The attention being paid to ethics education in accounting has been increasing, especially after the corporate accounting scandals at the turn of the century. This paper provides a comprehensive ...overview of the existing research in the field of ethics education in accounting. To synthesize past research, a bibliometric analysis that references 134 primary studies is performed and three bibliometric methods are applied. First, we visualize the historical evolution of ethics education in accounting research through historiography. Second, we use bibliographic coupling to identify clusters of ethics education in accounting research before, during, and after major corporate scandals. Third, we perform a co-word analysis to connect the identified patterns into a map of a contextual space. The results reveal, in each decade, not only an increasing academic focus on this field of research, but also an increasing number of different research clusters. While the clusters Factors affecting moral judgement, Perception of ethics, and Lack of ethics topics in the last research period develop further from the respective clusters in the previous periods, Accounting beyond technical skills, Integration of ethics in accounting education, Use of developed ethics frameworks, and Professional values on the contrary develop anew in the last decade, as a consequence of a growing demand for teaching ethics. Overall, the paper presents the development patterns of ethics education in accounting research and sets up a research agenda that encourages future research.
The workload of most academics involves two main activities: research and teaching. Despite the dual nature of the work, career advancement usually chiefly depends on research performance. Since ...academics are rational actors, warnings are beginning to emerge that current predominantly research-based performance evaluation systems may be detrimental to creativity and innovation in teaching. This paper investigates the substance of these warnings by revisiting the relationship between research performance and teaching quality. Using a large cross-disciplinary sample of academics within a research-oriented university, we find, consistent with prior evidence, that research productivity is not related to teaching quality, whereas research quality is positively related with teaching quality. These findings discount fears that research-based performance evaluation in academia may be detrimental to teaching quality.
On January 1, 2018, IFRS 9 became effective in the EU. It introduced the expected credit loss model to allow for timely recognition of credit losses, estimated not only on the actual credit loss ...experience but also on forward looking information related to current loan portfolio. Although the transition to IFRS 9 should lead to increased impairments and decrease in banks' equity, this effect is ambiguous in the settings characterised by combined effects of optimistic macroeconomic outlook and strong regulatory intervention related to extensive loan portfolio restructuring. This paper investigates day-one transition effect of IFRS 9 on level of loan impairments and total equity of banks in Slovenia, Eurozone country, which barely averted international bailout in 2013 by extensive state assisted bank restructuring. The comparative analysis is done on banks that transferred deteriorated loan portfolio to the state's Bank Assets Management Company and all other banks. In line with expectations we find that banks without extensive asset portfolio improvements recognised additional loan impairments on transition to IFRS 9, whereas the opposite effect is observed for banks which performed state-assisted loan portfolio restructuring. Our study provides additional insight on the effect of institutional and regulatory setting on IFRS 9 implementation effects.
Purpose
To build public trust in the accounting profession, previous research studies have stressed the need for ethics education. This present research aims to investigate the effects of teaching ...ethics using the ethics education toolkit (EET) developed by the International Accounting Education Standards Board on accounting students’ moral judgment.
Design/methodology/approach
An experimental design was used to determine the effects of teaching ethics using the EET on moral judgment. Data were obtained using the multidimensional ethics scale questionnaire and analysed with multiple linear regression. Factor analysis was performed to obtain the four moral philosophies defined in the literature.
Findings
The results confirm that use of the EET improves the moral judgment of accounting students. The influence of utilitarianism and relativism on moral judgment was reduced, while the students’ ability to recognise violating an unwritten contract as an unethical act was improved. Contrary to expectations, the influence of justice on moral judgment decreased.
Practical implications
The study may benefit academics by showing positive outcomes of EET use. The EET is a well-developed teaching tool, also suitable for educators insufficiently qualified to develop their own ethics courses or facing time constraints.
Originality/value
The EET was developed to support implementation of ethics education in programmes for professional accountants. By investigating the applicability and effects of the tool in higher education, this study aims to develop moral judgment in accounting students before they enter the accounting profession.
