Capping auditor liability: The German experience

There are serious concerns in some Western countries that methods should be found to resolve what is commonly referred to as the auditing profession's liability crisis. A number of legislative-based proposals to limit auditors' liability have been suggested. However, anxiety has been voiced relating to the inherent uncertainties attached to such apparently untested reforms. In this respect it is interesting to note that for more than sixty years the German auditing profession has operated within a regulatory environment in which liability is restricted by a legislatively sanctioned universal cap. We document the German experience and consider whether their form of liability restricting mechanism can provide a contribution to the debate concerning the efficacy of proposals to reform auditor liability elsewhere. We draw attention to the fact that at this time when the auditing professions in other countries are campaigning for reductions in liability exposure, it is interesting to observe that the German auditing profession has recently campaigned for increases in exposure. We use this and related events to suggest that the German experience illustrates that it is unlikely that the liability crisis can be resolved by simply changing the legal basis upon which financial penalties for auditors are assessed. We argue that a necessary precursor to a redesign of penalty mechanisms is a need to obtain measured consensus concerning identification of the constituency of claimants that should have rights to pursue auditors in the courts. Such an identification process needs to be firmly based within a model of corporate governance which reflects what can reasonably be expected from and provided by the auditing profession. In this respect we support the application of the intermediate form of corporate governance which until relatively recently characterized the German system. Within this system auditors were ascribed a less influential role than was envisaged in Anglo-American traditions. This arose since they acted principally as information agents to an influential supervisory board rather than as shareholders' representatives.     

历史将如何评价安然?

由于安达信在对能源业巨头安然公司审计过程中完全未能发现掩藏在其表象之下的真实面目,导致会计职业受到更为严格的审查.作为世界最好的会计公司之一的安达信,其高级职员销毁相关证据的恶劣行径留给人们的印象也不会很快被淡忘.     

Gestaltung der Abschlussprüferhaftung – Implikationen theoretischer Modelle

Namen wie Enron, WorldCom oder Parmalat sind l?ngst nicht mehr nur tragische Firmengeschichten, sie sind Synonyme für korrupte Manager, aber auch für die vermeintlich schlechte Arbeit von Wirtschaftsprüfern. So wundert es kaum, dass die Gesetzgeber mit aller Sch?rfe reagieren: Neue Gesetze werden in immer kürzeren Abst?nden verabschiedet, von denen auch Wirtschaftsprüfer betroffen sind. Für Deutschland hei?t das insb., dass eine Dritthaftung der Abschlussprüfer thematisiert wird und auf lange Sicht wohl unausweichlich ist. Daher stellt sich die Frage, ob das Bestreben einer Haftungsausweitung theoretisch fundiert werden kann. Der Artikel stellt spieltheoretische Forschungsarbeiten, insb. deren wesentlichen Annahmen und Ergebnisse, vor und vergleicht bzw. würdigt diese kritisch. Dabei wird insb. auf haftungsgestaltende Merkmale wie die proportionale vs. gesamtschuldnerische Haftung, die Gef?hrdungs- vs. Verschuldenshaftung oder auf die Begrenzung der Haftung durch fixe Obergrenzen eingegangen.     

Understanding second careers: Lessons from a study of U.S. navy admirals

We examined the career transition of senior executives from a strong bureaucratic organization into a dynamic business environment. In surveying retired, flag‐rank admirals characterized by the need to start a second career, we found significant support for a career transition model. The retired admirals in this study largely enjoyed a smooth transition into civilian careers. Their traditional career was associated primarily with external success, the contemporary protean career with internal success. The role of the organization proved instrumental for a successful transition. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Applying management science in developing countries: ABC analysis to plan public drug procurement.

Despite the vital role of pharmaceuticals in the prevention and treatment of major causes of death and disability in the developing world, high costs and frequent shortages remain chronic problems for drug supply programs. Yet, management techniques developed to optimize the use of scarce resources have had limited application in the settings of greatest need. An important determinant of the cost and supply of drugs is the procurement pattern. This study reviews procurement patterns in selected public supply programs and, using management science techniques, compares alternative procurement patterns in terms of inventory costs and shortages. Using drug cost and quantity estimates from two countries, a simulated ABC analysis was performed. This analysis showed drug inventories to be typical of industrial inventories: Over 80% of the consumption in dollars was accounted for by less than 20% of the drugs. Procurement patterns with more frequent purchasing or delivery of high usage drugs could reduce average inventories 20-50% over the commonly observed annual purchasing pattern. Sensitivity analysis of the results confirmed that variability in the delivery time and consumption pattern has a significant impact on the efficiency and economy of a procurement system. Closer supplier monitoring and better forecasting should reduce this variability.     

A Value-Added Approach to Macroeconomics

Focusing on the “value-added” approach to computing Gross National Product encourages students to see their role as a producers, rather than only as consumers. It also offers an alternative approach the distribution of income between labor and capital from that provided by marginal productivity theory.     

The influence of process accountability and accounting standard type on auditor usage of a status quo heuristic

There has been considerable discussion about the U.S. reporting standards becoming less rules based, similar to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). One proposed advantage of a change to IFRS is increased comparability across multinational and non-U.S. companies. Additionally, some believe that IFRS afford greater flexibility in its principles, thereby enabling firms’ accounting choices to better reflect the true economic nature of any given transaction (FASB, 2002; SEC, 2003). With fewer rules, both financial statement preparers and auditors would be expected to adjust to having more options with regards to financial reporting. However, some proposed changes leave the option open to implement IFRS (or other principles-based standards) in ways that still follow rules in U.S. GAAP. This paper investigates whether prior year accounting treatments influence the judgment for current year treatments when one way to implement the standard is to follow the prior year treatment. We find that some auditors fixate on prior year scenarios and judgments, even if the current year scenario and applicable accounting standards are different. We find that holding auditors accountable for their decision making process reduces the likelihood of sticking with the prior year treatment most notably when the prior year standards were U.S. GAAP.     

The legal liability of auditors in Germany

The European Union tried to harmonize the qualifications of auditors in member states through the Eighth Company Law Directive. However, other aspects of the regulation of auditors have not been dealt with in EC directives and show a wide diversity. Rules concerning the liability of auditors are one example of this diversity. Germany provides an extreme example in the case of this liability problem, since it is operating with a capped liability and providing third parties with only few possibilities to sue an auditor. This limited liability is probably one reason for a small number of cases. The purpose of this article is to describe and to review critically the German system of auditor's liability, and to identify specific environmental German factors which might explain the current system.     

The Impact of Audit Quality Indicators on the Timeliness of Goodwill Impairments: Evidence from the German Setting

This study investigates whether goodwill impairments are perceived as timely and whether specific auditor characteristics affect the perceived timeliness. It therefore contributes to central questions in accounting research: is managerial discretion over accounting numbers (accounting choice) good or bad for stakeholders and does audit quality have an impact on this relationship? It is motivated by the IASB's post-implementation review on business combinations and the Goodwill and Impairment project based on it, the ongoing debate on the decision usefulness of impairment testing, and the question whether auditors have an impact on firms’ reporting of impairment losses. Based on a sample of German listed firms for the period 2006 to 2013, the results indicate that goodwill impairments are not recognized in a timely manner and delayed by at least one to two years. Moreover, the findings suggest that the recognition of impairment losses is influenced by auditor characteristics. In particular, firms seem to report goodwill impairments in a more timely fashion when they are audited by a Big 4 auditor, whereas the timeliness seems to decrease with a higher non-audit fee ratio and a longer auditor tenure. Moreover, additional analyses indicate that higher audit fees lead to more timely impairments.