Annual Reporting and Accountability by Municipalities in Canada: An Empirical Investigation*

Prior research regarding reporting and accountability by local governments in several countries has questioned the value of traditional annual reporting and the level of accountability to the public. This article reports on comparable research for local governments throughout Canada. The disclosure index methodology is used to evaluate the quality and quantity of information published in the annual reports and in the financial statements of Canadian local governments in 2003 with a comparison in 2005. Although all municipalities published audited financial statements, less than one‐third of municipalities published a comprehensive annual report in 2003. The results show an overall low disclosure index with significant improvements in 2005 compared to 2003 and significant differences across the country. The results, largely consistent with previously published international studies, raise questions about local government accountability and about the conceptual framework for local government reporting.     

Accounting and Auditing Activities of the Ontario Securities Commission, 1960s to 2008 Part 3: The Fifth Chief Accountant, 1996–2008

We present Part 3 of a historical review and analysis of the role played by the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) in accounting and auditing from the 1960s onward. Part 1 dealt with the period from the 1960s to 1985 (Zeff and Radcliffe, 2010a). Part 2 reviewed the work of the first four chief accountants, from 1986 to 1996 (Zeff and Radcliffe, 2010b). This third and final part reviews the work of the fifth chief accountant, John A. Carchrae, from 1996 to 2008. It began with the reorganization of the OSC and the reassignment of functions. The chief accountant position was now that of a permanent employee, albeit still as head of a very small department. The second part of Carchrae's tenure was dominated by the need to respond to the financial crises of the early 21^st century with extensive regulatory change as well as addressing the shift to international accounting standards in Canada.     

The Ontario Securities Commission on Accounting and Auditing from the 1960s to 2008–Part 2: The First Four Chief Accountants, 1986–1996*

This article, Part 2 of a historical review and analysis of the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC), describes the role played by the first four Chief Accountants in the regulation of accounting and auditing from 1986 to 1996. Part 1 dealt with the period from the 1960s to 1985. Part 3 will treat the role played by the fifth Chief Accountant, from 1996 to 2008. As the principal Canadian stock exchange in recent times has been the Toronto Stock Exchange, the OSC has been the most important securities market regulator in Canada. Prior to this article, the academic and professional accounting literature has been largely barren on the OSC’s evolving role on accounting and auditing issues.     

Applying the Principles of Soccer Training to the Design and Delivery of Classes in Introductory Accounting Courses

Accounting instructors face numerous challenges in structuring and teaching accounting classes. This paper describes the experience of redesigning classes in an introductory accounting course to follow the format of team training sessions in the sport of soccer. The soccer format includes six sections: warm‐up, balance/agility/coordination, skill/technique, simplified small game, game, and cooldown. We explain how the activities in each of these sections can be translated into parts of a class session. While adopting this format requires instructors to invest time in preparation and to be flexible and responsive when facilitating classes, informal results indicate that this class format is rewarding for both instructor and students and that it enhances student performance and experience. We suggest that elements of this class format could be successfully adopted for courses in other business subjects, and in nonbusiness disciplines.     

Firms in Transition: A Review of the Venture Capital,IPO, and M&A Literature

A key area of research focuses on firms in transition, particularly those going public via initial public offerings, those growing via venture capital infusions, and acquirers and targets in merger and acquisition deals. In this article, we provide a review of research regarding firms in transition, with a primary focus on accounting‐related research. As part of our review we include key contributions both in the Canadian context and internationally, and discuss areas to be considered for future research.     

Audit Quality and the Market Valuation of Banks’ Allowance for Loan Losses*

The recent banking crisis has led market participants to focus on the adequacy and quality of banks’ balance sheet items such as the allowance for loan losses. Beaver and Engel (1996) document that the capital market prices the nondiscretionary component of loan loss allowance negatively and the discretionary component less negatively. Using data from the pre‐crisis period and three measures of audit quality, auditor type (i.e., Big 5 versus non–Big 5), auditor industry specialization/expertise, and audit and nonaudit fees paid to auditors, we examine the effect of audit quality on the market valuation of the discretionary component of the allowance for loan losses. We find that, relative to the nondiscretionary component, the market valuation of the discretionary component of loan loss allowance is higher for banks audited by Big 5 auditors than for banks audited by non–Big 5 auditors. We also find that the relative market valuation of the discretionary component of loan loss allowance is increasing in auditor expertise. Regarding the impact of fees paid to auditors, we find that banks paying higher audit fees have higher relative market valuation of the discretionary component of the allowance for loan losses, but banks that pay higher nonaudit fees do not.