会计诚信缺失的根源及整治对策

会计诚信缺失是一个全球性的难题。本文从会计诚信缺失的背景、市场的弱式有效性、委托代理关系中委托方的不确定性以及会计人员和注册会计师独立性缺失等方面,分析了会计诚信缺失的根源,提出了整治会计诚信缺失问题的具体对策。     

会计德治与法治

近年来,国内外接连发生了一系列财务欺诈案件,例如会计师事务所虚假评估企业资产,上市公司披露虚假会计信息损害股东利益等等。这些严重扰乱了市场经济秩序的财务造假案件引起了社会公众对会计诚信问题的普遍关注。会计从业人员,注册会计师,注册资产评估师的道德水准遭到了严峻     

全面加强行业管理和诚信建设

2007年,天津注册会计师行业要加强行业管理和诚信建设,组织开展会计师事务所执业质量和企业会计信息质量检查,建立行政监督指导、行业自我管理与社会监督约束“三位一体”的管理体制和运行机制,努力推动会计师事务所做大做强。要进一步深化会计改革,加强会计管理,完善财会人员诚信档案建设,健全企业     

我国资本市场审计失败案例研究——基于注册会计师诚信视角

近年来我国上市公司舞弊案频频曝光,多家会计师事务所审计失败,上市公司和注册会计师的诚信问题遭到众多利益相关者和社会的质疑。注册会计师只有保持自身的诚信,才能有效地在社会审计中履行自己的职责。     

中注协公布14家受到行业公开谴责的会计师事务所名单

为严肃行业执业纪律,维护行业诚信形象,中国注册会计师协会近日对2005年全国会计师事务所执业质量检查中发现的存在严重执业质量问题、不顾执业质量恶性低价竞争、内部质量管理失控乱设分支机构的14家会计师事务所进行公开谴责。名单如下：广东广兴嘉华会计师事务所、江门市新会区恒生会计师事务所、广州信之杰会计师事务所、广州业诚会计     

浅谈会计诚信

会计诚信不但是从业会计人员的行为规范，也是企业法人，会计师事务所应遵循的行为准则之一。如同社会个人的道德规范，它的作用不但．是提供真实的会计信息，更重要的是表达了会计对社会的一种基本承诺。前国务院总理朱镕基在视察北京国家会计学院时要求：“所有会计人员必须诚信为本，操守为重，遵守准则，不做假账，保证会计信息真实，可靠，”把不做假账作为校训。     

会计德治与法治

近年来,国内外接连发生了一系列财务欺诈案件,例如会计师事务所虚假评估企业资产,上市公司披露虚假会计信息损害股东利益等等.这些严重扰乱了市场经济秩序的财务造假案件引起了社会公众对会计诚信问题的普遍关注.     

论注册会计师职业道德建设

注册会计师是社会中介组织中的一个重要组成部分。本文首先对会计的职业道德和注册会计师职业道德的内涵和具体要求进行了归纳和总结,并结合近年来审计失败等案例从注册会计师的独立性、行业管理、会计师事务所体制等方面分析了“诚信危机”的成因,认为注册会计师职业道德失范的根源主要在于注册会计师独立性的缺失和监管不力。因此从完善执业环境,改革事务所体制,加强监管等方面提出了加强诚信建设的若干建议。     

会计诚信危机探因

以美国安然事件爆发牵出安达信做假账一事为序幕，全球五大会计师事务所为首的全球会计业“上演“了一幕幕“遭遇”诚信危机的“活剧”。全球五大会计师事务所都受到过的事实告诉我们：会计言息失真．会计丧失诚信原则，不是中国特有的问题，而是一个国际通病：因此，擦寻会计诚信危机的根本原因践的实际状况．世界背景下来审视，这才是找到导致会计诚信危机根本原因的唯一出路。     

会计诚信琐谈

在目前的会计工作中,会计诚信危机引起社会的关注。在会计信息的传输环节中,会计人员、注册会计师、企业经营管理者和公司董事会均应承担责任,负有诚信义务。本文对此作些粗浅的分析。一、会计人员的诚信会计人员应立足于本职工作,操守为重,坚守准则,做到入账合法合理,账务核算     

试论构建会计诚信体系若干问题

会计诚信是会计核心价值体系中的精髓。在构建会计诚信体系过程中,应将社会主义核心价值体系贯彻其全过程,同时也应注重发挥市场机制的作用,善于运用物质利益原则引导会计人员行为,培育会计人员的法律意识、客观公正意识、竞争意识和创新意识。本文论述了会计诚信体系应遵循的原则、会计诚信体系的内容,提出了会计诚信实施机制的意见和建议。     

Conservatism,SEC investigation,and fraud

We present evidence on the relationship between firms that have engaged in fraudulent financial reporting and accounting conservatism. We empirically investigate the extent to which US firms identified by the SEC in their Enforcement Releases demonstrate higher levels of conditional conservatism in order to mitigate information asymmetry and agency problems. Specifically, by assessing the timing of changes in the litigation risk environment for fraud firms, we document how differences in heightened legal liability guide changes in conservative accounting behavior. Compared to a matched non-fraud control sample, we document that fraud firms have significantly lower levels of accounting conservatism in the pre-fraud period. Consistent with changes in potential legal liability, we find an increase in accounting conservatism for fraud firms during the SEC investigation period. Subsequently, during the public discovery of fraud, any increases in accounting conservatism are marginal and appear to converge back to lower levels compared to the SEC investigation period. Overall, our findings suggest more temporary changes in conservative reporting in the short-term for fraud firms. We also document that increased levels of accounting conservatism for fraud firms are not due solely to the passage of the SOX Act. Our findings aid in explaining fraud firms’ incentives and opportunities for accounting conservatism and lend support for why standard setters, regulators and auditors should continue to monitor and re-evaluate conservatism’s short-term effects that are conditioned on changes in a firm’s risk environment.     

