Batten Down The Hatches! U. S. Accounting Scandals and Lessons for Australia

This paper warns the Australian accounting profession about the threat of fallout similar to that experienced in the US following major accounting scandals. This US fallout has included a significant loss of public faith in the accounting profession, reduced autonomy for auditors with the formation of the Public Companies Accounting Oversight Board, and the stringent Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The Australian accounting profession must maintain high-quality auditing and corporate financial reporting or risk greater regulatory intrusions and additional threats to its relatively high levels of autonomy.     

Financial statement comparability and accounting fraud

We examine the association between financial statement comparability and the likelihood of accounting fraud. Prior research documents a negative association between the quality of a firm's reporting environment and accounting fraud. We build on this literature and show that poor financial statement comparability is associated with a greater likelihood of accounting fraud. We also find that accounting comparability declines over time as the year of fraud detection approaches and that the association between comparability and fraud becomes more negative over this time. In addition, we find that financial statement comparability improves after fraud detection, consistent with the notion that managers improve their financial reporting quality after fraud.     

Accounting Reforms in China: Cultural Constraints on Implementation and Development

There is considerable theory and evidence to suggest that culture is an important environmental variable influencing the development of accounting systems internationally. According to the Hofstede (1980) and Gray (1988) cultural models, China's accounting development and practice should be in the cluster that supports statutory control, uniform practices, a conservative measurement approach and secrecy in disclosure. A uniform and rigid system of financial reporting has been practised for decades in the People's Republic of China under the centrally controlled economy. The accounting reforms launched since the 1980s aim to establish a new framework for regulating financial reporting which is adaptable to China's recently emerged socialist market economy. The adoption of accounting standards in the later phases of the reforms marks a dramatic turning point in China's accounting history towards a more international Anglo-Saxon orientation in financial reporting. Based on an analysis of the authority for accounting systems, the accounting profession and accounting measurement and disclosure in China, it is argued that this development will be constrained by the influence of China's culture and its accounting subculture. While financial reporting will be governed by accounting standards, their development and enforcement will remain a governmental and legalistic function. Accountants will continue to rely heavily on detailed technical rules. This mixed orientation will constitute China's unique national identity in terms of its accounting and financial reporting system.     

Accounting for government guarantees: perspectives on fiscal transparency from four modes of accounting

Government guarantees are increasingly important as a policy instrument in public infrastructure investment and to assist the banking and financial sectors following the global financial crisis. This paper analyses how different modes of accounting characterize such guarantees in the contexts of public sector financial reporting, statistical accounting, budgeting and long-term fiscal projections. Guarantees are difficult to specify for accounting treatment and consistent conceptualization of liabilities. These difficulties make it attractive for governments to treat obligations as off-budget and off-balance sheet contingent liabilities, rather than recognize them in financial statements and statistical accounts. Miller and Power’s territorializing, mediating, adjudicating and subjectivizing roles of accounting are utilized to analyse the reporting of UK government guarantees. Provisioning for guarantees is complex in financial reporting statements and often absent in national accounts, a deficiency which Eurostat has attempted to address by devising the concept of standardized guarantees and by securing more disclosure of contingent liabilities. There is potential for future research especially where there is greater mediation between the four modes of government accounting.     

基于GONE理论的上市公司财务报告舞弊识别研究

本文基于GONE理论,剖析了财务报告舞弊诱因的影响机理和舞弊行为的决策权衡机理,并选取2006～2009年因财务舞弊受处罚的上市公司为样本,实证分析了贪婪、机会、需要和暴露四因素与财务报告舞弊的关系,结果发现:在控制了一系列因素以后,管理层的风险偏好和剩余索取权引发的个体贪婪程度越高,治理结构不完善制造的舞弊机会越多,增发配股引发的组织需要程度越高,舞弊的可能性越大;审计意见类型和会计师事务所变更代表的发现机制越完善,暴露的可能性越大,舞弊的可能性越小。     

Auditing standards,increased accounting disclosure,and information asymmetry: Evidence from an emerging market

The interest in accounting disclosure and audit quality by academics, practitioners, and regulators heightened following the various financial reporting scandals, and subsequent legislative and professional response to these scandals. An important question is whether the implementation of stricter auditing standards such as those mandated by the US Sarbanes-Oxley Act would improve the information environment of firms whose shares are publicly traded. In this paper, I investigate the link between information asymmetry, measured by bid-ask spread, and increased accounting disclosures following the adoption of new auditing standards in China—an environment in which disclosure hitherto was relatively low. I report the following primary results of the statistical analyses. First, information asymmetry cost is substantial in the Chinese order-driven emerging markets. Second, the firms in the sample experienced significant reductions in their bid-ask spreads subsequent to the adoption of the new auditing standards. Third, the reductions in the bid-ask spreads were abrupt and permanent. However, no significant result is found for firms in the control group with foreign ownership, whose financial statements were prepared in accordance with international accounting standards and were audited with international auditing standards. The results have implications for policy makers and regulators in general, and those in emerging markets in particular.     

Market and Political/Regulatory Perspectives on the Recent Accounting Scandals

Not surprisingly, the recent accounting scandals look different when viewed from the perspectives of the political/regulatory process and of the market for corporate governance and financial reporting. We do not have the opportunity to observe a world in which either market or political/regulatory processes operate independently, and the events are recent and not well researched, so untangling their separate effects is somewhat conjectural. This paper offers conjectures on issues such as: What caused the scandalous behavior? Why was there such a rash of accounting scandals at one time? Who killed Arthur Andersen—the Securities and Exchange Commission, or the market? Did fraudulent accounting kill Enron, or just keep it alive for too long? What is the social cost of financial reporting fraud? Does the United States in fact operate a “principles‐based” or a “rules‐based” accounting system? Was there market failure? Or was there regulatory failure? Or both? Was the Sarbanes‐Oxley Act a political and regulatory overreaction? Does the United States follow an ineffective regulatory model?     

上市公司舞弊性财务报告及其防范与监管——基于中国证券监督委员会处罚公告的分析

舞弊性财务报告是全世界经济社会和会计职业界关注的重大问题。我国目前也面临其挑战。本文以中国证券监督委员会2002—2006年处罚公告中涉及的上市公司舞弊性财务报告为依据,对我国上市公司舞弊性财务报告的主要类型、手段等进行了统计分析。分析发现,舞弊公司表外舞弊严重,所占比重大;同时存在多种舞弊类型,典型的是虚假利润表和虚假披露;虚构销售业务、虚增资产、隐瞒对外担保分别成为虚假利润表、虚假资产负债表和虚假披露的最主要舞弊手段;舞弊公司同时采用多种舞弊方法,且舞弊行为持续年限在两年以上,最长的达9年。本文最后提出了相应的防范与监管建议。     

Financial Reporting for Private Companies: The Canadian Experience*

The issue of whether small and/or private companies should be allowed to use simplified accounting standards in financial reports has concerned the accounting profession for decades. It has been argued that preparing financial reports in accordance with the large volume of promulgated standards contained in generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), some of which are relatively complex, has put a significant strain on the resources of small/private business. Moreover, information produced and presented in accordance with at least some accounting standards within GAAP may not be relevant for the users of small/private companies' financial statements. In this paper we look at differential reporting in Canadian GAAP, which gives nonpublicly accountable enterprises the ability to opt out of certain CICA Handbook requirements with unanimous consent of the shareholders. We look at lobbying activity in response to the proposed differential reporting standard and at nonpublicly accountable company experience with the differential reporting opportunity in the period since the standard was promulgated.     

或有表外项目的分类和计量研究

2001～2002年，大量的重大会计丑闻曝光，这些问题暴露了公司治理、审计实务和财务报告中的薄弱环节，其中两个主要问题是表外项目的范围（包括特殊目的实体的使用）和股票发行者的财务报告是否透明地反映了表外项目的经济实质。本文主要对或有表外项目中投资的分娄和计量进行兮析，并提供了美国上市公司投资于其他实体的经验研究与发现，以期对今后的衍生金融工具的会计处理提供借鉴。     

The London Whale Scandal under new Scrutiny: A Critical Appraisal of the Concept of Retro-causality

This paper aims to extend the purview of the retro-causality concept, by exploring a complex and under-researched financial accounting scandal, namely the London Whale, a group of traders that operated on account of the London subsidiary of JPMorgan Chase & Co in 2012. We specify the conceptual articulation underlying the discourse on the scandal, between the intentions, the actions and the temporality in which the events have taken place. We then elaborate upon philosophers Elizabeth Anscombe and Donald Davidson. We show the limitations of rationalization as a causal deterministic explanation of actions in light of a methodical review of the JPMorgan Chase Task Force Report in 2013. We put forward the idea that the scandal features flows of awareness, reminiscent of Bergson's duration. The articulation between intentions, actions and causes is performed, by mobilizing quantum macroeconomic theory developed by the economist Bernard Schmitt. We show the relevance of retro-causality for central debates in contemporary accounting (e.g. fair value accounting and the efficient market hypothesis). Our empirical study abundantly draws on Ludwig Wittgenstein's language games, and retro-causality insights borrowed from quantum physics. Our results confirm our theoretical intuitions: there is a common thread and guiding reflection throughout the accounting scandal, namely the idea that the future might influence the past, under certain assumptions. Finally, some groundbreaking consequences are derived for the accounting profession regarding the global crisis in 2008.     

A half-century of Accounting and Business Research: the impact on the study of international financial reporting

This paper celebrates the contribution of this journal, over its first 50 years, to research on international financial reporting, defined as comprising writings on comparative or harmonisation topics. The paper examines the journal’s output in that field and how it contributed to the field’s development. Even though the journal was sympathetic to international financial reporting, less than 1% of output in its first decade (the 1970s) related to it. In its first 35 years, a large proportion of the journal’s limited output in the field was produced by two small groups of researchers. However, during its fourth decade, the field gradually became dominant as the accounting world changed. By then, the journal had already published the seminal papers on several central topics in international financial reporting, including measuring harmonisation, using reconciliations to measure international accounting differences, assessing international differences in the influence of tax on financial reporting, and measuring international difference in the application of international standards. These topics were later taken up by many researchers in several other journals.     

The role of a crisis in reshaping the role of accounting

Prior to 2001, international accounting standards (IAS) were insufficiently attractive to gain the support of US regulators. The potential role of IAS in the US gained prominence during a period of extreme financial reporting instability in 2001–2002. Emerging opinion increasingly upheld principles-based rather than rules-based accounting standards in the face of the financial reporting crisis. But to promote any active shift in the US position, an institutionally legitimate infrastructure for the international accounting standards setter had to be created. As this was taking shape, the globalisation of business activities grew with inter-organizational linkages and cross-national financial inter-dependencies and flows becoming increasingly complex. Given the extensively uncertain, uneven and constantly evolving nature of global business changes, the aptness of applying judgment in assessing financial performance and position rather than relying on the application of pre-defined rules continued to achieve wider acceptance. The argument is made in the paper that international financial reporting standards are today seen to fulfil a global risk mitigating role founded on a logic that had to first gain political and institutional legitimacy and that also had to be viewed as being responsive to perceived market imperatives.     

21st century scandals: towards a risk approach to financial reporting scandals

Financial reporting scandals in the 21^st century have been followed by many changes in the regulatory framework of financial reporting. While it is natural to ask for research evidence on the effectiveness of these changes in preventing new scandals, we discuss some of the difficulties in conducting this type of research as well as limitations of commonly used approaches. We argue as the central point of this paper that both research and regulation should be based on an explicit acceptance of a permanent risk of financial reporting failure, rather than working on the assumption that this risk can and should be ever further reduced. Acceptance of this point of view can turn what is currently a scattering of unconnected research efforts into a coherent research agenda with potentially high relevance. Facing the existence of permanent financial reporting risk leads to a series of interconnected questions including the measurement of this risk, both actual and as perceived by various stakeholder groups, communication and education concerning these risks, and mechanisms to share or transfer these risks.     

A Framework for Identifying (and Avoiding) Fraudulent Financial Reporting*

This commentary analyzes the relationship of fraud risk assessments to other risk assessments by auditors. The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board notes that this is a problem area of current practice. Effective detection of fraudulent financial reporting requires an integrative accounting/auditing conceptual framework. As a result, this paper is as much about accounting theory as it is about auditing. To simplify the development of such an integrated framework, this paper uses an expanded risk model. This effectively results in a risk perspective on fraudulent financial reporting. There are many potential implications but the major findings are as follows. First, the study identifies the crucial role of benchmarks based on acceptable levels of risk to help differentiate between intentional and unintentional misstatements. Such differentiation is critical to successfully implementing the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants' Statement on Auditing Standards (SAS) No. 99 and international standards ISA Nos. 240, 540, and 700. Second, the paper shows the importance of not allowing the major categories of risks identified here from getting too high. This paper explains the need to set acceptable levels of these risks, either by standard‐setters as a matter of broad policy, or by individual practitioners as part of the terms of specific engagements. I propose that a major factor in the concept of “present fairly” be the acceptable levels of accounting risks that are defined here, especially the risks due to intentional forecast errors. Third, this paper clarifies how the fraud risk of SAS No. 99, and similar international standards, relates to the current audit risk model framework.     

Spacek's Contributions to Accounting Thought Revisited

While he was managing partner and chair of Arthur Andersen in the l950s and 1960s, Leonard Spacek was an outspoken critic of public accounting, complaining about its failure to establish a coherent set of objectives for financial statements, its illogical principles and methods, and its principle-setting process. He was the conscience of the public accounting community during this time period, a critic from within. As far as Spacek was concerned, 'fairness' was the central objective of financial reporting, though he never specifically defined the term. In light of the recent high-profile corporate and accounting scandals, including Enron and World.com, both of which were audited by Arthur Andersen, it is useful to analyse Spacek's ideas on the public role of accounting from his speeches and writings with emphasis on the theme of fairness. Given the firm's long-term commitment to quality audits, it was ironic that Andersen fell victim to these scandals.     

