Accounting Profession

Should Chinese Companies Listed on U.S Stock Exchanges Be Subject to PCAOB Audits?

Accounting Profession / /

Making Workpapers Available to the PCAOB Might Violate China’s Sovereignty On January 23, 2014, the SEC came down hard on Chinese units of big-4 firms, ruling that these units should be barred from auditing U.S.-traded companies for six months. The ruling came after the firms failed to show the SEC their audit work and said that doing […]

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SEC Investigation of Auditors Driven by Conflicts of Interest and a Lack of Independence

Accounting Profession, Workplace Behavior / /

Is the SEC the Cause of the Problem? I have blogged before about the problems the Big Four accounting firms are having with respect to conflicts of interest and independence impairments. These concerns have moved the SEC to launch a probe into how firms manage conflicts of interest caused by the provision of nonaudit services

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Paradigm Shift in Ethics Education

Accounting Profession, Higher Education, Teaching Ethics / /

Giving Voice to Values The benefits of the Giving Voice to Values approach to ethical decision-making are that it involves students directly by providing them with the tools to speak out against improper behavior. Rather than a focus on ethical analysis in a sterile way, the GVV curriculum focuses on ethical implementation and asks the

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Why Do Audit Reports Have Such a High Deficiency Rate?

Accounting Profession / /

Indicators of Audit QualityForty percent of the audits inspected by audit firm regulators had at least one finding indicating aserious problem, according to a new survey. A recent report from the International Forum ofIndependent Audit Regulators, a group of national audit regulators including the Public CompanyAccounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) in the U.S. and the Financial

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There are Benefits to Giving Women Greater Access to the C-Suite

Accounting Profession, Business Ethics, Discrimination, Ethical Culture, Workplace Behavior / /

Characteristic Traits of Behavior Make Women More Moral Than Men I have previously blogged about women and the glass ceiling and how they have been lagging in C-Suite positions. Along comes a research study from the Harvard Business Review that seems to show an increase in gender diversity, but raises questions about where we go

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Accounting, Tax, and Regulatory Issues in the Cannabis Business

Accounting Profession, Workplace Behavior / /

Keys to Operating a Successful Cannabis Business State legislation that permits the sale and distribution of marijuana is on the rise. Thirty-three states allow it for recreational and/or medical purposes, including the District of Columbia. Cannabis sales were estimated to be $15 billion in 2018 and projected to be about $73.6 billion by 2027. Given

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KPMG Sanctioned by the SEC for “Stealing the Exam”

Accounting Profession, Business Ethics, Workplace Behavior / /

Actions Constitute an Act Discreditable to the Profession On May 18, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced settled charges against three former KPMG LLP audit partners for improperly sharing answers to internal training exams. The exams were administered to determine whether its audit professionals understood certain accounting and auditing principles that are essential

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Audit Firms Should Not Be Allowed to Perform Nonaudit Services for Audit Clients

Accounting Profession, Workplace Behavior / /

The Lost Art of an Independent Audit The time has come to revisit the issue of whether all nonaudit services should be prohibited for audit clients. The accounting profession continues to struggle with independence issues when both services are provided. The threats and safeguards approach in the AICPA Code does not seem to have reduced

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