In recent years, the accounting profession has faced increased scrutiny because of scandals involving management fraud (e.g., Enron, WorldCom). In response, Statement on Auditing Standards (SAS) #99 has expanded auditors' responsibility for detecting fraud, requiring auditors to gather significantly more information in their assessment of fraud. In addition, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) will focus on fraud detection through their inspections of registered accounting firms. In light of the increased emphasis on auditors' responsibility for detecting fraud, public accounting firms face the challenge of improving their fraud detection process, including their assessment of management fraud risk. Decision aids are one way for auditors to improve their assessment of management fraud risk. In fact, several studies from the decision aid literature suggest that aids are useful tools for a variety of tasks, including fraud risk assessment. At the same time, another stream of the decision aid reliance literature, which looks at people's willingness to rely on decision aids, suggests that individuals tend to be reluctant to accept the output given by an aid. Thus, the primary focus of this paper is on uncovering factors that would encourage one to voluntarily use and rely upon a decision aid. Toward that end, 132 senior-level auditors participated in an experiment that examined how several factors (confidence, perceived usefulness, client size, and conformity pressure) affect decision aid usage and reliance. The results show that perceived usefulness and decision aid reliance are significantly related. Further, the results suggest that perceived usefulness affects reliance more than variables examined in prior studies (e.g., confidence). Finally, the results suggest that decision aid usage mediates the relationship between perceived usefulness and reliance. The results of the current study have important implications for research in both the information systems and decision aid reliance areas. First, the study shows that perceived usefulness, a significant construct from the technology acceptance model (TAM) literature, is also a significant factor in determining decision aid usage and reliance. Second, the study further delineates how certain factors affect decision aid reliance.

The primary purpose of this study was to identify and analyze the perceptions of college and university auditors concerning the importance of selected factors associated with operational auditing. The secondary purpose was to determine whether the perceptions of certified auditors differ significantly from those of noncertified auditors. Selected factors associated with operational auditing for colleges and universities were categorized in three attribute groups—organizational, personal, and environmental. The identification of organizational and personal attributes was based mainly on concepts set forth in the Standard for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing published by the Institute of Internal Auditors (1978). Identification of environmental attributes was based on a review of the relevant literature, as well as on discussions with selected college and university auditors. Each attribute, whether categorized as organizational, personal, or environmental, was used as a basis for the identification of detailed factors associated with operational auditing. The findings of this study reveal that factors dealing with organizational attributes were perceived as considerably more favorable than were factors dealing with personal or environmental attributes. With regard to the secondary purpose of this research, a total of 14 hypotheses were developed and subjected to t-tests to determine whether the perceptions of certified auditors differed significantly from those of noncertified auditors. Of the 14 hypotheses tested, there were no significant differences between perceptions of the two groups concerning the importance of independence, audit plan, audit program, audit supervision, continuing education, training, audit follow-up, objectivity, technical competence, experience, and interpersonal skills. Certified auditors perceived attributes that deal with audit report and professional certification to be more important to operational auditing than did their noncertified counterparts. With regard to the importance of a knowledge and understanding of the higher education environment (i.e., knowledge of characteristics uniquely identifiable with institutions of higher education) to operational auditing, certified auditors perceived this attribute less favorably than did noncertified auditors.

The purpose of this study was to identify company characteristics associated with the presence of disclosures regarding internal control in the annual report. Gibbins, Richardson and Waterhouse [1990] have developed a framework from which to examine financial disclosure,. These authors define two dimensions of a company's disclosure position; opportunism and ritualism. I examined the association between variables representing the dimensions identified by these authors and a company's decision regarding disclosure of a management report on internal control. I compared specific characteristics of companies disclosing this information to those of companies not disclosing. The dependent variable represented the presence or absence of disclosure. I used logit analysis to test the significance of the chosen characteristics relative to the decision to include or exclude a management report on internal control in the annual report. My results were consistent with the existence of ritualism with respect to this issue. Reporting on internal controls was associated with membership in the Financial Executives Institute, auditor choice, certain industry designations and prior inclusion of such a report. FEI membership was closely related to initial reporting decisions as well'. I found evidence of opportunism as well. The likelihood of reporting on internal controls was related to company size (and presumably control strength), and growth rates. I also found an association between reporting and the issuance of publicly traded securities in the succeeding year and more moderate levels of debt relative to an industry average. In addition, I found that initial reporting decisions were associated with external events relating to potential legislation of the reporting issue. This research provides insight into the corporate response to reporting on internal controls.

