Search

The key element of the digital economy is the digital technology that has pervaded the financial services and tax advisory sector. In order to sustain digital technologies in this sector, there is a clear need for innovation. Innovations are the factor responsible for economic growth, which in turn requires research, development and training to drive innovation. This study examines the impact of innovation expenses, employee training expenses and research and development expenses on the annual revenues of the Big Four entities, which are representative for the financial services and tax advisory sectors. Therefore, this study focuses on the dynamic analysis of the aggregate global revenue and innovation, learning and development expenses and the efficiency rate of the mentioned expenses for the Big Four entities. The results of the study reflect the insignificant influence of the absolute change of innovation expenses on aggregate global revenues, while the absolute change in development and training expenses leads to the same change of aggregate global revenues. However, the growth rate of these expenses exceeds the growth rate of aggregate global revenues. This condition is explained by the phenomenon of technological transformation in the financial services and tax consultancy sector, which does not generate immediate results on financial performance, but prepares the stage for future financial results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose. This paper investigates the effect of cross-reporting quality transfer: the association between the merits of the financial auditor and the quality of corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting. Specifically, we examine whether the effect of Big Four financial audits on the CSR reporting quality of Chinese listed firms differs from that of non-Big Four firms. Design/methodology/approach. This paper uses archival data and regression analysis from a sample (5257 firm-year observations) of A-share listed firms on the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges from 2009 to 2018. Findings. The analysis shows that when a company's financial auditor is a Big Four firm, the quality of CSR reports is higher than when it is audited by non-Big Four auditor, which in turn can be explained by differences in cross-reporting quality transfer between Big Four and non-Big Four firms. Moreover, this effect is more pronounced in non-stateowned enterprises (NSOEs) than in state-owned enterprises (SOEs), and among firms residing in high-pressure legal environments as opposed to low-pressure regions. Originality. This study extends the literature on the quality of CSR reporting based on the type of financial reporting audit provider, thus bridging the gap between financial audit and sustainability reporting practice and elucidating the cross-reporting quality transfer effect. Practical implications. The paper's findings shed light on the impact that Big Four firms have on the quality of CSR reports through financial audits, thus confirming the cross-reporting quality transfer effect in China. These findings might appeal to political decision-makers, authorities and companies given the notable contribution of CSR disclosure to the decision-making processes of stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Cuadernos de Contabilidad is the property of Pontificia Universidad Javeriana and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Abstract In the U.S., the investing public can readily access a great deal of information about publicly-traded companies. However, the large private accounting firms that audit those companies—and that are just as economically significant—provide very little information. This paper provides insight into the audit markets by taking a novel, descriptive approach to explore the cost of performing audits, an under-examined area in the literature due to lack of data. The analyses explore audit production costs, profitability, and partner compensation at the audit-firm level, using publicly available data from the U.K. The findings suggest interesting potential differences in audit production functions between the Big Four firms, an important factor when considering the competitiveness of the audit market. Taking this analysis and applying it to the U.S. setting, an estimate of the average profitability per domestic Big Four partner is approximately $1.2 million for the year 2013. This paper intends to stimulate discussion about how public accounting firms are regulated in the U.S. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the participation of accounting firms in the development of sustainability standards by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB). This study shows that the Big Four accounting firms have an active role in both the submission of comment letters on sustainability to the SEC and participation in the industry working groups (IWG) for the SASB. The SASB participation reveals that individuals located within the US and at international affiliates are participating at earlier career stages. In addition, this paper leverages LinkedIn data, identifying the career path of the individuals subsequent to their participation with the IWG, to determine how large accounting firms are retaining the skills and knowledge necessary for this field. Since the Big Four firms are market leaders in sustainability assurance, the finding that Big Four firms can retain individuals with financial assurance backgrounds differently than individuals with other backgrounds speaks to the unique skill set that financial assurance develops. This suggests that the career opportunities for interested financial assurance individuals within the sustainability sphere remain robust within the Big Four environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Accounting Auditing Control / Comptabilité Contrôle Audit (English Edition) is the property of Association Francophone de Comptabilite c/o Solle and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

For decades, the audit profession has been overwhelmed with a series of polemics, which led to the need of essential reform and developments. This study aims to investigate what is the users’ opinion about IAASBs new audit reporting proposals regarding the revision of the ISA570 – Going Concern. This proposal comes after several scandals related to audit reporting on going concern have decreased user confidence in the audit profession. We achieve this objective by examining comment letters sent to the IAASB by respondents from the EU. We have found that most of the replies either have concerns with IAASBs proposals or are completely disagreeing with them, as they would bring no value to users and do nothing to reduce the expectation gap. Still, most users salute the revision process and urge the IAASB to closely work with other bodies for this matter. We conclude that the proposals from Exposure Draft will most likely have a positive effect on audit reporting, after their final revision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting language) was recently, in 2008, in its 10th year. The concept was articulated in 1998 by Charles Hoffman, known as XFRML (eXtensible Financial Reporting Mark Up Language) to facilitate the business reporting process and improve financial reporting. The objective of this paper is to examine a decade (1998-2008) of XBRL articles published in various publications including trade, practitioner and academic journals to identify trends and patterns, milestones, and organizations actively contributed to this development. Another goal is to assess public perceptions of XBRL, its capabilities and its future. We examined published articles where XBRL appeared either in the title or abstract of the article during 1998-2008. Considering that XBRL reporting is being required only in recent years, the research shows various interest groups worked together for a long time to achieve a common goal. The academic community has also been proactive in contributing to and assessing this new reporting standard. There is a trail of research articles to document this contribution. This paper provides various charts and interesting statistics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Social Sciences (1392-0758) is the property of Kaunas University of Technology and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)