Auditing Section Research Summaries Space
A Database of Auditing Research - Building Bridges with Practice
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research summary posted October 19, 2015 by Jennifer M Mueller-Phillips, tagged 01.0 Standard Setting, 04.0 Independence and EthicsTitle:Worlds of Assurance.Practical Implications:It is difficult for the authors to constrain the boundaries of what one can learn from a contrastive and in-depth study of this portfolio of papers for developing new theoretical insights and testable conjectures pertaining to both today’s and tomorrow’s accountant-auditors. For that reason, the authors are confident readers will share their desire to thank the authors of the main papers as well as the authors of the commentaries for their thoughtful analyses.
Citation:Chapman, C, and M. E. Peecher. 2011. Worlds of Assurance. Accounting, Organizations & Society 36 (4/5): 267-268.
research summary posted April 13, 2012 by The Auditing Section, tagged 09.0 Auditor Judgment, 09.04 Going Concern DecisionsTitle:“Order Effects” Revisited: The Importance of ChronologyPractical Implications:The results of this study are important for auditors to consider when making going concern assessments as well as other audit judgments. Specifically, auditors should consider the importance of establishing the chronological order of audit evidence to avoid presentation order effects inappropriately influencing their judgments
Citation:Favere-Marchesi, M. 2006. “Order Effects” Revisited: The Importance of Chronology. Auditing: A Journal of Practice and Theory
25 (1): 69-83.Home:
- research summary posted July 27, 2015 by Jennifer M Mueller-Phillips, tagged 01.0 Standard Setting, 01.02 Changes in Audit StandardsTitle:“Twisting words”? A study of the construction and reconstruction of reliability in financial reporting standard-setting.Practical Implications:
First, the authors present a long-term case study of the development of the idea of reliability in accounting literature and standard-setting which adds to histories of conceptual thinking in financial reporting. Hence, by following the decision-making of the standard setting bodies regarding the qualitative characteristics of their framework, this paper contributes to the scarce empirical literature on actual processes of standard-setting in accounting.
Citation:Erb, C., & Pelger, C. (2015). “Twisting words”? A study of the construction and reconstruction of reliability in financial reporting standard-setting. Accounting, Organizations & Society 40: 13-40.
- research summary posted October 31, 2013 by Jennifer M Mueller-Phillips, tagged 05.0 Audit Team Composition, 05.04 Staff Hiring, Turnover and Morale, 10.0 Engagement Management, 10.03 Interaction among Team Members, 10.04 Interactions with Client ManagementTitle:“When You Make Manager, We Put A Big Mountain In Front Of You”: An Ethnography Of Managers In A Big 4 Accounting FirmPractical Implications:
This study points out the paradox that managers find themselves in as they struggle to manage relationships with staff, partners, and clients while simultaneously engaging in non-client productive activities in order to gain notoriety in the firm and impress the partners. The “mountain” referred to in the title of this article represents the different and unpredictable obstacles that managers must overcome in order to reach the other side of their career; partnership.
For more information on this study, please contact Martin Kornberger.
Citation:Kornberger, M., L. Justensen, and J. Mourtsen.2011. When you make manager, we put a big mountain in front of you: an ethnography of managers in a big 4 accounting firm. Accounting, Organizations and Society 36 (8): 514-533.
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- 01.0 Standard Setting
- 01.01 Changes in Reporting Formats
- 01.02 Changes in Audit Standards
- 01.03 Impact of New Accounting Pronouncements
- 01.04 Impact of 404
- 01.05 Impact of SOX
- 01.06 Impact of PCAOB
- 01.07 Impact of SEC Actions
- 02.0 Client Acceptance and Continuance
- 02.01 Audit Fee Decisions
- 02.02 Client Risk Assessment
- 02.03 Management Integrity Assessments
- 02.04 Predecessor Auditor Factors
- 02.05 Business Risk Assessment - e.g., industry, IPO, complexity
- 02.06 Resignation Decisions
- 03.0 Auditor Selection and Auditor Changes
- 03.01 Auditor Qualifications
- 03.02 Dismissal Decisions – impact of restatements, disagreements, fees, mergers
- 04.0 Independence and Ethics
- 04.01 Scope of Services
- 04.02 Impact of Fees on Decisions by Auditors & Management
- 04.03 Non-Audit Services
- 04.04 Moral Development and Individual Ethics Decisions
