This study offers (1) insights into how different types of accountants perceive work-life balance and alternative work arrangements (which are supposed to fix the work-life imbalance) and (2) advice from accountants on how firms can make alternative work arrangements more effective. The findings of this study may be useful to public accounting firms (employers in industry) that wish to understand their employees’ perceptions of work-life balance and potentially implement changes to enhance their employees’ actual work-life balance.

Buchheit, S., D.W. Dalton, N.L. Harp, and C.W. Hollingsworth. 2016. A Contemporary Analysis of Accounting Professionals' Work-Life Balance. Accounting Horizons 30 (1): 41-62.

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This paper is the first to demonstrate the value added that process mining of event logs can play in auditing. Using real data drawn from the purchasing process of a global bank we show that process mining can detect information that is of relevance to internal auditors that was missed when those same auditors examined the same data using traditional analytical procedures. These results can be attributed to two distinct differences/advantages of process mining over the standard audit procedures used by the internal auditors:

1. The richness of the event log, which contains input and meta-data as well as a comprehensive set of attributes and its systematic arrangement by time and originator.
2. The ability to analyze the entire population instead of being forced to use only a sample.

The creation of event logs is a complex procedure that may require the use of consultants, but it is likely that ERP vendors will make this process more automated as process mining becomes a vital tool in operational management. Several large audit firms in Europe are beginning to offer process mining as consulting tool and are experimenting with it in external audit engagements.

For more information on this study, please contact Michael Alles.

Jans, M., M. Alles and M. Vasarhelyi. 2014. A Field Study on the Use of Process Mining of Event Logs as an Analytical Procedure in Auditing. The Accounting Review. 89 (5): 1751-1773.

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The results of this study are important for audit firms to consider when determining documentation review processes and standards.  The results provide perspective on how auditors approach the review process, and they also provide opportunities for firms to potentially improve processes.  The determination that auditors prepare workpapers to meet reviewer preferences, and that this practice can affect both the content and presentation of the workpapers, is relevant for reviewers.  This knowledge may allow firms and reviewers to consider if any adjustments should be made to their existing review process.   Additionally, it provides evidence on the unique roles of managers and senior associates within the review process.

Fargher, N. L., Mayorga, D. and K. T. Trotman. 2005. A Field-Based Analysis of Audit Workpaper Review. Auditing: A Journal of
Practice & Theory 24 (2): 85-110

The author shows how the successive incidence of these properties in observed corporate accountability reports can be used to determine whether and how those reports create or destroy value for shareholders and other constituencies. He shows how the hypotheses developed in the skeptical appraisal of corporate accountability reporting section can be used to distinguish across these explanations in observed corporate accountability reports.

Ramanna, K. 2013. A Framework for Research on Corporate Accountability Reporting. Accounting Horizons 27 (2): 409-432.

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