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.     

China Journal of Accounting Research征文启事

经过两年的筹备,由香港城市大学和中山大学牵头组织、国际著名财经出版机构Lexis Nexis出版并全球发行的中国第一本全英文会计学术期刊China Journal of Accounting Research(简称CJAR,中文名《中国会计学刊》)已正式出版。     

Accounting for Extractive Industries: Has IFRS 6 Harmonised Accounting Practices by Extractive Industries?

Accounting for extractive industries has historically been practiced by one of a number of methods: successful efforts, full costing, area of interest, appropriation and reserve recognition accounting. The choice of method adopted leads to different accounting figures. The difference in the treatment of the costs leads to different accounting figures being reported in the financial statements of extractive companies. This means that the ‘tell it like it is’ criteria of accounting functions differently, so that stakeholders find like‐with‐like comparisons for decision‐making purposes difficult. These difficulties have culminated in the release of IFRS 6 Exploration for and Evaluation of Mineral Resources, to help harmonise accounting practice. This paper, through content analysis of annual reports of 122 upstream oil and gas companies from around the world, investigates the role of IFRS 6 in harmonising extractive industries’ accounting practices. Our analysis identifies seven types of company, which differ in their compliance with IFRS 6. Hence, we conclude that IFRS 6 has had some success in harmonising accounting treatments of exploration and evaluation expense but that this success is limited and more needs to be done to achieve wider harmonisation for the extractive industries.     

What Determines the Variability of Accounting Accruals?

The variability of accounting accruals provides a measure of the normal level of managers accounting discretion and has important implications for event studies of earnings management. We examine how this measure is related to the economic factors including both firm characteristics and attributes of the disclosure environment. We show that the variability of accruals is related to firm size, leverage, variability of cash flows, operating cycle, growth, and other factors. Significant industry differences and temporal patterns are also found.     

中国会计学会China Journal of Accounting Studies与美国会计学会Journal of Managenment Accounting Research合作学术会议征文启事

<正>中国会计学会China Journal of Accounting Studies(简称CJAS)杂志和美国会计学会Journal of Management Accounting Research(简称JMAR)杂志定于2014年5月17-18日在湖北省武汉市合作主办学术会议。会议主题本期会议主题为"管理会计与中外会计学术前沿"。同时,我们也接受所有关于会计和财务理论与实践方面的文章。组织委员会和学术委员会周齐武,Ranjani Krishnan,王雄元,肖泽忠,周守华,叶康涛主讲嘉宾Rajiv D.Banker教授,美国天普大学谭红平教授,加拿大滑铁卢大学主办单位此次会议由中南财经政法大学会计学院承办。     

Does Convergence of Accounting Standards Lead to the Convergence of Accounting Practices?: A Study from China

In this empirical study we examine whether China's efforts to converge domestic accounting standards with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) over the past 15 years have resulted in the successful convergence of Chinese listed firms. This study is unique in that we evaluate convergence of firms' accounting practices from three perspectives: (1) the level of compliance with Chinese GAAP and IFRS, (2) the consistency of accounting choices under Chinese GAAP and IFRS, and (3) identification of significant differences in the net incomes produced under Chinese GAAP and IFRS (earnings gap).Using the 1999 and 2002 annual reports of 79 Chinese listed firms we find improvement in both compliance with IFRS and in the consistency of the accounting methods used in annual reports prepared under Chinese GAAP and IFRS. We also find a reduction in the earnings gap from 1999 to 2002. However, interestingly we observed that Chinese listed firms' compliance with IFRS is significantly lower than their compliance with Chinese GAAP. Overall we believe that our findings suggest that in China the convergence of accounting standards has been a conduit to the convergence of accounting practices.     

Accounting education literature review (2010–2012)

This review of the accounting education literature includes 291 articles and 104 instructional cases published over the 3-year period, 2010–2012, in six journals: (1) Journal of Accounting Education, (2) Accounting Education: An International Journal, (3) Advances in Accounting Education, (4) Global Perspectives on Accounting Education, (4) Issues in Accounting Education, and (6) The Accounting Educators’ Journal. This article updates prior literature reviews by organizing and summarizing recent additions to the accounting education literature. These reviews are categorized into four sections corresponding to traditional lines of inquiry: (1) curriculum, assurance of learning (AOL), and instruction; (2) educational technology; (3) faculty issues; and (4) students. Suggestions for educational research in all content areas are presented. For the first time in this series of literature reviews, we assess the data collection and empirical analysis methods and recommend adoption of more rigorous techniques moving forward. Articles presenting teaching materials and educational cases published in the same six journals during 2010–2012 are presented in an appendix, categorized by the courses for which they are appropriate.     

