Diane J Janvrin

• Iowa State University

Accountants and auditors frequently make judgments that require complex evaluations of facts and rules. Researchers examine these judgments by conducting experiments in which participants make accounting decisions and then describe the information they used and how they used it in making their decisions. These elicited descriptions provide research...

Employers expect graduates to perform data analytics using both organizational and publicly available data. Interestingly, few teaching cases provide students with needed exposure to data analytics in managerial or governmental accounting. In this case, students assume the role of a managerial accountant employed at Municipal Consulting, LLC. Stude...

Purpose This paper aims to examine the influence of sustainability assurance report format (separate versus combined with financial information assurance) and level (limited versus reasonable) on nonprofessional investors’ judgments. Design/methodology/approach This study uses a 2 × 2 between-participants experiment with 436 US nonprofessional inv...

On December 20, 2022, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) issued a request for comment on its proposed auditing standard, The Auditor’s Use of Confirmation, and Other Proposed Amendments to PCAOB Standards. The proposed auditing standard describes principles-based requirements that apply to paper-based and electronic confirmations...

SYNOPSIS Due to recent high-profile cybersecurity breaches and increased practitioner and regulatory attention, organizations are under pressure to consider the accounting implications of these attacks and develop appropriate responses. Specifically, cybersecurity events may affect organizations' operations, financial and non-financial performance,...

The use of textual analysis methods in the accounting profession has grown markedly in recent years. Accounting professionals as well as business and accounting accreditors have called for accounting students to acquire an increased depth and breadth of knowledge of digital data analytics. This case enables accounting instructors, with no previous...

This exploratory study examines automation of the bank confirmation process using longitudinal data set from the largest third-party U.S. confirmation service provider supplemented with informal interviews with practitioners. We find a significant increase in electronic confirmation use in the U.S. and internationally. Errors requiring reconfirmati...

Auditing Standard No. 5 requires that auditors integrate their evaluation of large issuers' internal control over financial reporting (ICFR) into their financial statement audit process, but the PCAOB warns that auditors may not adequately test related manual and systems internal controls. We use a multiple method approach to examine how auditors e...

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate whether investor views regarding the benefits of corporate environmental responsibility moderate the influence of environmental performance and assurance information on their judgments. Specifically, the authors examine the effects of two broad views: environmental responsibility is more importan...

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) inspection process identifies deficiencies related to how firms conduct audits. Our work extends prior research by examining the type of internal control audit deficiencies (entity-level or application-level). Internal control audit deficiencies of both types may increase the risk of material mi...

Social media use within the workplace is widespread; however, little is known about how organizations actually manage social media risk. We use the Committee of Sponsoring Organization's Enterprise Risk Management – Integrated Framework (COSO, 2004) to develop a social media risk management model (SM-RMM) that includes four components: (i) social m...

Audit firms use information technology (IT) to improve audit quality, effectiveness, and efficiency. While audit IT has evolved over the past decade, limited guidance is available to assist practitioners in determining how IT can be used. Our research objectives are fourfold. First, we examine to what extent auditors use and assess the perceived im...

Accounting firms, corporations, and nonprofits use social technology to attract and develop employees, manage business intelligence, innovate business processes, engage clients, customers, and members, and disseminate information to investors and regulators. Despite its benefits, social technology's unique reach and speed create new risks for manag...

This commentary introduces the “Big Data” (hereafter, Big Data) Special Issue of the Journal of Accounting Education. We argue that while the data sets are now larger than ever before and better data analytic software is available, the primary goal of accounting has always been the same - to create and provide information to internal and external d...

On May 11, 2016 the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) issued a request for comment on Proposed Auditing Standard—The Auditor's Report on an Audit of Financial Statements when the Auditor Expresses an Unqualified Opinion and Related Amendments to PCAOB Standards, a reproposal of its August 2013 proposed auditor reporting standard. Th...

Purpose - Despite the increasing demand for socially responsible investments (SRIs) and the importance of information intermediaries in providing corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance information through SRI screens, relatively little is known about the relationship between nonprofessional investors’ views regarding SRI, their use of...