The study investigates the complexities of the annual audit of the aggregated balance sheet of the Republic of Slovenia, mandated since 2010, shedding light on a critical yet under-researched area of ...public sector audits. The Court of Audit of the Republic of Slovenia, entrusted with this task, has consistently expressed disclaimer of opinion since 2014, when it began conducting separate audits and issuing individual audit opinions on the aggregated balance sheet. Disclaimer of opinion resulted from the lack of sufficient and appropriate audit evidence, revealing systemic problems in controlling state property, inconsistencies in asset valuation and others. Notably, this undermines the credibility of the aggregated balance sheet as a decision-making tool, raising questions about the accountability of preparers and decision-makers. The study analyses the audit reports on the aggregated balance sheet of the state, delving into challenges from both the auditor and auditee’s perspective. The challenges faced by the state as the auditee involve failure to implement activity plans, inadequate control of state property and asset valuation beyond the current accounting framework. On the other hand, the Court of Audit encounters challenges in insufficient call for accountability of government and state administration and non-transparent progress reporting. Addressing these challenges, a comprehensive solution for control of state property was implemented in late 2023, indicating progress in reporting quality. Measures that are expected to further contribute to the quality of reporting in the future include developing accounting solutions for areas not currently covered by the accounting framework and amending the Public Finance Act with guidance on how the state balance sheet is to be audited. To enhance monitoring, the act should also mandate year-by-year comparisons and progress reporting in audit reports. Rad istražuje složenost godišnje revizije konsolidirane bilance Republike Slovenije, osvjetljavajući kritično, ali nedovoljno istraženo područje revizija javnog sektora. Državni ured za reviziju Republike Slovenije provodi reviziju od 2010. godine, ali se od izdavanja mišljenja suzdržava od 2014. godine kada je počeo provoditi zasebne revizije i izdavati pojedinačna revizijska mišljenja o konsolidiranoj bilanci. Suzdržano mišljenje odraz je nedostatka dostatnih i odgovarajućih revizijskih dokaza koji otkrivaju sustavne probleme kontrole državne imovine, nedosljednog vrednovanja imovine te drugih razloga. Prepoznati problemi potkopavaju vjerodostojnost ukupne bilance kao alata za donošenje odluka, ali i postavljaju pitanja o odgovornosti osoba koje pripremaju i donose odluke. Rad analizira revizorska izvješća o ukupnoj bilanci države te utvrđene izazove razmatra iz perspektive revizora i perspektive obveznika revizije. Izazovi s kojima se susreće država kao obveznik revizije uključuju neprovođenje planiranih aktivnosti, neodgovarajuću kontrolu državne imovine i vrednovanje imovine izvan postojećeg računovodstvenog okvira. S druge strane, izazovi na koje nailazi Državni ured za reviziju vezani su uz nedostatno pozivanje na odgovornost vlade i državne uprave te netransparentno izvješćivanje o napretku. Rješavanje tih izazova potaknulo je krajem 2023. godine implementiranje sveobuhvatnog rješenja za nadzor državne imovine i unapređenje kvalitete izvješćivanja, što upućuje na napredak u kvaliteti izvješćivanja. Mjere za koje se očekuje da će dodatno pridonijeti kvaliteti izvješćivanja u budućnosti uključuju razvoj računovodstvenih rješenja za područja koja trenutačno nisu obuhvaćena računovodstvenim okvirom te izmjene i dopune Zakona o javnim financijama smjernicama o načinu revizije državne bilance. Zakon bi radi poboljšanja nadzora trebao propisati i obvezu usporedbe stanja pojedinih analiziranih kategorija iz godine u godinu te izvješćivanje o napretku u revizorskim izvješćima.
The purpose of this paper is to examine whether professional qualification in- creases the quality of accounting services as perceived by the customers. We advance the measurement of service quality ...by industry-specific indicators and establish four dimen- sions of accounting service quality. We analyse the impact of professional qualification on these dimensions of quality and the impact of these dimensions on customers’ retention decisions. The analysis is based on survey data of 237 Slovenian small and micro firms that outsource accounting. We find that professional qualification is positively associated with only one of the perceived service quality dimensions – accounting competences – and only assurance, responsiveness and reliability and empathy are positively associated with customers’ retention decisions. Limitations of the study are attributed to the measure- ment of service quality as perceived by the customers. However, this is the only factor of choice that ultimately counts in the competitive market for accounting services. First published online: 02 Sep 2014
The financial crisis that has recently affected the EU economies created a research setting that enabled the examination of the effect of the financial crisis outbreak on audit fees by studying the ...deviation of audit fees in the post-crisis period as compared to the pre-crisis period. Financial crisis represents a setting that is tightly related to the concepts of audit risk and liability, where higher audit fees can be expected to account for increased audit engagement. The article identifies the characteristics of audit fees in Slovenia, a country with a relatively short auditing tradition. