Tax Retirement Savings Decisions Using an Excel Spreadsheet Approach

2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 39-55
Author(s):  
Lorraine S. Lee ◽  
Victoria Hansen ◽  
William Brink
Keyword(s):  
Information Systems ◽  
Professional Organizations ◽  
Retirement Savings ◽  
Retirement Plans ◽  
Public Accounting ◽  
Accounting Firms ◽  
Retirement Accounts ◽  
Accounting Curriculum ◽  
Integration Of Technology ◽  
Roth Ira

ABSTRACT Accounting academia and professional organizations alike emphasize the need for the integration of technology and information systems into the accounting curriculum. This case integrates taxation concepts (individual retirement savings) and information systems and technology skills (advanced Excel). The case, which can be implemented at the undergraduate or graduate level, requires students to use advanced Excel technical functionality to calculate the tax implications of retirement investing scenarios using three specific types of tax-deferred retirement accounts—a traditional 401(k), a traditional IRA, and a Roth IRA. As many students who complete this case will work for public accounting firms that offer retirement plans, they will benefit academically, professionally, and personally from the knowledge and skills learned in this case.

scholarly journals How To Invest Your IRAs In Profitable Real Estate IRAs

2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (11) ◽  
Author(s):  
Raj Kiani ◽  
M.A. Sangeladji
Keyword(s):  
Real Estate ◽  
Interest Rates ◽  
Retirement Savings ◽  
Sharp Decline ◽  
The Public ◽  
Individual Retirement Accounts ◽  
The Past ◽  
Retirement Accounts ◽  
Roth Ira ◽  
Investment Advisers

Since the inception of Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) in 1974, the public has been advised strongly by bankers, accountants (CPAs), and investment advisors that the best strategy for IRA holdings is investment in stocks or bonds.  Unfortunately, with the sharp decline in the market value of stocks and the bottoming out of interest rates in the past years, most IRA funds have performed very poorly and investors have witnessed how drastically their retirement savings lost their accumulated value.  During these years, apparently, not many investment advisers have bothered to consider other alternative ways for investing accumulated IRAs and pension funds.  There is, in fact, another viable investment alternative that offers both safety and a considerable growth rate.  That is real estate IRAs.  The purpose of this paper is to explain (a) why the traditional and Roth IRA should be invested in real estate, b) the steps involved in establishing a sound real estate IRA, (c) the restrictions and the dos and don’ts of investing in a real estate IRA, and (d) the tax and penalty consequences of incorrect investment in a real estate IRA.

scholarly journals DOES AUDITOR INDEPENDENCE, SKEPTICISM, AND PROFESSIONALISM INFLUENCE AUDIT QUALITY?

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 251
Author(s):  
Putri Puspitarani ◽  
Supeni Anggraeni Mapuasari
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Cognitive Dissonance ◽  
Audit Quality ◽  
Auditor Independence ◽  
Professional Organizations ◽  
Survey Method ◽  
Public Accounting ◽  
Accounting Firms ◽  
The Stability ◽  
High Sense

Riset ini menyajikan bukti empiris faktor-faktor yang mempengaruhi kualitas audit yang bersumber dari kognisi auditor. Faktor kognisi yang diujikan antara lain independensi, skeptisme, dan profesionalisme. Independensi didefinisikan sebagai kemauan auditor untuk netral dan tidak bias dalam mengambil keputusan. Skeptisme adalah kemauan auditor untuk mempertanyakan dan melakukan prosedur audit tambahan ketika terjadi keraguan dalam penentuan pertimbangan audit. Profesionalisme merepresentasikan pemahaman dan sikap auditor atas hak dan kewajibannya yang diatur oleh organisasi profesi. Untuk menguraikan logika hipotesis, riset ini menggunakan teori disonansi kognitif. Auditor tentu mengalami berbagai dinamika dalam menjalankan tugasnya. Dinamika ini terkadang mengandung ketidaksesuaian antara kognisi yang dimilikinya dengan apa yang ditemukannya. Dalam kondisi tersebut, penelitian ini menduga bahwa auditor yang memiliki rasa independensi yang tinggi akan lebih mampu menghasilkan kualitas audit yang baik. Auditor dengan skeptisme yang semakin tinggi tentu akan mau untuk mengeluarkan upaya tambahan demi meraih kualitas audit yang sesuai. Sementara itu, profesionalisme mampu mendukung kemantapan auditor dalam mengupayakan kualitas audit yang tinggi. Dengan menggunakan metode survei yang disebarkan pada para auditor di kantor akuntan publik di kota jakarta, riset ini menemukan bahwa independensi, skeptisme, dan profesionalisme secara signifikan mendukung persepsi kualitas audit. Ini artinya, kantor akuntan publik dapat mempertimbangkan faktor-faktor ini dalam perumusan kebijakan rekrutmen dan pelatihan.  This research presents empirical evidence of the factors that influence audit quality sourced from auditor cognition. Cognition factors tested included independence, skepticism, and professionalism. Independence is defined as the auditor's willingness to be neutral and not biased in making decisions. Skepticism is the auditor's willingness to question and carry out additional audit procedures when there is doubt in determining audit considerations. Professionalism represents the auditor's understanding and attitude towards his rights and obligations governed by professional organizations. To outline the logic of the hypothesis, this research uses the theory of cognitive dissonance. Auditors naturally experience various dynamics in carrying out their duties. This dynamic sometimes contains a mismatch between the cognition it has and what it finds. Under these conditions, this study suspects that auditors who have a high sense of independence will be better able to produce good audit quality. Auditors with increasing skepticism will certainly want to spend additional effort to achieve appropriate audit quality. Meanwhile, professionalism can support the stability of auditors in seeking high audit quality. Using a survey method distributed to auditors at public accounting firms in Jakarta, this research found that independence, skepticism, and professionalism significantly support the perception of audit quality.

