This case simultaneously examines pension accounting and earnings management. It is designed around a real-world company although the company name in the case is fictional. Several key concepts are demonstrated in this case: earnings management incentives, earnings management techniques, pension...

In this paper, we examine the relative information content of two cash earnings measures (earnings with amortization of intangibles added back and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization), one traditional accrual accounting earnings measure (earnings before extraordinary...

This research note examines whether auditors “link” their entity-level risk assessments to their core business process risk assessments. For auditors who performed a business process analysis of the core business process, there is a positive association between the identification of...

Engagement quality review is an integral part of the audit process. It is designed to be a quality control mechanism for assessing the quality of an audit engagement. Since the 1990s, the SEC has increased sanctions against partners serving as engagement quality reviewers. Recently, the PCAOB...

Standard setters and most academics maintain that accounting standards ought to rest on a set of guiding principles stated explicitly in a “conceptual framework.” The FASB and IASB are currently involved in a project to refine conceptual framework documents developed earlier. At this point,...

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a call for comment on a proposal to adopt a Roadmap for potential use of international financial reporting standards (IFRS) by U.S. Companies. We comment on five key issues raised by the SEC proposal. First, we propose that the need for a...

The Financial Accounting Standards Committee of the American Accounting Association (the Committee) is charged with responding to requests for comments from standard-setters on issues related to financial reporting. The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) recently requested comments on...

The Financial Accounting Standards Committee of the American Accounting Association (the Committee) is charged with responding to requests for comments from standard-setters on issues related to financial reporting. The Financial Accounting Foundation (FAF) recently released for public comment,...

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently issued a call for comment on a proposal to accept financial statements prepared in accordance with international financial reporting standards (IFRS) without reconciliation to U.S. GAAP. Accounting researchers have attempted to assess the...

Goodwill in the accounting context represents amounts paid in excess of the fair value of the identifiable net assets for a business acquisition. The accounting for goodwill has long been a subject of debate and remains so today. Indeed, the guidance for goodwill accounting has been...