- 04.05 Ethics and Consultation
- 04.06 Reporting Ethics Breaches – Self & Others
- 04.07 Audit Firm Rotation
- 04.08 Impact of SEC Rules Changes/SarbOx
- 04.09 Individual & Team Conduct - e.g., premature signoff, underreporting hours
- 05.0 Audit Team Composition
- 05.01 Use of Specialists e.g., financial instruments, actuaries, valuation
- 05.02 Industry Expertise – Firm and Individual
- 05.03 Partner Rotation
- 05.04 Staff Hiring, Turnover and Morale
- 05.05 Diversity of Skill Sets e.g., Tenure and Experience
- 05.06 Qualifications of Engagement Quality Reviewers
- 05.07 Impact of 150-hour requirement
- 05.08 Impact of Office Size
- 05.09 Group Decision-Making
- 05.10 Impact of Diversity - e.g., gender - on Group Decision Making
- 06.0 Risk and Risk Management, Including Fraud Risk
- 06.01 Fraud Risk Assessment
- 06.02 Fraud Risk Models
- 06.03 Failure Risk Models
- 06.04 Management Integrity
- 06.05 Assessing Risk of Material Misstatement
- 06.06 Earnings Management
- 06.07 SAS No. 99 Brainstorming – process
- 06.08 SAS No. 99 Brainstorming – effectiveness
- 06.09 Litigation Risk
- 06.10 Impact of office size
- 07.0 Internal Control
- 07.01 Scope of Testing
- 07.02 Assessing Material Weaknesses
- 07.03 Reporting Material Weaknesses
- 07.04 Assessing Remediation of Weaknesses
- 07.05 Impact of 404 on Fees and Financial Reporting Quality
- 08.0 Auditing Procedures – Nature, Timing and Extent
- 08.01 Substantive Analytical Review – Effectiveness
- 08.02 Sample Selection – use of statistical sampling
- 08.03 Conclusions Based on Samples
- 08.04 Auditors’ Professional Skepticism
- 08.05 Evaluating Accruals/Detection of Abnormal Accruals
- 08.06 Earnings Management – Detection and Response
- 08.07 Interim Testing Procedures – Nature, Timing and Extent
- 08.08 Projecting Interim Testing Conclusions Year End
- 08.09 Impact of Technology on Audit Procedures
- 08.10 Confirmation – Process and Evaluation of Responses
- 08.11 Reliance on Internal Auditors
- 09.0 Auditor Judgment
- 09.01 Audit Scope and Materiality Judgments
- 09.02 Documentation Specificity
- 09.03 Adequacy of Evidence
- 09.04 Going Concern Decisions
- 09.05 Failure Risk Models
- 09.06 Adequacy of Disclosure
- 09.07 GAAP Departures
- 09.08 Evaluation of Errors – Statistical and Non-statistical
- 09.09 Impact of Consultation on Judgments
- 09.10 Prior Dispositions/Biases/Auditor state of mind
- 09.11 Auditor judgment in the workpaper review process
- 09.12 Impact of potential post-audit review - e.g., PCAOB, internal firm inspections
- 09.13 Recognition vs. Disclosure
- 10.0 Engagement Management
- 10.01 Budgeting and Audit Time Management
- 10.02 Materiality and Scope Decisions
- 10.03 Interaction among Team Members
- 10.04 Interactions with Client Management
- 10.05 Interactions with Audit Committee Members
- 10.06 Audit Fees and Fee Negotiations
- 11.0 Audit Quality and Quality Control
- 11.01 Supervision and Review – Effectiveness
- 11.02 Engagement Quality Review – Processes and Effectiveness
- 11.03 Management/Staff Interaction
- 11.04 Industry Experience
- 11.05 Training and General Experience
- 11.06 Working Paper Review – Conduct, Biases and Predispositions
- 11.07 Attempts to Measure Audit Quality
- 11.08 Proxies for Audit Quality
- 11.09 Evaluation of Evidence
- 11.10 Impact of Quality Reviewers
- 11.11 Impact of Firm and External Inspection Programs
- 11.12 Impact of National Office on Auditor Decisions
- 11.13 Partner incentive schemes
- 12.0 Accountants’ Reports and Reporting
- 12.01 Going Concern Decisions
- 12.02 Quarterly Reviews
- 12.03 Restatements
- 12.04 Investigations
- 12.05 Changes in Reporting Formats
- 12.06 Consequences of Adverse 404 Opinions
- 12.07 Attestation Services
- 13.0 Governance
- 13.01 Board/Audit Committee Composition
- 13.02 Board/Financial Experts
- 13.03 Board/Audit Committee Tenure
- 13.04 Board/Audit Committee Compensation
- 13.05 Board/Audit Committee Oversight
- 13.06 Board/Audit Committee Processes
- 13.07 Internal auditor role and involvement in controls and reporting
- 14.0 Corporate Matters
- 14.01 Earnings Management
- 14.02 Corporate Whistle Blowers
- 14.03 Interim Reporting
- 14.04 MD and A Language/Signaling
- 14.05 Earnings Targets and Management Behavior
- 14.06 CFO Tenure and Experience
- 14.07 Executive Compensation
- 14.08 Press Release Language and Signaling
- 14.09 CEO Tenure and Experience
- 14.10 CEO Compensation
- 14.11 Audit Committee Effectiveness
- 15.0 International Matters
- 15.01 Audit Partner Identification by Name
- 15.02 IFRS Changes – Impacts
- 15.03 Audit Partner Rotation
- 15.04 Audit Firm Rotation
- 15.05 Sustainability Services