The use of the postal questionnaire in accounting history research

This methodological article discusses the first project in accounting history to use the postal questionnaire as a research tool. The historical context was the changing nature of the company audit in Britain, and this article outlines the process by which the questionnaire was devised, the stages through which the project developed, the data that were collected, and how these were analysed and interpreted. A significant innovation was to sample, in equal proportions, accountants who qualified in each decade from the 1920s and 1930s down to the 1980s, and direct the questioning toward their early training and careers, thereby generating historical trends in the responses. Some of the results of the survey are given here by way of illustrating the weaknesses and strengths/costs and benefits of the technique in comparison with oral history and traditional documentary sources.     

Mechanisms for controlling expenditure in the Spanish Royal Household, c.1561-c.18081

The purpose of this article is to examine the accounting and auditing in the Spanish Royal Household between 1561 and 1808. The Royal Household was the third most important item of expenditure that the State Treasury financed, after the Army and Navy and the National Debt. On studying spending control in the Royal Household, we have rejected the idea, often advanced by historiography, that there was no spending control within this institution. On the contrary, treasurers and accountants were only able to release funds for expenditure purposes on the basis of prior authorization. However, the efficiency of spending control was very limited due to technical, administrative and, above all, social and political elements.     

无形资产审计的构想与评价

随着知识经济的发展,无形资产的比重呈现出越来越大的趋势。因此,审计部门应重视无形资产的审计。对企业来说,无形资产是可持续发展的重要基础,是企业潜在的巨大财富。面对无形资产管理不规范,国有企业无形资产流失的现状,需要重视无形资产审计。无形资产审计内容包括无形资产战略审计、无形资产重点审计、无形资产效益审计、无形资产管理审计。     

高校经济合同审计工作的探索

随着社会改革的不断深入和经济的高速发展，各高校对基础设施和教学科研等的资金投入也相应大幅度增加，需要签订的经济合同也越来越多。如何在复杂的环境中做好经济合同审计工作，成为高校审计人员在审计工作中遇到的新课题。     

浅议混合所有制企业的内部审计

本文对多种经济成份构成的经济组织,混合所有制企业内部审计的重要性作了论述,提出了混合所有制企业内部审计组织机构的设置原则,独立性原则和权威性原则。介绍了目前常见的混合所有制企业内审组织机构的设置模式:总经理领导的组织模式、监事会领导的组织模式和董事会领导的组织模式及其利弊。提出了混合所有制企业内部审计的主要内容,对混合所有制企业内部审计的规范化和内审人员的素质也提出了要求。     

目标导向审计研究

本文认为,审计导向模式的发展演变是审计社会需求和审计目标发展的必然结果,审计目标体现了审计内在的逻辑性。审计的最终目标是评价受托经管责任的履行情况,在审计目标的指引下,可以解决现行审计的理论和实践问题。     

注册会计师审计职业道德建设的理性思考

独立的审计人员已成为治理会计信息舞弊的一种不可或缺的外部监控机制,其审计质量的高低直接关系到会计信息舞弊治理的成效。要胜任这一角色,审计的独立性无疑是保证质量的根本所在,而职业能力的水平也是导致审计职业的信誉和社会地位的重要要件。本文通过调查问卷方式,对我国审计专业判断能力在职业中的认识进行了调查和分析,以此作为提高审计职业道德的重要途径的建议。     

从管理角度看管理审计——管理审计的新视角

管理审计是对组织内部的管理活动进行的审计,因此,本文认为应该从管理角度讨论管理审计的有关问题。本文结合管理学的有关理论,提出了管理审计的概念,并在分析具体管理职能的基础上对管理审计的内容进行了探讨。同时,根据管理审计所关注的对象阐述了实施管理审计的意义和作用。针对目前我国管理审计实践的现状,本文也提出了当前迫切需要解决的问题。     

论注册会计师责任保险制度

注册会计师责任保险对于提高会计师事务所的风险抵御能力和保护投资者利益两方面都具有重要意义.在我国,注册会计师责任保险尚处于起步阶段,无论是需求还是供给都存在不足.但随着我国虚假陈述民事诉讼制度的不断完善,注册会计师的法律诉讼风险将大大提高.为了降低事务所的执业风险、保护受到虚假陈述侵害的投资者利益,我国应当借鉴其他国家和地区的经验,完善我国的注册会计师责任保险制度,并建立相关的配套措施,促进注册会计师责任保险制度的发展.     

How do mentoring rewards influence experienced auditors?

The benefits of mentoring are well documented, and include lower employee turnover, heightened employee success, and higher employee satisfaction. In an effort to acquire these benefits, audit firms are structuring rewards for mentoring. However, we predict that rewarding mentors can prove problematic, leaving needy young auditors without a mentor or perhaps receiving advice that might prove detrimental. We test our expectations in an experiment with 111 Big 4 auditor participants. As expected, we find that in the presence of mentoring rewards, experienced auditors are less willing to mentor the young auditors who likely would benefit the most. We also find that in the presence of mentoring rewards, experienced auditors are more likely to provide advice that might be counterproductive. Yet interestingly, in our study, when rewards are absent, experienced auditors are more willing to mentor and more likely to provide beneficial advice. Our results inform the audit mentoring literature though our focus on mentor behavior, as opposed to protégé behavior. Our results also have implications for audit firms as they consider the structure of mentoring rewards, training on mentoring advice, and the effects of this advice.