Gary M. Fleischman

Professionals' Tax Liability Assessments and Ethical Evaluations in an Equitable Relief Innocent Spouse Case

This study used a national sample of professionals and a questionnaire containing equitable relief vignettes to explore whether the new equitable relief subset of the revised innocent spouse rules is helpful to the IRS when making relief decisions. The study also addressed the ethical and gender issues associated with equitable relief innocent spouse cases. The results suggested that several equitable relief factors are useful as discriminators in the relief decision. The results also demonstrated that the recognition of an ethical issue and perceptions of moral intensity affected the decision to grant relief in innocent spouse situations. Finally, women subjects were more ethical and more sympathetic toward the victim in an innocent spouse situation than were their male counterparts. These findings have numerous personal and societal implications for businesses, IRS agents, CPAs, and attorneys, as well as other nations wishing to reform their tax structures while assessing the tradeoff between equity and tax revenue generation.

Ethical Reasoning in an Equitable Relief Innocent Spouse Context

This study assessed the relationship between ethical reasoning and the decision to grant equitable relief using an innocent spouse vignette where a wife had partial knowledge of her husbands tax fraud. A path model derived from various ethics theories was tested using a sample of 357 accounting, legal, and human resource professionals, and after careful examination of the measurement and structural relationships in the path model, the results provided partial support for the studys hypotheses. Moral intensity was marginally associated with an increased recognition of an ethical issue and positively related ethical judgments made in an innocent spouse situation, and moral intensity was also negatively related to the decision to grant relief. The ethical judgment variable was positively related to the decision to grant relief, while ethical issue awareness was marginally associated with the decision to deny relief. The implications of these findings are discussed, along with the limitations of the study and suggestions for future research.

A Field Study of User versus Provider Perceptions of Management Accounting System Services

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to investigate user versus provider perceptions of management accounting system (MAS) services using the DeLone and McLean information system success model and the theoretical lens of social perception theory. Design/methodology/approach - Quantitative survey data were collected and analyzed using ordinal regression. Qualitative interview data concerning user-provider perceptions of MAS service information quality, importance, use, and satisfaction were utilized to corroborate and explain the data analysis. Findings - The results suggest that there are significant perceptual differences about MAS service quality by users versus providers. For this organization, the paper identifies what these differences are, why they exist, and how organizations may identify and narrow identified gaps. Research limitations/implications - The paper is based on a case study that may not be generalizable to broader populations. It uses a cross-sectional, correlational, self-report survey, therefore is unable to make causal or directional inferences. Future research should assess MAS services in different organizations, industries, and cultures. Practical implications - The paper is among the first to provide quantitative and qualitative evidence of perceived differences in accounting service quality, approaches to uncovering sources of differences, and steps that organizations may take to improve service quality. Originality/value - This paper is the first to apply the DeLone and McLean information system success model in the context of MAS service quality. The paper examines perceptions of MAS providers and users to evaluate services and investigates perceptual differences across functions and at different organizational levels.

A Call for Research on Management Accounting Service Quality

The purpose of this chapter is to encourage investigation of management accounting service quality.

W.O. Carpenter and the California Gold Rush: the making of entrepreneurial opportunities

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to trace the entrepreneurial opportunity identification process of William Oscar Carpenter (WOC), a nineteenth century farmer, who went to California in 1850 to make his fortune in gold mining and ended up starting several new business ventures. The paper seeks to recount WOCs experiences and then apply them to similar issues faced by entrepreneurs in a modern‐day developing economy.Design/methodology/approach – Using qualitative inquiry through archival research, the paper examines a compilation of WOCs letters to his future wife in New York. The letters provide a detailed account of the hardships and poor living conditions faced by gold seekers. The letters are examined and interpreted in the context of opportunity identification and the California Gold Rush, then applied to contemporary entrepreneurs.Findings – WOCs letters elucidate the difficulties encountered making the trip from the East Coast to California, give later generations an historical viewpoint on...

An Exploratory Investigation of Management Accounting Service Quality Dimensions Using Servqual and Servperf

Originality/value: This is the first empirical study to our knowledge that reports on MA service quality dimensions using both the SQ and SP instruments. This study investigated perceptions and expectations of MA service users and providers. Our sample is a cross-section of experienced professionals.

How Powerful CFOs Camouflage and Exploit Equity-Based Incentive Compensation

While numerous studies have examined the impact that powerful CEOs have on their compensation and overall firm decisions, relatively little is known about how powerful CFOs influence their compensation and important firm financial reporting and operational outcomes. This is somewhat surprising given the critical role CFOs play in the financial reporting process of a firm. Using managerial power theory (Bebchuk and Fried, 2003) and the theory of power and self-focus (Pitesa and Thau, 2013), we predict that powerful CFOs employ a two-part strategy to camouflage excessive incentive compensation above what efficient contracting would dictate. First, powerful CFOs use their power and influence to negotiate shorter incentive pay duration on a non-arms length basis to maximize the present value of cash flows. Second, when their incentive equity compensation vests, we suggest that CFOs manage earnings to further enhance their personal income. Consistent with our theoretical expectations, we find higher levels of income-increasing accrual-based earnings management and real transactions management, a potentially unethical practice, in firms with powerful CFOs who have short pay durations. We discuss the implications of our analysis in the context of mitigating CFO power and managing the ethical environment “tone at the top.�?

Work social agency as a function of self-esteem and Machiavellianism.

Using a national sample of 127 legal, accounting, and human resource professionals, from 1,500 solicited, this study identified two dispositions related to social agency at work. After controlling for several individual factors, the analysis indicated that work social agency was associated with increased self-esteem and decreased Machiavellianism.

Demand for Tax-Preparation Services: An Exploratory Examination of Client Versus Tax-Preparer Expectation Gaps

Abstract This research explores the expectation gap between tax clients’ motivations to hire tax preparers versus tax preparers’ perceptions of those client motivations. The study builds on limited previous research by examining preparers primarily from local firms rather than focusing solely on large international firms. The Gaps Model of Service Quality provides the theoretical lens for the paper. We employ the recently developed Taxpayer Motivation Scale (TMS) to measure four client motivations to hire a preparer: (1) saving money, (2) saving time, (3) legal compliance, and (4) protection from the IRS. We measure expectation gaps for those four motivations using matched tax preparer–tax client dyads. We employ statistical sub-group analyses to investigate the effects of both clients’ and preparers’ demographic characteristics that influence tax-expectation gaps. Results suggest client gender plays a noteworthy role in predicting many of the gaps. In addition, complexity of tax returns, children in the home, and client perceptions of tax-preparer advocacy help explain gaps. Finally, female preparers appear to be relatively more sensitive to client needs. We conclude that tax preparers need to (1) better understand their clients’ motivations for hiring them and (2) reexamine marketing efforts to educate clients about preparer credentials and potential strategy options for tax preparation.

Small Business Trade-Offs to Maximize Cost Recovery in Hawaii: Tax Credit Versus Section 179

This paper examines the optimal use of tax incentives relating to the Hawaii sales, use and excise tax.