Accounting education literature review (1997–1999)

By reviewing a subset ot the accounting education literature published during the period 1997–1999, this paper updates literature reviews by Rebele, Apostolou, Buckless, Hassell, Paquette, and Stout [Rebele, J.E., Apostolou, B.A., Buckless, F.A., Hassell, J.M., Paquette, L.R., & Stout, D.E. (1998a). Accounting education literature review (1991–1997), part I: curriculum and instructional approaches. Journal of Accounting Education, 16(1), 1–51.] [Rebele, J.E., Apostolou, B.A., Buckless, F.A., Hassell, J.M., Paquette, L.R., & Stout, D.E. (1998b). Accounting education literature review (1991–1997), part II: students, educational technology, assessment, and faculty issues. Journal of Accounting Education, 16(2), 179–245.]; Rebele, Stout, and Hassell [Rebele, J.E., Stout, D.E., & Hassell, J.M. (1991). A review of empirical research in accounting education: 1985–1991. Journal of Accounting Education, 9(2), 167–231.]; and Rebele and Tiller [Rebele, J.E., & Tiller, M.G. (1986). Empirical research in accounting education: a review and evaluation. In A. C. Bishop, E. K. St. Pierre & R. L. Benke (Eds.), Research in accounting education (pp. 1–54). Harrisonburg, VA: Center for Research in Accounting Education, James Madison University]. We review published articles related to the topics of assessment, curriculum and instructional approaches, educational technology, faculty issues, and students from the following five journals: Journal of Accounting Education, Issues in Accounting Education, Accounting Education, The Accounting Educators’ Journal, and Advances in Accounting Education. A large number of accounting educators have contributed to the literature between 1997 and 1999, with over 390 different authors cited in the body of the text (30 authors published two articles, 11 published three, and one author published four articles). More than 120 individuals are cited as authors of cases and instructional resources (seven authors published two cases and one published three). Recommendations for research are offered at the end of each major section. An appendix identifies instructional cases and educational resources published during the 1997–1999 period by journal and topic.     

Do Harmonised Accounting Standards Lead to Harmonised Accounting Practices? An Empirical Study of IAS 39 Measurement Requirements in Some European Union Countries

The objective of this paper is to investigate the level of harmonisation for IAS 39 Financial Instruments: Recognition and Measurement and to identify if different levels of harmonisation are associated with company-specific factors. Based on Rahman et al. (2002) , we used the Jaccard (JACC) index to determine the level of harmonisation between IAS 39 and the financial reporting practice of a broad-based sample of European-listed companies in 2005. We applied regression analysis to identify companies' specific characteristics that affect the level of convergence of the reporting practice of financial instruments. The results of this study show a high level of harmonisation between accounting practices of European companies included in our sample and IAS 39.     

Accounting and taxation: Conjoined twins or separate siblings?

This paper explores the relationship between accounting and taxation through the recent proposals for curbing corporate tax avoidance advanced by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the European Union (EU). The OECD is content to tweak pricing and fails to address the faultlines of accounting. The EU is promoting ‘unitary taxation’ and advocates a major reform of the way taxable profits are to be calculated. As IFRSs have reduced the usefulness of accounting numbers for taxation purposes, the EU has sought to recalibrate basic elements of accounting. This has considerable implications for the development of accounting.     

Accounting curriculum reform? The devil is in the detail

Chabrak and Craig's paper (2013) draws on a number of assumptions that require qualification. In particular, I focus on the following aspects: (i) purpose of reform, (ii) faculty, (iii) students, (iv) degree in management/accounting, and (v) educational materials. In retrospect, calls for the reform of the accounting curriculum have been rather unsuccessful. Therefore rather than waiting for the implementation of some “grand” reform, I encourage an individual approach to this important issue. In this regard, the commentary concludes with some specific suggestions to instill critical thinking in accounting students.     

Accounting information systems research: Is it another QWERTY?

This article examines the research within accounting information systems (AIS) as found in articles published in leading accounting, management information systems, and computer science journals from 1982 to 1998. Trend analysis is performed on AIS articles found in the following journals: The Journal of Information Systems; Advances in Accounting Information Systems; Journal of Accounting Research; The Accounting Review; Journal of Accounting and Economics, Accounting, Organizations and Society, Auditing: A Journal of Practice and Theory; Behavioral Research in Accounting; Journal of Management Accounting Research; Management Science; MIS Quarterly; Decision Sciences; Information Systems Research; and Communications of the ACM, among others. The trend analysis is structured across underlying theory, research method, and information systems lifecycle topics of AIS articles in these journals. This article identifies the extant research streams in AIS, where AIS research has been published from 1982 to 1998, and seeks to provide insight into the question: should AIS exist as its own separate research domain? Is AIS research like the QWERTY keyboard (David, 1985), widely adopted due to popular demand, but ineffective and inefficient, with a better AIS research and teaching model available?     

Biases in Accounting and Nonaccounting Information: Substitutes or Complements?

This paper studies how bias in nonaccounting and in accounting information should be related. Bias in accounting information is modeled, as in some recent literature, as an alteration in the relative information content of accounting numbers. The optimal bias in one type of information is shown to be a complement of the bias in the other type. This result can be applied in various settings to explain a number of phenomena.