Discussion of Commercial Banks＇ Personal Business Risk Situation and Internal Control Measures

随着国际金融危机驱动全球经济衰退,银行的个人业务风险也呈现出多样、复杂的特点。本文从当前的个人银行风险形势入手,从风险文化、内控机制、流程整理等角度,论述了商业银行个人业务风险控制的精细化应对措施。     

Do PCAOB Inspections Improve the Quality of Internal Control Audits?

We investigate whether Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) inspections affect the quality of internal control audits. Our research design improves on prior studies by exploiting both cross‐sectional and time‐series variation in the content of PCAOB inspection reports, while also controlling for audit firm and year fixed effects, effectively achieving a difference‐in‐differences research design. We find that when PCAOB inspectors report higher rates of deficiencies in internal control audits, auditors respond by increasing the issuance of adverse internal control opinions. We also find that auditors issue more adverse internal control opinions to clients with concurrent misstatements, who thus genuinely warrant adverse opinions. We further find that higher inspection deficiency rates lead to higher audit fees, consistent with PCAOB inspections prompting auditors to undertake costly remediation efforts. Taken together, our results are consistent with the PCAOB inspections improving the quality of internal control audits by prompting auditors to remediate deficiencies in their audits of internal controls.     

Accounting Education and the Prerequisite Skills of Accounting Graduates: Are Accounting Firms’ Moving the Boundaries?

The current requisite skills of accounting graduates guide the graduate attributes delivered by university learning outcomes. A recent trend by Australian accounting firms to outsource accounting services may impact on accounting graduates if entry‐level tasks normally completed by graduates are sent to offshore processing centres. This study examines the impact of the outsourcing of accounting services by Australian accounting firms and classifies the current requisite skills for accounting graduates identified by accounting firms. Following a review of the current academic literature, a positivist approach using empirical data is taken in this paper. The responses elicited from a survey questionnaire mailed to a random sample of Australian accounting firms provide information for the data analysis. One of the most widely outsourced services identified is the preparation of income tax returns, which has been identified as a key area where graduate accountants normally learn the basic skills required to phase them into the profession. Accounting firms that considered the outsourcing of accounting services would change the 12 ranked prerequisite skills for graduates presented in this paper in order of importance.     

Recap of the 30th annual conference on Financial Economics and Accounting,November 1–2, 2019

Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting -     

An Axiomatic Theory of Accounting Measurement—Part II

Willett (1987) described a transactions based theory of funds accounting. This paper extends the theory to explain asset and profit measurement. Eight axioms are listed which, when interpreted in the context of cost structures, are sufficient to justify the logic underlying the generation of accounting numbers in financial statements. Although the theory is expressed using deterministic concepts, one of its implications is that many derived accounting measurements used in practice (e.g. income calculations) are of an inherently probabilistic nature. The theory identifies the main stochastic variables which determine the statistical characteristics of such accounting numbers.     

Conceptions of Learning and Approaches to Learning—A Phenomenographic Study of a Group of Overseas Accounting Students from Sri Lanka

This study explores conceptions of learning (SCL) and approaches to learning (SAL) of a group of Sri Lankan students studying accounting in an Australian university. The focus is on how cultural background and home country learning experiences shape SCL and SAL of these students. This research is based on the phenomenographic method, and semi-structured interviews are used for data collection. The results indicate that the interviewed students have lower-order conceptions of learning, and show characteristics of surface learning. Although the social approval motive was dominant in these students, it was not manifested in an achieving approach. Students in this study embrace the pedagogical tradition of the West, and engage in deep learning when they are exposed to research or practice-based assessments. Remnants from years of secondary education and aspects of a collectivist culture play a vital part in the ways in which these students perceive and approach learning. In addition, preconceptions of accounting as a vocation and a discipline strongly embedded in practice, drive learning conceptions and learning approaches.     

Accounting classification and the international harmonisation debate — an empirical investigation

In the current debate on international accounting harmonisation, references are made to accounting model categories. In particular, a distinction is made between the Anglo-American accounting cluster and the continental European cluster. First, we provide a review of the related accounting classification literature. Different classification results can be traced back to differences in the conceptional and methodological research designs. Second, my own classification attempt is presented which is founded on an actual database of financial reporting requirements in 14 countries and the IASC. Basically, a picture of an Anglo-American or continental European accounting model cannot be established.     

Is the Current Accounting Treatment of Education and Training Costs Appropriate?

This paper addresses the apparent disconnect between the economic consequences of firm‐sponsored education and training and the accounting and disclosure treatment of those costs. Research suggests that firm‐sponsored education and training enhances firm productivity and performance, yet accounting standards require firms to treat education and training costs as expenses. This study discusses not only the rationale for this accounting treatment, but also what firms and accounting standard setters can do to enhance the information provided to capital market participants about firm‐sponsored education and training.     

The Views of ‘Knowledge Gatekeepers’ About the Use and Content of Accounting Textbooks

This study examines financial accounting educators' views about, and use of, recommended course textbooks in the UK. In particular, this research explores the factors that influence the selection of a recommended text, the role it plays on the course, and educators' perceptions of the worldview that underpins their chosen text. Drawing on the results of a questionnaire survey and semi-structured interviews with introductory financial accounting educators, this study draws attention to ideological issues concerning accounting textbooks. In particular, findings from this research suggest that a number of educators feel that their recommended textbooks should discuss the information needs of a broad range of stakeholders and supplement their text with materials that provide alternative perspectives or which draw attention to current issues in accounting. Moreover, a number of the participants indicated that their textbook had ideological characteristics in so far as they had an overly technical focus which ‘obscured’ the values that underpinned them.     

Accounting students’ choice of blended learning format and its impact on performance and satisfaction

Using online platforms to deliver educational content, some institutions have developed blended courses that combine the advantages of online instruction with traditional face-to-face (F2F) teaching. This study compares accounting student performance and satisfaction in two blended formats with similar content and design, i.e. F2F+ vs. Online+ courses. It also assesses the characteristics of students who choose the latter option over F2F+ courses. Students in four advanced accounting subjects were surveyed and their course performance was obtained. Results indicate that the main determinants of students’ decision to register for an Online+ course are retaking the course, increased weekly work hours, and belief that this type of blended course facilitates learning. Results show that students in advanced accounting courses with equivalent content and design perform similarly and have the same level of course satisfaction across course delivery formats, as hypothesized under equivalency theory.