evaluating Financial Results at Graphic Apparel Corporation (GAC): The Impact of Accounting Policies

2014 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Fred Phillips
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Critical Thinking Skills ◽  
Financial Accounting ◽  
Financial Statement ◽  
Reporting Practices ◽  
Accounting Courses ◽  
The Impact

ABSTRACT This case requires students to evaluate financial reporting practices adopted by a small apparel company. The company's owner/manager has recently taken the business in a new direction, and is asking for help in determining whether the company's existing financial accounting policies continue to be appropriate and how alternative policies would affect the reported financial results. This case will require students to apply knowledge of financial accounting and financial statement ratios to judge the appropriateness of selected accounting policies. This case is designed for use in introductory and intermediate financial accounting courses that aim to develop students' critical thinking skills.

Second Round Electronics: A Case for Critical Thinking

2013 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 983-989 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathalie Johnstone ◽  
Brandy Mackintosh ◽  
Fred Phillips
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Emerging Technologies ◽  
Financial Statements ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Critical Thinking Skills ◽  
Financial Accounting ◽  
Class Discussion ◽  
For Profit ◽  
Writing Assignment

ABSTRACT This instructional case requires students to provide advice to a client who is currently the sole owner of a for-profit company that reconditions and sells used electronics. The client is considering purchasing a similar company with the vision of expanding into the sales and service of emerging technologies. The target company's unaudited financial statements contain questionable accounting choices and judgments that appear to enable the company to meet external financial reporting constraints. In their role as financial advisers, students are expected to use critical thinking skills to identify and evaluate questionable choices in the target company's financial statements. This case is suitable for use in introductory and intermediate financial accounting as well as introductory auditing and assurance courses, and can be used as a context for in-class discussion, as a basis for exam questions, and/or as a writing assignment. Assessment rubrics and Teaching Notes accompany the case for use by instructors.

COSO 2013: Aligning Internal Controls and Principles

2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 117-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denise Dickins ◽  
Rebecca G. Fay
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Internal Control ◽  
Financial Statements ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Securities And Exchange Commission ◽  
Internal Controls ◽  
Critical Thinking Skills ◽  
Reading Assignment

ABSTRACT Strong systems of internal control over financial reporting (ICFR) are critical to the production of reliable financial statements. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulations require that companies design, maintain, and regularly evaluate their systems of ICFR, and Auditing Standard No. 5 requires that auditors evaluate companies' systems of ICFR. Therefore, it is necessary for accountants to be able to (1) describe and classify internal controls and (2) determine deficiencies in internal control. Recent reports suggest that accountants may lack sufficient training and guidance in these respects (e.g., Rapoport 2012). This activity provides an opportunity for students to practice these skills while learning more about the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission's (COSO) 2013 Framework. Provided are a summary discussion of ICFR and the COSO 2013 Framework, an outside-of-class reading assignment, and an activity that requires students (independently or in groups, either in or outside of class) to employ critical-thinking skills to: (1) classify (i.e., map) a listing of controls as being aligned with one (or more) of the COSO 2013 Framework's five components and 17 principles that comprise a well-designed system of internal control, and (2) identify any deficiencies (gaps) in design due to missing or inadequate internal controls.

Technology-Enhanced Classroom to Enhance Critical Thinking Skills

2019 ◽  
pp. 225-244
Author(s):  
Alice Omariba
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Critical Thinking Skills ◽  
Digital Tools ◽  
Digital Workplace ◽  
Student Groups ◽  
Technological Tools ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Impact

This chapter describes how the impact of digital technology can now be felt in all spheres of life leading to global competition especially in education. The vision for technology-enhanced classrooms is one in which student groups work on long-term, multidisciplinary projects involving challenging content that is interesting and important to them with the support of technological tools for collecting, analyzing, displaying and communicating information. In the face of severe social and economic challenges, many developing countries are struggling to overcome barriers to the integration of digital tools in education to help students develop high-order skills and global competences for life and work. This chapter is intended to further discussions on incorporating technologies into instruction in order to bridge the gap between critical thinking skills and digital tools, and helping learners to become globally competent at the digital workplace.

Super Electronics, Inc.: Financial Reporting of Sales Incentives and Vendor Allowances Using FASB Codification

2012 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 461-474 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahendra R. Gujarathi
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Real World ◽  
Accounting Standards ◽  
Financial Statement ◽  
Professional Judgment ◽  
Generally Accepted Accounting Principles ◽  
Accounting Principles ◽  
Real World Setting ◽  
Sales Incentives

ABSTRACT Super Electronics, Inc., a specialty retailer, has recently initiated several sales incentives and has entered into a long-term purchase arrangement with a major vendor that entitles it to sliding discounts based on its level of purchases. Using FASB Accounting Standards Codification, you are to determine whether the Company's existing policies comply with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). You are also required to evaluate the soundness of the proposals that SE's management has made during the process of annual audit and explore plausible motivations behind them. The case provides an opportunity to examine several technical and conceptual accounting issues in a real-world setting, strengthen accounting research capabilities, understand implications of the choice of an accounting policy for performance measurement and financial statement analysis, and develop advanced critical thinking and professional judgment skills.

scholarly journals Training Mathematics Teachers for Developing Critical Thinking Skills in VIGrade Pupils

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 186-195
Author(s):  
Ovidiu BĂDESCU ◽  
Cristian STAN
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Critical Thinking Skills ◽  
Problem Solving Skills ◽  
Basic Competencies ◽  
Short And Long Term ◽  
Long Term Impact ◽  
Technological World ◽  
Alternative Solutions

