Richard G. Schroeder

The impact of various factors on the personality, job satisfaction and turnover intentions of professional accountants

Recently, several studies have appeared in the literature that have investigated various hypotheses involving the relationships between ethnicity, gender, job satisfaction, turnover intentions, and the personality characteristic termed type A. Aims to examine the relationships between personality, job satisfaction and turnover intentions, and to determine if the moderating variables – ethnicity, gender, occupational setting, and level of decision making authority – have an impact on these relationships. The study was conducted using a modified meta‐analysis. The analysis did not detect an overall significant relationship between personality and job satisfaction or turnover intentions, but did find an inverse relationship between job satisfaction and turnover intentions that was consistent with previously reported research. Neither gender nor ethnicity was found to be a significant moderating variable influencing the relationships between the primary variables; however, both occupational setting and level of decision making authority were found to have a significant impact on the relationships between the primary variables.

Earnings management: evidence from SFAS No. 142 reporting

– To examine whether the provisions of SFAS No. 142 allow for the earnings management technique termed “big bath” and whether firm size plays a role in earnings management., – A random selection of companies with December 31, 2002 fiscal year‐ends yielded 120 firms that reported goodwill impairments in 2002 and 82 firms that did not. The firms are then stratified into two groups. Analysis consists of measuring the magnitude of the 2002 goodwill impairment loss, comparing financial metrics of impaired and non‐impaired firms, and calculating the proportion of firms with negative versus positive earnings., – The results suggest that SFAS No. 142 adoption allowed companies to engage in earnings management. Findings indicate that small firms experienced a significantly greater negative impact and were much more likely than large firms to take big bath charges., – This study provides evidence on the use of newly issued accounting standards to manage earnings.

The disclosure of information on derivatives under SFAS No. 133

Statement of Financial Standards No. 133 (SFAS No. 133), “Accounting for derivative instruments and hedging activities” became effective for all publicly held companies for fiscal periods starting after 15 December 2000. Consequently, 31 December 2001 was the first reporting date for most companies under its provisions. This study examines the annual reports of the 30 companies that comprise the Dow Jones Industrial Average to determine the extent to which these companies complied with the provisions of SFAS No. 133. A surprising finding was that a large number of the sample companies reported that the effect of their hedging activities was immaterial. The study also found that the information disclosed about the derivatives held by the sample of companies was scattered throughout their annual reports, hard to understand, difficult to follow and lacked uniformity. It was concluded that it would take a great deal of effort for even a reasonably informed reader of the financial statements to gather and analyze the information relating to a companys use of derivatives, and as a result the desired level of financial transparency on the use of derivative financial instruments is not being achieved. It is recommended that a more uniform reporting format be developed and used.

Compliance with SEC Disclosure Requirements About Market Risk

The SEC recently introduced a new regulatory requirement that firms should provide more complete disclosure of their activities involving derivatives. For example, they must now report more complete information about the accounting treatment of their derivatives positions, as well as both quantitative and qualitative information about market risk exposure of sensitive instruments. This article describes the new reporting requirements and provides an overview of how major firms have responded in their initial submissions.

The disclosure of information on market risk: evidence from the Dow 30

In 1997, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued new disclosure rules in an amendment to Regulation S‐X. This release requires the disclosure of both qualitative and quantitative information about market risk by all companies registered with the SEC for annual periods ending after 15 June 1998. Larger companies, with market capitalizations in excess of

Type A Personality, Job Satisfaction, and Tlrnover Intention among Certified Public Accountants: A Comparison of Euro-Americans and Hispanics

2.5 billion, banks, and thrifts were required to apply the regulation’s provisions for annual periods after 15 June 1997. This paper presents results of an analysis of the market risk disclosures by the Dow 30 companies for 1997. The provisions of the amendment requiring the disclosure of qualitative information about market risk by were generally followed by all of the companies contained in the DOW 30. Compliance with the other aspects of the amendment was mixed. These failures might be attributed to confusion over the provisions of the amendment. The results of this study indicate that further evidence is needed on the ability of companies to follow the provisions of the amendment.

SFAS No. 123R: the controversy and its economic consequences

Previous research has found accountants to possess the distinctive Type A personality, which may not be as prevalent in minority populations as it is in the Euro-American populations. This article reports on the results ofa survey of a sample of 860 Euro-American and 119 Hispanic certified public accountants. It assesses potential differences in personality, job satisfaction, and turnover intention by ethnicity, occupational setting, and level of decision-making authority. Analyses of the data found that ethnicity was not associated with any of the independent variables. However, personality was found to be significantly associated with occupational setting and level of decision-making authority. Job satisfaction, was not found to be associated with occupational setting but was associated with level of decision-making authority. Finally, turnover intention was not found to be associated with occupational setting but was found to be associated with level of decision-making authority.

Audit technology structures’ effect on probabilistic judgement

Purpose - To review the evolution of SFAS No. 123R, “Accounting for Share Based Compensation,” and examine the economic consequences of the standard for the first group of filers impacted by its provisions. Design/methodology/approach - The sample was the population of firms in the Russell 3000 having June 30, fiscal year-ends. Findings - The studys findings suggest that the provisions of SFAS No. 123R remain controversial and that compliance with the standard had significant economic consequences for the sample of companies. Originality/value - This study provides evidence that SFAS No. 123R had significant economic consequences but that some of the standards effects differed from earlier predictions.

WomenÕs Advancement in the Accounting Profession: Consideration of Person-Centered and Organization-Centered Explanations

Attempts to assess the impact of structured and unstructured audit approaches on the auditor’s professional judgement. The auditor’s use of judgement was measured by using the anchoring and adjustment instrument developed by Biddle and Joyce and the representativeness and protectiveness instrument developed by Uecker and Kinney. To ascertain the effect of audit technology on probabilistic judgement in auditing, 78 employees of ten offices of national Certified Public Accountant (CPA) firms ‐ 40 from unstructured firms and 38 from structured ones ‐ were surveyed. Findings indicate that public accountants’ probabilistic judgements were influenced by their firms’ audit technology structure and that the imposition of structure caused auditors to rely more on provided cues than on the use of judgement. These results help support Mintzberg’s suggestion that CPA firms modify their audit approaches to fit specific situations. For example, they should use structured approaches for clients with continuing good earnings announcements and less‐structured approaches for poorly performing clients.

Financial Accounting Theory and Analysis

Despite the entry of large numbers of women into the accounting profession over the last decade, few women have reached top management levels. Two alternative paradigms that attempt to explain this phenomenon are the person‐centered explanation and the organization‐centered explanation. This study explores the Type A ‐ Type B personality traits, job satisfaction and turnover intentions, while controlling for level of decision making authority andoccupational setting, for a sample of certified public accountants. The research was undertaken to determine if women differ from men in any of these orientations and attitudes, and to assess whether any observed differences lend support to the person‐centered explanation on women’s failure to advance in the accounting profession. The results confirmed previous research which has indicated that Type A prone personality is associated with advancement in the accounting profession, and that women accountants possess relatively higher Type A prone personalities than men. The results also indicate that both level of decision making authority and occupational setting are significant factors associated with personality. The only significant factor found to be related to job satisfaction and turnover intentions was level of decision making authority. It was concluded that women possessed the personality characteristics necessary for success in the accounting profession, but were not advancing. Consequently, the results failed to support the person‐centered explanation on women’s failure to advance in the accounting profession.