Purpose Despite the increasing demand for socially responsible investments (SRIs) and the importance of information intermediaries in providing corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance information through SRI screens, relatively little is known about the relationship between nonprofessional investors’ views regarding SRI, their use of SRI...

On September 24, 2015 the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) solicited public comments on a proposed Accounting Standards Update of the FASB Accounting Standards Codification. The stated objective is to improve the effectiveness of footnote disclosures to financial statement users. The focus of the Update is to clarify the way materiality...

On May 28, 2015 the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (hereafter, the Board) issued Staff Consultation Paper No. 2015-01 (hereafter, the Staff Consultation Paper) to seek information and input on the potential need to improve standards related to the auditor's use of the work of specialists. The Board requested input from investors, account...

Seven short cases highlight the need for organizational control of the use of social technology. Executives now consider the management of social technology strategies and risks to be their fourth highest priority, investing significant resources to develop effective social technology use policies (Carrick et al. 2013; Deloitte 2012; Feltham and Ni...

SYNOPSIS The business use of data analytics is growing rapidly in the accounting environment. Similar to many new systems that involve accounting information, data analytics has fundamentally changed task processes, particularly those tasks that provide inference, prediction, and assurance to decision-makers. Thus, accounting researchers and practi...

According to the IIA, “The International Professional Practices Framework (IPPF) is the conceptual framework that organizes authoritative guidance promulgated by The Institute of Internal Auditors.” The IPPF includes overarching principles and standards of internal audit practice (e.g., the definition of internal audit, the code of ethics, the stan...

Recently, the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA) solicited public comments on its Consultation Paper, Improving the Structure of the Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants. This commentary summarizes the contributors' views on the various questions asked in the IESBA Consultation Paper. Our comments submitted to IESBA...

On August 14, 2014 the International Ethics Standard Board for Accountants (IESBA) requested public comments to its Exposure Draft (ED) (IFAC 2014a) on proposed changes to the 2014 Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants (IFAC 2014b). The proposal aims to enhance the independence provisions of the Code to respond to threats that may be created...

During the promotion and tenure process, most institutions evaluate whether the candidate has published in high-quality research journals. This study examines the perceived impact of the Journal of Information Systems (JIS) on the promotion and tenure process. The research surveys 149 accounting information systems professors and 36 accounting depa...

An important role for accountants today is to provide decision support to senior management by assisting them in the analysis of large, complex data sets. Interactive data visualization (IDV) facilitates this process by allowing users to navigate, select, and display data via an easy-to-use interface often used as a component of data analytics. Giv...

This study advances our understanding of the current financial close process. Attention to the topic is warranted for four reasons. First, economic volatility and growth in restatements have increased pressure on companies to report performance timely, completely, and accurately to market participants. Second, recent regulations have increased the...

Regulation G requires companies that report non-GAAP or “pro forma” earnings provide a reconciliation. While nonprofessional investors are a large, heterogeneous population with varying degrees of financial reporting knowledge, previous research treats them as a homogenous group. The study examines how differences in financial reporting knowledge a...

In July 2012, Peregrine Financial Group filed for bankruptcy following the discovery that $215 million in customer balances had been embezzled. Investigation revealed that its Chief Executive Officer, Russell Wasendorf, Sr., fooled auditors and regulators for 20 years by preparing fictitious bank statements and cash balance confirmations to hide th...

U.S. adoption of eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL)-enabled technology has been slow. Prior experimental evidence suggests that even when XBRL-enabled technology is available, almost 50 percent of participants do not use it. This study informs AIS researchers on the state of XBRL-enabled technology by using an exclusive choice experiment...

Virtual worlds are computer-generated, immersive environments where participants interact with others while engaging in social, entertainment, and economic endeavors. To illustrate how virtual worlds can be used to study fraud, we examine documented virtual world fraud cases using the "fraud diamond" model (Wolfe and Hermanson 2004). Our findings h...

This study extends prior research by examining how nonprofessional investors’ attitudes regarding environmental sustainability affect the importance they place on environmental disclosures and investigating how this perceived importance interacts with performance and assurance information to influence investment judgments. Investors’ environmental...