发挥审计监督职能遏制企业会计舞弊

企业会计舞弊危害深重。企业会计舞弊的成因是多方面的,审计监督不力是重要原因之一。遏制企业会计舞弊,必须充分发挥注册会计师和政府审计的监督职能,采取有力措施解决审计监督中存在的各种问题,构建科学、规范、高效的审计监督制度体系和业务规程。     

Inattentional blindness and its relevance to teaching forensic accounting and auditing

Inattentional blindness, also known as perceptual blindness, is the phenomenon of not being able to see things that are actually there. This concept is not covered in traditional accounting classes in general and forensic accounting and auditing in particular. We discuss why forensic accountants and auditors should be aware of inattentional blindness and we show how it may impact the behavior of the individuals investigating and being investigated. We use a video to illustrate how this concept could be meaningfully incorporated into a teaching curriculum with a focus on forensic accounting and auditing. In particular, we provide illustrations of how this video could be used in forensic accounting and auditing classes to heighten student awareness of how “blind spots” could adversely affect the investigation process. We conclude by using the Leeson/Barings scandal (involving the fraud that brought down Barings bank) to illustrate how inattentional blindness can occur in a real-life fraud situation. We also provide additional material showing the relevance of inattentional blindness to the Madoff Ponzi scandal.     

An Analysis of Accounting Frauds and the Timing of Analyst Coverage Decisions and Recommendation Revisions: Evidence from the US

This paper provides a comprehensive exploration of the types of accounting fraud committed by firms over the period 1995–2009. Using detailed data from US SEC Accounting and Auditing Enforcement Releases (AAER), we examine the likelihood and timing of analyst coverage decisions and recommendation revisions related to fraud firms versus firms without accounting fraud. We find that analysts have a higher probability of taking the more severe action of dropping coverage rather than only revising down recommendations for firms with any type of accounting fraud and also for specific egregious types of accounting fraud. Through the use of competing hazards models, we also find that accounting frauds and their egregiousness are positively (negatively) associated with the timeliness of the analysts’ action to drop coverage (revise only). Overall, we find that analysts’ actions may be useful in determining the occurrence of accounting fraud prior to the public announcement of the fraud.     

Diversification of External Accountants Serving Small and Medium‐sized Enterprises: Evidence from Belgium

The purpose of this study is: (1) to discover which services are offered by external accountants serving small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs); (2) to study the factors that are associated with the degree of diversification of the services offered by these accountants; and (3) to investigate if there are differences between self‐employed accountants and accounting firms on the previous two points. This study has some interesting conclusions: (1) the heterogeneity of internal staff is not significantly associated with the degree of diversification; (2) a homogeneous internal staff with an accounting background is particularly important for accounting firms that diversify their services in the accounting and tax area; (3) collaboration with other service providers is an important factor associated with more diversification of the services; (4) marketing is only important for self‐employed accountants; (5) accounting firms offer fewer non‐accounting‐related services if they serve more micro clients (fewer than 10 employees), whereas self‐employed accountants offer more accounting and tax services if they serve more micro clients (fewer than 10 employees); and (6) accounting firms that diversify in accounting and tax services mainly serve more micro clients (fewer than 10 employees), whereas accounting firms that diversify in non‐accounting areas serve more larger clients (more than 10 employees).     

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.     

会计法视角下会计人员的权益保障

会计人员的权益保障对于会计人员依法独立履行职责以及会计职能的实现、会计职业道德的弘扬、经济领域职务违法犯罪的预防都具有不可替代的作用。在我国现行《会计法》中,已经初步形成了会计人员权益保障的制度体系,但由于立法经验的不足,会计人员的权益的切实保障仍存在若干障碍。完善会计人员的权益保障体系,我国《会计法》应强化对会计人员的倾斜性保护,增设权益救济的具体程序,设立会计行业性协会制度。     

Money shouts! How effective are punishments for accounting fraud?

This study examines the impact of different punishments for Chinese accounting fraud on shareholder valuation of firms between 2007 and 2016. From an examination of both monetary and non-monetary ‘name and shame’ penalties, it is reported all punishments have a negative and significant impact on the shareholder wealth of fraudulent firms. Investors perceive punishments involving monetary penalties far more severely than non-monetary punishments used to combat accounting fraud. Stock market reactions are also sensitive to the type of fraud committed with manipulation of recognition and disclosure fraud viewed more negatively by investors than fraud related to disclosure. Information leakage to capital markets prior to the announcement of punishments is also observed. It is proposed fines have been relatively more effective, than ‘name and shame’ punishments in addressing Chinese accounting fraud during the last decade, due not least to information leakage.     

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.