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To Disclose or Not To Disclose: Identity of The Audit Engagement Partner

pcaob-squarelogo-1403123390934In the U.S., the auditor’s report discloses only the name of the audit firm issuing the report but never any information about the identity of the partner(s) who led the work.The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) is proposing that audit firms should be required to file a new form to make the identity of the audit engagement partner public in the audit report.

The crucial economic question is whether disclosing the identify of the lead audit partner improves the transparency of public company audits and whether such information aids investors and creditors in their decision-making process?

As this information becomes publicly available over multiple years, investors get to observe, and assess, whether a particular lead audit partner is more likely to be associated with: (1) fewer financial reporting misstatements, (2) higher audit quality, (3) higher audit fees, which is presumably because of rendering high audit quality,  (4) lower earnings management, and (5) higher frequency of modified going concern reports when a client is in financial trouble. Thus, using data from the past to draw inferences about the type of audit quality rendered by a particular audit engagement partner is likely to increase the reliability of financial statements to its users, but this benefit is likely to accrue over time.

It is also possible that disclosing the identity of the lead partner would alter the behavior of the audit partner relative to the current regime where such disclosure is not mandated (a classic disclosure problem extensively analyzed in economics, finance and accounting), which could lead to immediate improvements in audit quality. Users can also infer whether the engagement partner had any prior relationship with the client which has implications for auditor independence and therefore might impact audit quality. These are some of the benefits, there are other benefits as well.

However, it is important to highlight that there might be some costs. Audit fees are likely to increase as audit firms might begin to charge more  because of higher litigation costs. Firms might also charge more if they exert more effort. However, the net benefit is likely to be overwhelmingly larger (especially over a longer period).

http://www.accountingweb.com/aa/auditing/pcaob-proposes-new-form-for-identifying-audit-engagement-partner

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High Quality Research and Data Integrity

FraudThe bulk of the high quality empirical scientific research in finance and accounting  relies on large publicly available data which are often acquired by Universities at a substantial cost. Sometimes, researchers also use proprietary data to conduct their investigation and are successful in publishing their findings in high quality journals using confidential data. However, these studies are impossible to replicate because data are not publicly available.

Unfortunately, as we know from economic theory, reliance on proprietary (private) information (data) creates differential information environment which then leads to  moral hard problems and perverse behavior. A well-known accounting professor and noted scholar recently was found guilty of “fabricating” proprietary data which may have lead to dubious results. The top accounting academic journals retracted about 30 articles published by this individual who relied on questionable proprietary data to draw inferences about important and relevant auditing and accounting practices.

This anecdotal evidence is, and should be, a prime example why the cornerstone of high quality and rigorous scientific research is contingent on others being able replicate existing scientific findings.

For more details read the following article in Washington Post.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/06/30/citing-misconduct-accounting-journal-retracts-25-articles-by-once-renowned-scholar/

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Why Am I Not Getting That Prized Promotion?

Aloke GhoshWe may think that we are stellar performers, that we are a key part of our institution’s team, and therefore always ready for a more senior promotion. Yet acquiring a more senior position can be more daunting than we expect. According to a Survey by USA Today, there are seven potential reasons that could be  holding you back. Click in the link below to read more about the seven reasons.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2015/06/28/how-to-get-promoted-cheat-sheet/29269021/

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Economics of Higher Education

Aloke Ghosh BlogDo top schools need money to retain their celebrity status or does money follow the celebrity status? The causality remains to be resolved.

See the top 10 University rankings by US News and World Report as of 2013. If your University does not appear in the list, click on the link below to get the data on the   rankings and endowments of your University.

 

 

10. University of Notre Dame                             ( 6.9 Billion)
9. University of Pennsylvania                              ($7.7 Billion)
8. Texas A&M College Station                              ($8.0 Billion)
7. Columbia University                                               ($8.1 Billion)
6. University of Michigan                                          ($8.2 Billion)
5. Massachusetts Institute of Technology ($10.8 Billion)
4. Stanford University                                                   ($18.6 Billion)
3. Princeton University                                               ($18.7 Billion)
2. Yale University                                                               ($20.7 Billion)
1. Harvard University                                                    ($32.6 Billion)

http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/the-short-list-college/articles/2015/01/13/10-universities-with-the-largest-financial-endowments

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FASB issues new guidance on reporting of discontinued operations

fasbThe Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) today issued new guidance (ASU 2014-08) that changes the criteria for reporting discontinued operations while enhancing disclosures in this area. Under the new guidance, only disposals representing a strategic shift in operations, which have a major effect on the organization’s operations and financial results, are to be presented as discontinued operations.

Examples include a disposal of a major geographic area, a major line of business, or a major equity method investment. Additionally, the new guidance requires expanded disclosures about discontinued operations that will provide financial statement users with more information about the assets, liabilities, income, and expenses of discontinued operations. The new guidance also requires disclosure of the pre-tax income attributable to a disposal of a significant part of an organization that does not qualify for discontinued operations reporting. This disclosure will provide users with information about the ongoing trends in a reporting organization’s results from continuing operations.