To meet the challenges of rapid advances in client technology, audit standards urge auditors to use computer-assisted audit tools and techniques (CAATs). However, recent research suggests that CAAT use is fairly low. This paper uses the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) to identify and then examines factors potentially infl...

To address the changing business environment and increased shareholder interest, the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) recently issued an exposure draft updating its 1992 Internal Control-Integrated Framework. We review the updated Framework and discuss the comments we (as the Environmental Scanning Committee o...

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently mandated that publicly traded companies furnish their financial statements in XBRL format. However, researchers and practitioners question whether companies are adequately prepared to implement XBRL, and whether software tools and guidance exist to lead preparers through the process of creating...

Despite rapid growth, e-commerce proponents argue that individuals are still reluctant to reveal confidential information such as credit card account numbers to unknown third parties. To reduce individual transmission and privacy risk concerns, several web sites employ encryption techniques while others include assurance seals. We examine the impa...

Recently, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB or Board) issued a concept release to solicit public comment on the potential direction of a proposed standard-setting project on the content and form of reports on audited financial statements. The objective of the concept release was to discuss several alternatives for changing the au...

Proponents argue that financial statements created using eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) will provide more transparent data for users performing financial statement analysis. The more transparent data will simplify the analysis task and allow users to focus quicker on the financial information they perceive as important. However, U.S....

This case examines the financial close process for a national print company called Fast, Fast, Fast (FFF) Printing. You are an assistant accountant for FFF Printing and are excited and ready for a wide variety of responsibilities. Each time you ask your supervisor, Controller Charlie Carr, about new duties, he replies that he will investigate new d...

U.S. adoption of search-facilitating technology has been slow and several constituencies question whether investors will choose to use the XBRL-formatted information the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is now requiring companies to provide. Unlike prior research, we use an exclusive choice experimental design to examine (1) which reporting...

The past decade has witnessed a technological revolution fueled by the widespread use of the Internet, web technologies, and their applications. Within financial reporting, proponents of extensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) argue that XBRL will revolutionize financial reporting since it allows corporate financial information to be aggregat...

Many companies today utilize interactive data visualization to present accounting information to external users on their investor relations websites and to internal users in applications such as enterprise resource planning, Balanced Scorecard, network security, and fraud detection systems. We develop a taxonomy for examining the current state of i...

Regulation G (SEC 2003b) requires managers to reconcile textual non-GAAP performance measures (i.e., pro forma disclosures) to GAAP. Graphical disclosures also require reconciliation; however, neither the format nor the placement of the reconciliation is specified. We apply cognitive fit theory to argue that the influence of graphical information p...

This study extends prior research by examining the extent to which financial reporting knowledge and information viewing behavior affect the influence of reconciled non-GAAP, or “pro forma” earnings disclosures on nonprofessional investors’ judgments. We find that the effects of pro forma earnings information on participants’ judgments differ, depe...

Prior archival research indicates that companies reporting increases in key financial performance variables (KFVs) are more likely to include graphs of these mea- sures in their annual reports. This study expands prior work by using impression management and political cost theories to predict that the relationship between magnitude of KFV change an...

The audit confirmation process involves obtaining evidence from third parties about information affecting financial statement assertions. Recently, the confirmation process has drawn the attention of both regulators and practitioners (AICPA, 2007a; IFAC, 2006, 2008; PCAOB, 2004) due to questions regarding whether this widely used audit procedure pr...

Competent computing skills are critical for successful business operations and the accountants who sustain them. Developing competent skills requires not only knowledgeable trainers but also facilities able to support and deliver instruction to accounting trainees in efficient ways. Technology-equipped training environments have long been espoused...

Accounting professionals, researchers, business leaders, and government officials have called for reform of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Critics question both the substance of the law and the legislative process by which it was enacted. Criticism of the process challenges whether the congressional hearings and other legislative steps that led to...

Incorporating recent advances in communication and technology, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and several state professional societies have developed accounting career information websites to attract talented students and retain professionals by providing career-related information. Our study examines perceptions of...