This study focuses on the effectiveness of audit committees in public entities, specifically schedule 3A entities, which are governed by the PFMA. It is clear that the audit committee cannot operate on its own if it wishes to be effective. Management, Internal Audit and External Audit (Auditor General of South Africa) all play significant roles in the effectiveness of the audit committee. Internal Audit and the Auditor General are assurance providers for the audit committee and therefore play an even bigger role in its effectiveness. The independence of these assurance providers is vital, as the audit committee relies on them to obtain an independent view of the effectiveness of controls within the entities. / Graduate School of Business Leadership

Business Management / D. B. L.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-12-03T18:35:22Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Gislene_Silveira_Barros_Teixeira.pdf: 4476486 bytes, checksum: 7d5ebc5601f2fec0e65592159b034d42 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-04-15 / The decisions, activities and operations made by the risk managers in the companies give way to many uncertain areas, which can come from the application of the legislation or private reasons. Such reasons help to enhance the importance of internal controls for risk management, compliance activities (verification of legal conformity) and internal auditing. To meet such a goal, many control structures for assisting professionals in the evaluation of foreseen risks, as well as the risks associated with those, were introduced in local or international limits. Concerning this context, the aim of this work was to describe some of the scientific production features regarding internal control and risk management, published in the data base ProQuest ABI/Inform Global (ProQuest), from 2000 to 2010. It was a descriptive research, of the survey kind, and it was based in bibliographic and documental investigation, with quantitative approach. In the first step, it was made a bibliographic analysis with a sample of 79 articles, published in 15 local magazines in ProQuest, by means of the Lotka and Bradford Laws. Through the application of the Bradford Law, it was possible to identify the themes of the publication categories concerning the subject. Furthermore, the verification of the Lotka Laws demonstrated that there is not yet a group of expert researchers about the researched subject, and the knowledge is still spread among a lot of authors who have not been publishing so much. The results indicate an expressive increase in the publication of articles from 2003 to 2010, as well as the prevalence of publications concerning Rules and Standards. Those were bigger from 2006 to 2010, especially in The Accounting Review magazine, which shows that researchers have an investigative opportunity. It was also revealed that there has been an increase in the author's publications from 2003 to 2010, and the prevalence of the publications of authors connected with American universities from 2000 to 2010. In the second step, the surveyed articles were submitted to a sociometric analysis, which showed an increase of relational ties in the cooperative relationship between authors, especially concerning triads, from 2000 to 2010. Moreover, it was revealed the fragmentation of such relationships in small groups, with prevalence of stronger nodes between authors, which does not feature small worlds / As decis??es, atividades e opera????es empreendidas pelos gestores de riscos nas organiza????es d??o lugar a v??rias ??reas de incerteza, as quais podem decorrer da aplica????o da legisla????o ou de fatores particulares. Tais fatores corroboram na acentua????o de relev??ncia dos controles internos para a gest??o de riscos, atividades de compliance (verifica????o de conformidade legal) e auditoria interna. Para tanto, diversas estruturas de controle para aux??lio a profissionais na avalia????o dos riscos esperados, bem como dos associados a estes, foram introduzidas em ??mbito internacional ou local. Considerando tal contexto, o presente trabalho buscou descrever algumas das caracter??sticas da produ????o cient??fica sobre controle interno e gest??o de riscos publicada na base de dados ProQuest ABI/Inform Global (ProQuest), durante o per??odo de 2000 a 2010. A pesquisa ?? descritiva do tipo levantamento, estruturada em investiga????o bibliogr??fica e documental, com abordagem quantitativa. Na primeira etapa foi realizada an??lise bibliom??trica em uma amostra de 79 artigos, publicados em 15 revistas localizadas na base de dados ProQuest, por interm??dio da Lei de Bradford e de Lotka. A aplica????o da Lei de Bradford identificou as categorias tem??ticas das publica????es sobre o assunto. A verifica????o das Leis de Lotka revelou que ainda n??o h?? uma elite de pesquisadores sobre a tem??tica no per??odo pesquisado, e que o conhecimento se encontra disperso entre um grande n??mero de autores com baixa produtividade. Os resultados obtidos revelaram que houve um aumento significativo da publica????o dos artigos no per??odo de 2003-2010, bem como a preval??ncia de publica????es na tem??tica de Normas e Padr??es, as quais se acentuaram no per??odo de 2006-2010, especialmente na revista The Accounting Review, o que indica uma oportunidade investigativa aos pesquisadores. Constatou-se, ainda, que houve um aumento da quantidade de publica????es por autores no per??odo de 2003-2010, bem como a preval??ncia de publica????es de autores vinculados a institui????es dos Estados Unidos no per??odo de 2000-2010. Na segunda etapa, os artigos levantados foram submetidos a uma an??lise sociom??trica, que constatou um aumento dos la??os relacionais da rede de colabora????o dos autores, com primazia de tr??ades no per??odo de 2000-2010. Constatou-se, ainda, a fragmenta????o da rede em pequenos grupos, com predomin??ncia de la??os fortes, que n??o caracterizam small worlds