The amendments in this Update enhance convergence between U.S. GAAP and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Part of the new definition of discontinued operation is based on elements of the definition of discontinued operations in IFRS 5, Non-Current Assets Held for Sale and Discontinued Operations.

For further details, http://www.fasb.org/cs/ContentServer?pagename=FASB%2FFASBContent_C%2FNewsPage&cid=1176163964319

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SEC imposes ‘Clawback’ Restrictions

SECThe Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will propose rules forcing companies to claw back, or revoke, incentive pay if firms’ restate prior period financial results that were used to compute incentive pay.  Unlike existing rules, in which clawbacks are triggered only in a narrow set of circumstances involving misconduct at companies that restate earnings, the SEC’s proposal would apply to all manner of restatements—including those issued because of mistakes.

The rules, if finalized, could force an executive who received stock options after the company met a performance target, such as a revenue figure, to return some or all of that compensation if a misstatement shows revenue fell below the executive’s performance target.

Read more: http://www.nasdaq.com/article/sec-eyes-broadened-clawback-restrictions-20150602-01248#ixzz3dcdhydj1

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FASB and IASB to clarify certain areas of the revenue recognition standard

FASB and IASB jointly issued the revenue recognition standard in 2014, which is more principles-based than the industry-specific guidance U.S. preparers are accustomed to. The jointly issued standard was intended to promote comparability across jurisdictions and industries. The standard is scheduled to take effect for reporting periods beginning after Dec. 15, 2016, for U.S. public companies, or reporting periods beginning on or after Jan. 1, 2017, for companies that use IFRS. Because of implementation problems for some financial statement preparers, FASB and IASB agreed to provide further implementation guidelines.

For further details, read the article in Journal of Accountancy http://www.journalofaccountancy.com/news/2015/feb/revenue-recognition-clarifications-201511839.html

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Assessing Financial Reporting Quality of Family Firms From the Auditors’ Perspective

Aloke GhoshNew findings by Dr. Aloke (Al) Ghosh that are being published in the Journal of Accounting and Economics.

Summary:  Because financial reporting quality affects audit risk, which determines how auditors price engagements, we analyze audit fees to extract auditor’s professional assessment of family firms’ reporting quality. Relative to non-family firms, we find that audit fees are significantly lower for family firms, which suggests that auditors view family firms as having superior financial reporting quality (i.e. audit risk is low). Because a fee discount might also be attributable to lower litigation risk, we analyze litigation data and find no reliable difference in auditor lawsuits between family and non-family firms. Finally, we provide corroborating evidence on the financial reporting quality of family firms based on three audit risk tests. First, using a financial reporting metric for audit risk, we show that audit risk is lower for family firms. Second, we show that the fee discount is lower for family firms with high audit risk. Third, using audit report lag as a proxy for audit effort, we show that family firm auditors work less to provide the desired level of assurance. Our findings provide compelling evidence in favor of the explanation that auditors charge less from family firms because of superior reporting quality, which lowers audit risk and, therefore, the need for greater audit investments.

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PCAOB says that larger accounting firms are doing a better job with their audits of internal controls

According to Helen Munter, director of the Division of Registration and Inspections at the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), the largest public accounting firms made significant improvements in their audits of internal controls over financial reporting (SOX 404).  The improvements came as audit firms increased guidance and training for internal control audits, and demanded more proof from companies that internal controls were working. Internal control over financial reporting consists of systems and processes that deter corporate fraud and financial misstatements.

Deloitte & Touche LLP, was the first of the large accounting firms to have its 2014 inspection report released by the regulator this week. Deloitte’s report showed just 21% of audits inspected by the PCAOB had deficiencies — the lowest level in the past five years for the firm. However, the inspection report still cited several deficiencies in internal control audits, such as the auditor failing to properly test internal controls over billing rates and revenue.

For details, read the following article on the WSJ

http://blogs.wsj.com/cfo/2015/06/04/big-firms-getting-better-grades-on-internal-control-audits-pcaob/

 

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SOX Compliance costly and continues to be a challenge for companies

Professor Al GhoshSarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) was enacted almost thirteen years ago, yet companies continue to struggle with the compliance with some of the provisions of the Act. According to the latest annual Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance Survey by consultancy Protiviti, compliance with the law has been made particularly difficult. Some of highlights from the survey include:

  • The larger the company, the greater the SOX compliance costs. Overall internal compliance costs were more than $1 million for 58 percent of large companies during their last fiscal year. Almost all small companies spent less than $500,000.
  • Substantial changes in high-risk processes, baseline testing of IT reports, and entity-level controls have increased by about 10 percent.
  • Most companies use the new COSO framework.
  • 78 percent of companies are leveraging their compliance efforts to improve the business processes that affect financial reporting.

For further details, read http://www.accountingweb.com/article/sox-compliance-still-challenge-%E2%80%93-and-costly-%E2%80%93-many-companies/224754

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