How Will State-Run Auto-IRAs Affect Workers?

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Survey Data ◽  
Credit Card ◽  
Retirement Savings ◽  
Retirement Plans ◽  
National Scale ◽  
Individual Retirement Accounts ◽  
Financial Difficulties ◽  
Retirement Accounts ◽  
Opt Out ◽  
Over Time

In order to encourage savings among workers without access to employer-sponsored retirement plans, several states have proposed defaulting workers into state-run individual retirement accounts known as Auto-IRAs. Plans such as OregonSaves automatically enroll workers and, by default, increase their contributions over time. Given low opt-out rates, these policies have the potential to increase retirement savings for workers without access to employer-sponsored plans. Using survey data, we find that over 24 million workers could automatically be enrolled in an Auto-IRA, if enacted on a national scale. Nonetheless, these policies have the potential to adversely affect individuals with debt and current financial difficulties who do not actively opt-out. One-third of potentially affected workers hold credit card debt with an average balance exceeding $5,000. Furthermore, approximately 15% of potentially affected workers have difficulty meeting basic needs.

scholarly journals THE EFFECT OF AUDITOR’S COMPETENCE AND INDEPENDENCE ON INFORMATION SYSTEM AUDIT QUALITY

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 183
Author(s):  
Santy Setiawan ◽  
Yenni Carolina ◽  
Aura Kristiani
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Information Systems ◽  
Audit Quality ◽  
Financial Statements ◽  
Public Accounting ◽  
Accounting Firms ◽  
External Auditors ◽  
Test Instrument ◽  
Regression Test ◽  
Information Systems Use

Users of financial statements always rely on the results of audits conducted by competent andindependent auditors because the audits are carried out through quality processes and efforts. Competent and independent auditors are needed to obtain quality audit results. Because most modern information systems use information technology, the information technology audits become an important component in all external and internal audits. This study aims to examine the effect of auditor’s competence and auditor’s independence on the information systems audit quality. The research sample used in this study is external auditors working in public accounting firms in West Java. The statistical test instrument used is a multiple regression test. The results show that the auditor's competence has an effect on information systems audit quality, while the auditor’s independence has no effect on information systems audit quality.

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.

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.

A Theoretical Framework of the Relationship between Public Accounting Firms and Their Auditors

2005 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Dreike Almer ◽  
Julia L. Higgs ◽  
Karen L. Hooks
Keyword(s):  
Future Research ◽  
Public Accounting ◽  
Accounting Firms ◽  
The Public ◽  
Sociology Of Professions ◽  
Rich Description ◽  
Public Accounting Firms ◽  
Current Article ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Significant Attention

The behavior of auditors in the context of their employment by public accounting firms has received significant attention in the accounting literature. The current article extends this literature by providing a framework that identifies what auditing professionals contribute and receive as a result of their work efforts, as well as related influences. Using agency theory modified with fundamental ideas from the sociology of professions literature, we develop a model of the auditor-public accounting firm employment relationship. This framework is grounded in a timely, contextually rich description of the public accounting work environment, and the pressures and incentives faced by auditors. Propositions for future research are suggested that arise from understanding the auditor-firm relationship.

scholarly journals Active vs. Passive Decisions and Crowd-Out in Retirement Savings Accounts: Evidence from Denmark *

2014 ◽  
Vol 129 (3) ◽  
pp. 1141-1219 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raj Chetty ◽  
John N. Friedman ◽  
Søren Leth-Petersen ◽  
Torben Heien Nielsen ◽  
Tore Olsen
Keyword(s):  
Government Expenditure ◽  
Wealth Accumulation ◽  
Retirement Savings ◽  
Total Saving ◽  
Savings Accounts ◽  
Retirement Accounts ◽  
Tax Subsidies ◽  
Crowd Out ◽  
Savings Rates

Abstract Using 41 million observations on savings for the population of Denmark, we show that the effects of retirement savings policies on wealth accumulation depend on whether they change savings rates by active or passive choice. Subsidies for retirement accounts, which rely on individuals to take an action to raise savings, primarily induce individuals to shift assets from taxable accounts to retirement accounts. We estimate that each $1 of government expenditure on subsidies increases total saving by only 1 cent. In contrast, policies that raise retirement contributions if individuals take no action—such as automatic employer contributions to retirement accounts—increase wealth accumulation substantially. We estimate that approximately 15% of individuals are “active savers” who respond to tax subsidies primarily by shifting assets across accounts; 85% of individuals are “passive savers” who are unresponsive to subsidies but are instead heavily influenced by automatic contributions made on their behalf. Active savers tend to be wealthier and more financially sophisticated. We conclude that automatic contributions are more effective at increasing savings rates than subsidies for three reasons: (i) subsidies induce relatively few individuals to respond, (ii) they generate substantial crowd-out conditional on response, and (iii) they do not increase the savings of passive individuals, who are least prepared for retirement.

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