Abstract: Critical thinking and creativity along with problem-solving skills have become basic competencies in an increasingly complex and technological world, in which an individual needs to be able to process information in a critical way, find alternative solutions, analyse complex problems, and formulate innovative solutions. As teachers, we train the children for occupations that have not been invented yet – an aspect that thus becomes clear is that it is no longer sufficient for the young students to perfectly execute given tasks, but they need to be able to solve new problems. To achieve this, they need to be able to consider the problem from multiple angles, to weight alternatives, to look critically at what needs to be solved, and to make well-thought and well-argued decisions. With this perspective in mind, developing such skills in pupils should be an essential goal for the teachers. Yet, unfortunately, training teachers for developing critical thinking skills in pupils comes short, in the Romanian educational system. This article presents the results of a traning course whose goal was to prepare mathematics schoolteachers to teach mathematics based on questioning and discovery, to help develop pupils’ crticical thinking skills. Analyzing the short- and long-term impact of our training course confirms the results obtained in OECD (2019) studies, namely that once teachers have been qualified to work in this way, they become more open to acting differently to stimulate the developing of critical thinking and creative skills in pupils.

Information content of IFRS versus GAAP financial statements

2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 120-137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert C. Ricketts ◽  
Mark E. Riley ◽  
Rebecca Toppe Shortridge
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Forecast Accuracy ◽  
Financial Statements ◽  
Significant Loss ◽  
Financial Statement ◽  
Fiscal Year ◽  
Systematic Change ◽  
Forecast Errors ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Us Gaap

Purpose This study aims to determine whether financial statement users suffered a significant loss of information when, in November 2007, the SEC dropped the requirement for foreign private issuers using International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS firms”) to reconcile their financial statements to US generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). Design/methodology/approach The study investigates whether analyst forecast errors and forecast dispersion increased for IFRS firms to a greater extent than for US GAAP firms after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) dropped the reconciliation requirement. Using a treatment group comprised of IFRS firms and a matched sample of US GAAP firms, this study uses regression analyses to compare forecast errors and dispersion for the last fiscal year the reconciliation was available and the first fiscal year during which the reconciliation was unavailable to analysts. Findings The study finds evidence that forecast errors for IFRS firms exhibited no systematic change after the reconciliation was no longer available for analysts covering those firms. Thus, it does not appear that dropping the reconciliation requirement was associated with a change in forecast accuracy. However, the study does find evidence of increased dispersion in the IFRS firms’ forecasts relative to their US GAAP counterparts after the reconciliation requirement was dropped. Practical implications These findings have implications for evaluating the Securities and Exchange Commission’s 2007 decision to eliminate the reconciliation for IFRS firms. Specifically, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s decision does not appear to have significantly altered analysts’ information environments. Originality/value This paper contributes to the understanding of how a group of sophisticated financial statement users adapt to different sets of accounting standards.

Technology-Enhanced Classroom to Enhance Critical Thinking Skills

2021 ◽  
pp. 488-506
Author(s):  
Alice Omariba
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Critical Thinking Skills ◽  
Digital Tools ◽  
Digital Workplace ◽  
Student Groups ◽  
Technological Tools ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Impact

This chapter describes how the impact of digital technology can now be felt in all spheres of life leading to global competition especially in education. The vision for technology-enhanced classrooms is one in which student groups work on long-term, multidisciplinary projects involving challenging content that is interesting and important to them with the support of technological tools for collecting, analyzing, displaying and communicating information. In the face of severe social and economic challenges, many developing countries are struggling to overcome barriers to the integration of digital tools in education to help students develop high-order skills and global competences for life and work. This chapter is intended to further discussions on incorporating technologies into instruction in order to bridge the gap between critical thinking skills and digital tools, and helping learners to become globally competent at the digital workplace.

scholarly journals Has the Implementation of MLE Improved the Achievements in Thailand’s Deep South?

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. 54
Author(s):  
Yapar Cheni ◽  
Suppaluk Sintana ◽  
Supa Watcharasukum ◽  
Pimonpun Leelapatarapun ◽  
Pranee Lumbensa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Student Performance ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Critical Thinking Skills ◽  
Primary Grade ◽  
School Students ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Southern Thailand ◽  
Multilingual Research

Long-term evaluations of student performance are important to show whether Multilingual Education (MLE) students are making real progress, as well as to show what changes are needed to make MLE programs more successful. The purpose of this paper is to describe a six-year study of MLE students in Southern Thailand. .In 2007, the Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia, Mahidol University (RILCA-MU) initiated the Patani Malay-Thai Bi/multilingual Research Project in four schools in Southern Thailand. In 2011, the Yala Rajabhat University (YRU) staff began biannual student evaluations of both the experimental (MLE) schools and the “normal” Thai-only comparison schools, when the first cohort of students began primary grade 1. YRU followed these students’ performances until 2016 when they completed primary grade 6. The learning achievement for students in the experimental (MLE) schools was found to be significantly higher than that of students in the comparison schools at the level of 0.01, except in grade 6. The number of students who met the basic educational criteria was greater for the MLE schools than the comparison schools. MLE was found to be very helpful for low and mid-level performing student. Finally, scores on the critical thinking skills assessment of the MLE students were greater than the comparison school students. Thus, this six-year research project has clearly shown that MLE can help to solve the problems of teaching and learning in Thailand’s three southern border provinces. This approach to long-term evaluations can be helpful to projects in other countries also.

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