The effect of IFRS for SMEs on the financial reporting environment of private firms: an exploratory interview study

I investigate how the International Financial Reporting Standard for Small and Medium-sized Entities (IFRS for SMEs) contributes to the development of private firm financial reporting. I interview a sample of leading accounting experts from 24 jurisdictions around the globe to understand the role of private firm financial reporting and financial transparency in their jurisdiction as well as the importance of IFRS for SMEs. I find significant variation across jurisdictions in my sample and document that IFRS for SMEs predominantly influenced private firm financial reporting and transparency by serving as a blueprint for national regulatory reforms. In some jurisdictions, IFRS for SMEs has also been adopted as an optional reporting framework. Direct firm-level adoption of IFRS for SMEs has been low in these jurisdictions with the exception of South Africa where it seems to be used relatively widely. Based on my response data, I suggest some potential rationales for my findings and discuss potential reasons for the observed cross-jurisdiction variation in private firm financial transparency and IFRS for SMEs adoption.     

Externalities of Financial Statement Fraud on the Incoming Accounting Labor Force

Financial statement fraud generates many negative effects, including reducing people's willingness to participate in the stock market. If it also stigmatizes accounting, it may similarly adversely affect the quantity and quality of workers willing to become accountants, thereby potentially creating negative effects for years to come. We examine the impact of fraud on the labor force entering the accounting profession, which is a key input into the production of accounting information (i.e., the output). Using data describing millions of college students across the United States, we find incoming students are actually more likely to major in accounting when local frauds occur during their formative years. These students are also more likely to have attributes desired by the accounting profession (e.g., high academic aptitude) and are more likely to subsequently serve in public accounting and become Certified Public Accountants. In the context of other fields (i.e., all college majors), we find that fraud similarly spurs interest in other business disciplines, but not in majors outside of business schools. Those attracted to other business disciplines, however, generally possess different traits. Specifically, students entering accounting are distinctively more likely to exhibit values espoused by the accounting profession, including a predisposition to public service and less commercial orientation. Thus, nonpecuniary motives appear to uniquely drive accounting student enrollment following fraud. Collectively, our findings suggest that, while fraud is unmistakably bad, it appears to have the positive unintended consequence of attracting labor into business disciplines and, in accounting, increasing the prevalence of desirable traits among entrants.     

CAP Forum on Forensic Accounting in the Post‐Enron World: Education for Investigative and Forensic Accounting*/FORMATION ET JURICOMPTABILITÉ

Recent financial scandals have raised the awareness that accountants should be alert to potential fraud and other economic disputes and can provide significant assistance in preventing, investigating, and resolving such matters. Forensic accountants provide these services with knowledge of court requirements and proceedings so that effective legal action is possible, even though most actions are concluded without the involvement of the courts. Although forensic accounting was growing in importance even before Enron and the Sarbanes‐Oxley Act, the ensuing tightening of the securities regulations in both Canada and the United States triggered recognition that accounting students and professionals need a fuller understanding of fraud and other economic crimes, and how to find, prevent, and resolve them, as well as the career choices that could be involved. While some of this material is covered in auditing texts and courses, emerging expectations will require the enhancement and restructuring of forensic accounting education within university programs, and will encourage more interest in graduate specialist professional designations. This paper has two objectives: to offer insights into the design and delivery of forensic accounting programs, and into the availability of professional programs; and to provide some exploratory evidence on the type of services currently rendered by investigative and forensic accountants in Canada.     

The role of international auditing in the improvement of international financial reporting

In this paper, we describe the convergence of several forces that underscore the significance of independent auditors as key enablers of the improvement of international financial reporting. This paper is not an empirical research study but is intended to survey the landscape of international auditing. Based on our experience as auditing practitioners and academics, we describe and provide discussions of key conceptual issues surrounding international auditing harmonization and its relation to the implementation of international accounting standards. A matrix framework is presented at the conclusion of the paper to summarize the principal point of the paper that the regulations and control of the quality of audits is the critical factor in achieving high quality financial reporting. The next critical phase of the process is to improve the quality of the individual audits that take place around the world through government regulation, profession self-regulation, and quality assurance in international firms. IFAC has taken significant steps in strengthening its role as the global self-regulatory body for the profession, including improvements in standards and compliance. The establishment of a public oversight board with authority to discipline rather than persuade is a critical component for effective international auditing standards.