Richard B. Dull

Using control charts to monitor financial reporting of public companies

Abstract There is currently much being written about increasing the frequency and timeliness of financial reporting. Comments frequently support the desirability and question the feasibility of continuous reporting. Under the current reporting/assurance paradigm, if companies report continuously, auditors must monitor and audit on a continuous basis. Current audit standards generally address the outcomes, rather than the detailed procedures that the auditor must follow to meet the objectives of the audit. The purpose of this paper is to propose and demonstrate a technique for monitoring continuous financial information using control charts of accounting information. In this study, financial data were collected and used to implement control charts. Part of the selected companies had known errors, while others had no known errors. The resulting control charts and common interpretation rules identified potential systematic problems only in the companies with known errors. The authors suggest that when continuous data become available, charts similar with these can be used in conjunction with statistical and analytical techniques to detect signals that financial processes are not in control. Refinements of this technique should assist those internal and external to organizations, who are concerned with the reliability of information produced and reported by the organization.

Achievement Goal Theory: The Relationship of Accounting Students' Goal Orientations with Self-efficacy, Anxiety, and Achievement

Abstract Students’ goal orientations are examined using two major frameworks for learning: achievement goal theory (AGT) and students’ approaches to learning (SAL). Previous student success research is extended, by examining goal constructs from the AGT framework to determine if they help explain the learning process in accounting. Data were gathered using an established instrument and used to examine how mastery and performance goals are related to students’ academic expectations, achievement, self-efficacy, and test anxiety. Cluster analysis was used to identify four motivation groupings (multiple-goal, mastery, performance, and low motivation). Pairwise comparisons of groups, for expected grades, self-efficacy, anxiety, final exam grade, and course grade, identified differences among some of the clusters. Results suggest that a combination of mastery and performance goal motivations, rather than a singular perspective, may provide better outcomes related to course grades, while reducing dysfunctional outcomes. Based on the results, suggestions are provided to help instructors influence student success.

Identifying Ontological Modifications to the Resource-Event-Agent (REA) Enterprise Ontology Using a Bunge-Wand-Weber Ontological Evaluation

ABSTRACT: A Bunge-Wand-Weber (BWW) ontological evaluation was performed to evaluate the REA enterprise ontology for appropriateness as a basis for todays enterprise systems. A BWW ontological evaluation emphasizes two criteria (completeness and clarity) and two independent mappings (representation and interpretation). The results of the evaluation confirm that the majority of the REA constructs correspond with a subset of the BWW constructs. Based on the results of this study, there are recommended modifications to the REA enterprise ontology including extensions associated with state, event, and system related constructs, as well as other clarifications.

Secure Information Market: A Model to Support Information Sharing, Data Fusion, Privacy, and Decisions

ABSTRACT: There are instances where multiple organizations hold data that when considered individually are inconclusive, but collectively are useful to solve complex problems. Yet, frequently there is a hesitation for organizations to share data due to strategic, legal, and policy concerns. To address this hesitation, an electronic market for secure information sharing is described, in which data are contributed to the market by members, and made available from the market to members or preapproved information buyers. In this Secure Information Market (SIM), shared data are secure, and available in granular or aggregate form based on specific requirements of the information providers and consumers. The model is designed to protect member organizations and their shared data, while maximizing member value and incentives to share. The Secure Information Market model is presented, and then its applicability is demonstrated using a variety of examples.

A Framework for the Pedagogy of Accounting Ethics

Faculty tasked with revising the accounting curriculum to incorporate an ethics component may benefit from the experiences reported in the literature. We construct and describe a framework for the pedagogy of accounting ethics based upon extant literature. Our purpose is to present the cumulative contributions to the literature in a fashion that is helpful to educators considering the inclusion or modification of ethics instruction in the accounting curriculum. The framework also serves as a way to motivate additional contributions to the literature with the goal of continuous refinements.

A Resource-Based View of Using Social Media for Material Disclosures

In April 2013, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) provided explicit guidance to public companies regarding social media use for material disclosures. Social media use is explored in three time periods: (1) prior to public SEC scrutiny of social media, (2) after the SEC filed a formal complaint about the use of social media, and (3) after the April 2013 guidance. Regression is used to test how voluntary social media use for material disclosures is associated with trading volume. The exploratory examination includes a sample of 267 companies (741 observations) across the three time periods. Consistent with RBV theory, results show a positive association between social media use for material disclosures and market valuation only in the post-April 2013 guidance period, suggesting that value does accrue when regulatory oversight is explicit.

Visual Representations of Accounting Information

Modern accounting information systems provide decision-makers with such a large volume of accounting data, it can overwhelm even the most sophisticated accounting decision-maker. The result may be underutilization of relevant information. Advances in information visualization technologies provide an effective alternative to address the current and future volume of accounting information. This chapter addresses the theoretical background of visualizations, describing the literature that supports the use of visualizations. The application of information visualization to accounting is discussed, followed by a description of variety multidimensional visualizations techniques.