Journal of Accounting Education最新文献

This paper describes an instructional approach and exercises to introduce a data analytics tool into an existing course that covers relational databases and structured query language (SQL). SQL and relational databases are traditional topics in many AIS classes and are frequently taught with established technologies such as Microsoft Access. With the onset of newer data analytics tools, educators are faced with the challenge of incorporating emerging technologies while still covering basic foundational concepts. In this paper, we position SQL as the mental model for learning the data preparation and data blending features of a popular analytics tool, Alteryx. We split the traditional SQL content from our course into four increments that increase in complexity. For each increment, we use a multi-step approach to first develop students’ mental model of the SQL query code and then apply the mental model to the new environment of Alteryx. For each increment, students solve the same set of problems in SQL and Alteryx, so that the understanding of SQL eases the transition to Alteryx, and the practice in Alteryx reinforces the understanding of SQL.

Certified Public Accountant (CPA) certification is an important measure of professional achievement and a critical element to advancement in the accounting profession. The CPA exam is rigorous, with lower pass rates relative to other professional exams, and even lower pass rates for historically disadvantaged groups. Thus, a key policy question is how to improve candidates’ performance on the CPA exam. In this paper, we examine the role that environmental (community segregation, socioeconomic status, and education and income gaps) and other factors representing opportunity play in CPA exam performance. The results of univariate analysis across various demographic and opportunity factors and those of multivariate models indicate that opportunity influences exam performance of all candidates and differently so for the disadvantaged groups. Finally, we offer recommendations for programs to help meet the profession’s need for an increasing number of qualified CPAs and its diversity and inclusion goals.

Both professionals and academics have called for changes to the accounting curriculum over the past 20 years, and more recent research (e.g., Albring & Elder, 2020) has asked schools to share not only their curriculum changes but also the motivations for these changes. This paper responds to these calls by not only providing the results of and rationale for an accounting curriculum change but also sharing the research and processes that supported the change. The six-step process employed in this paper was used to review and revise the Master of Accountancy (MAcc) curriculum at a mid-size Florida university with a strong emphasis on career preparation and student success on the CPA Exam. The results and resources presented include benchmarking curriculum analyses (e.g., tracks offered, number of courses by type, required versus elective courses), techniques for sharing benchmark information with stakeholders, and internal and external stakeholder surveys. Although some resources may be of immediate use “as-is,” it is more likely that schools will be able to enhance, refine, or alter the processes to align with the particular needs and objectives of their stakeholders.

This study aims to help audit educators determine how, where, and to what extent audit data analytics (ADA) should be integrated into existing auditing curriculum to better prepare students for the auditing profession. We interview early-career auditors to understand their experience with ADA and add their perspective to the literature on audit curriculum changes. This group performs many of the tasks where ADA techniques would be applied and can provide valuable insight to audit educators based on their work experience and recent completion of auditing and/or data analytics courses. Responses indicate that early-career auditors rely more routinely on traditional ADA tools (e.g., Excel) and that the use of advanced ADA tools (e.g., Power BI and Alteryx) is relatively limited. Furthermore, firm-provided training on advanced ADA tools focuses on navigating tools rather than interpretation of ADA output. We also find that, regardless of the ADA tool used, the skillset used most frequently is interpretation of ADA output to identify anomalies and determine the impact on audit testing, which could be emphasized in existing audit courses. Most participants expressed that rather than removing content from the audit course to make room for data analytics, faculty should integrate ADA within existing content, encouraging audit educators to change how they teach, rather than what they teach. Specifically, faculty can provide hands-on examples of ADA to supplement lectures on existing topics or assign case studies that use ADA tools. These findings have implications for immediate changes to integrate ADA into auditing courses that are more manageable than a complete overhaul of the audit curriculum.

This case introduces you to the use of data analytics in accounting for purposes of identifying irregularities in a large data set of invoices using Microsoft Power BI. The goal of this case is two-fold. First, the case provides you a guided approach to navigating Power BI at the beginner level. Second, the case serves as an introduction to the use of data analytics in an auditing context for purposes of identifying irregularities in a large data set of invoices. You will evaluate the data set according to Benford’s Law and create an interactive “dashboard” visualization to present the results of your analysis to a supervisor. Additionally, you will document your findings in a written report according to professional auditing standards. We provide evidence of case efficacy in both a graduate-level fraud auditing course as well as an undergraduate accounting information systems (AIS) course with a data analytics focus. The case is suitable as an introductory data analytics assignment in any course with an auditing, fraud, forensics, AIS, or data analytics focus where students have little or no prior experience with Power BI. The case may also be used as an introduction to Benford’s Law as students are not required to have prior experience with Benford’s Law in order to complete the assignment.