We provide data on the extent to which computer-related audit procedures are used and whether two factors, control risk assessment and audit firm size, influence computer-related audit procedures use. We used a field-based questionnaire to collect data from 181 auditors representing Big 4, national, regional, and local firms. Results indicate that...

Confirmations are extensively used and are often perceived by practitioners to be one of the most persuasive forms of audit evidence. Yet academic research has found limitations that restrict confirmation effectiveness for many management assertions. In addition, a number of problems with false and forged confirmations are identified in Accounting...

Massively Multiplayer Online Economic Games involving the creation and trade of virtual goods are rapidly gaining in popularity. Although most individuals participate for their own social or entertainment purposes, a substantial number of participants rely on the sale of virtual goods as an important source of real wealth. To date, these economic r...

In the past two decades, computing applications developed by non‐system professionals have increased dramatically throughout the professional accounting and business community. Unfortunately, prior research indicates that many end‐user computing applications such as spreadsheets contain difficult‐to‐detect errors. Relying on these error‐prone appli...

This paper is based on dissertation research conducted at the University of Iowa. The author thanks the members of the dissertation committee: Albert Schepanski (Co‐chair), Richard Tubbs (Co‐chair), Lynn Pringle, Lola Lopes, and Chuleeporn Changchit for their invaluable guidance and support. She also appreciates the helpful comments of Paul Caster,...

Information technology (IT) use can directly impact audit judgment and ultimately audit effectiveness and efficiency. Although IT has significantly changed the audit process, few studies have examined the perceived importance of IT use across a diverse group of audit firms. Our descriptive study explores audit IT use and its perceived importance ac...

Auditing standards require that auditors obtain and document their understanding of internal control on every engagement, but do not specify the type or number of documentation formats auditors should adopt. We investigate the association of selected factors on the type and number of formats chosen. Data were collected from 181 auditors representin...

Events that occur after the balance sheet date but before the audit report is signed and dated (subsequent events) may have a material effect on the financial statements and their users. New SEC reporting requirements reduce the time between the balance sheet and report dates, limiting the availability of subsequent event evidence. Professional gro...

Virtual worlds like Second Life offer players opportunities to earn real-world income through their activities in the game. It will not be long before governments begin to establish policies and regulations regarding the income generated by players of these game environments. This paper examines the issue of taxes in virtual world games. Two alt...

The objective of recent disclosure regulation (e.g., Regulation Fair Disclosure [FD]) is to reduce selective disclosure, the practice of releasing financial information to selected users before publicly disclosing the information. Prior to FD, providers used narrow distribution reporting activities, such as phone calls and one‐on‐one meetings with...

This paper examines the accounting profession's self-regulation of internal audit outsourcing services. The question of whether public accountants compromise their independence when they provide internal audit services to their attest clients was debated within the accounting and regulatory communities throughout the 1990s, and resulted in a confro...

This paper evaluates the implications of the proposed Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Rule (33-8496) which encourages companies to file reports in the eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) format. We examine the impact of the proposed rule in three domains: (1) the role of XBRL in financial reporting, (2) concerns with XBRL taxonom...

Prior archival research indicates that companies reporting increases in key financial performance variables (KFVs) are more likely to include graphs of these measures in their annual reports. This study expands prior work by using cognitive and social psychology theories to predict that the decision to graph depends not only the direction, but also...

This instructional case uses role play to provide students in accounting information systems or auditing with experience in evaluating a firm's internal control environment to assess the likelihood of errors and fraud. The objective is to illustrate how role play can reinforce two important systems/auditing topics: internal control evaluation and f...

Computations performed using end-user developed spreadsheets have resulted in serious errors and represent a major control risk to organizations. Literature suggests that factors contributing to spreadsheet errors include developer inexperience, poor design approaches, application types, problem complexity, time pressure, and presence or absence of...

End-user developed applications introduce many control risks into organizations. Literature suggests that influencing factors include developer experience, design approach, application type, problem complexity, time pressure, and presence or absence of review procedures. The research explores the impacts of different design approaches through two f...