Made available in DSpace on 2015-12-04T11:45:33Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Luciana_Gavazzi_Barragan.pdf: 2466329 bytes, checksum: 52fa875ffa8e9e3558cbdcc3c31ccc03 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2005-06-01 / The objective of this research is to study the organizations that belong to the third sector, as a way to investigate the use of internal control tools. In addition, it will verify the existence of such tolls, its periodicity and development degree in the process of accounting and financial management, as well as propose the enhancement of the already existing controls. This will consider all the goals and difficulties found in the field research. Therefore, aiming to reach the proposed objectives and answer the research question, it was made a field research in a closed event of the third sector in S??o Paulo city, involving 61 entities located in Brazil. This was to identify the profile of such entities regarding the internal controls. As a result, it was discovered that the third sector entities use tools that come from other economic sectors, and they do not consider its specificities and necessities. This might have happened mainly because of the lack of research, as well as insufficient capacity of the sector. So, this work was developed to give a contribution to the third sector and, for this, it will present efficient internal controls and relevant help to develop the already existing controls. Those are crucial to provide credibility for the said entities. The suggested models are to solve those managements problems in a simplified way, and will not enhance costs. Moreover, they will create standards and references that could be tested and amplified in the future. / A presente pesquisa tem como objetivo o estudo das organiza????es pertencentes ao terceiro setor, visando investigar a utiliza????o de ferramentas de controles internos, verificando sua exist??ncia, periodicidade e grau de desenvolvimento, no processo de gest??o cont??bil-financeiro, bem como propor melhorias nos controles internos existentes, considerando os objetivos e dificuldades, identificados na pesquisa de campo. Portanto, para alcan??ar os objetivos propostos e responder a quest??o de pesquisa foi realizada uma pesquisa de campo em um evento fechado do terceiro setor em S??o Paulo com 61 entidades localizadas no Brasil. Procurou-se identificar o perfil dessas em rela????o aos controles internos e constatou-se que as entidades do terceiro setor utilizam ferramentas que migraram de outros setores econ??micos, sem levar em considera????o suas especificidades e necessidades, isso pode ter decorrido principalmente da escassez de pesquisas e insuficiente capacita????o do setor. Pretende-se com este trabalho contribuir com o setor, apresentando uma estrutura de controles internos eficiente e auxiliando no aprimoramento dos controles j?? existentes. Os controles internos s??o fundamentais para proporcionar credibilidade nas entidades e os modelos aqui sugeridos pretendem resolver de forma simplificada, sem aumentar os custos, criando padr??es e refer??ncias que, futuramente, poder??o ser ampliados e testados.

Tez (Yüksek Lisans) - Süleyman Demirel Üniversitesi, Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, Maliye Anabilim Dalı, 2008. / Bibliyografya var.

This study focuses on the effectiveness of audit committees in public entities, specifically schedule 3A entities, which are governed by the PFMA. It is clear that the audit committee cannot operate on its own if it wishes to be effective. Management, Internal Audit and External Audit (Auditor General of South Africa) all play significant roles in the effectiveness of the audit committee. Internal Audit and the Auditor General are assurance providers for the audit committee and therefore play an even bigger role in its effectiveness. The independence of these assurance providers is vital, as the audit committee relies on them to obtain an independent view of the effectiveness of controls within the entities. / Graduate School of Business Leadership

Business Management / D. B. L.