This study aims to explore how a blended case-based learning approach can enhance students' learning towards accounting for sustainability. A case study was applied to provide insights into students' learning in a postgraduate course concerning material flow cost accounting. Data were collected from three sources: 51 learning journals from 17 students, a video recording from an online session, and six in-depth interviews. The findings provide evidence on learning outcomes, including both knowledge and professional skills (critical thinking, teamwork, and communication skills) towards sustainable development. Three elements of blended case-based learning—student characteristics, educator roles, and design features—are shown to be crucial for learning in accounting for sustainability. Practical implications for accounting educators are discussed.

The emergence of big data and analytics has motivated the audit profession to incorporate additional business analytical procedures into existing auditing processes. In response, educators must find ways to integrate data analytics into existing audit curriculum to prepare students for the audit profession. One possible way to integrate analytics into the audit curriculum is to supplement the teaching of traditional audit topics with data analytics case studies. The purpose of this paper is to describe a teaching case that integrates the auditing topics of inventory and fraud with basic data analytics. We develop a teaching case motivated by practice that describes an Excel-based fraud related to the audit of inventory. As Excel remains a common tool for accounting analytics, as well as a common format for data exchange between the auditor and client, the case begins with data analysis using Excel. After completing the initial Excel analysis, you perform a similar analysis using a more advanced analytics tool (Alteryx), which provides you an opportunity to use a new tool to detect the spreadsheet irregularities. The case concludes with you assessing the advantages and disadvantages of Alteryx versus Excel. As the context of this case is the audit of inventory, the case is especially suited for use in an audit class when covering the financial statement area of inventory. Alternatively, this case can be used in an accounting analytics class to introduce advanced analytics tools using a real-world audit setting.

This study examines if and how incorporating an experiential service learning intervention within an accounting course, beyond the traditional lecture, could impact students’ community engagement perception, sustainability awareness, as well as their data analytics competency. We conduct a quasi-experimental investigation with a group of 103 accounting students from a large public U.S. university. Results show that, in comparison to a group with only lecture intervention, students exhibited improved community engagement perception, sustainability awareness, and data analytics competency in both Tableau and Power BI, following the lecture plus experiential service learning intervention. Using Kolb’s four-stage experiential learning cycle as the underlying conceptual framework, further analyses of the feedback from both students and host partners illuminate the ways in which experiential service learning has helped to impact learning. Our findings suggest the value relevance of leveraging experiential service learning within an accounting course toward improving students’ development in areas outside the core curriculum. Results of this study could be of interest to accounting educators as they contemplate the efficacies of incorporating experiential-based service learning projects to elevate students’ proficiencies in the increasingly important areas of sustainability, civic awareness and data analytics.

The quantity and quality of research articles required to attain tenure or to be promoted in accounting is not always known and evolves over time. To help add clarity to this dilemma, this study evaluates the quantity and quality of publication records for faculty who successfully achieved tenure or promotion at universities offering Ph.D. and/or Masters programs in accounting. Quality of publication was determined based on a number of metrics including the Australian Business Dean’s Council journal list (ABDC), which is now widely used for tenure and promotion decisions as well as for accreditation purposes, and the BYU rankings of accounting journals. We are one of the first empirical studies to use the ABDC to determine research quality. Our analysis shows that for tenure decisions, accounting faculty at Ph.D. granting institutions publish, on average, fewer articles than accounting faculty at Masters universities, but those published articles are at much higher quality journals. In addition, both tenured and promoted faculty at private universities publish significantly more in high quality accounting journals than faculty at public universities. Collectively, our results indicate that research quality and quantity differ between universities that grant Ph.Ds. in accounting and those that only offer a Masters degree in accounting, and between public and private universities. More importantly, our research provides quantity and quality expectations for tenure and promotion cases that can be used by accounting faculty, administrators, and external reviewers across different types of universities. Given that our results are based on historical data and tenure/promotion requirements tend to continually increase over time, this study’s results should only be used as a guide for future tenure and promotion cases.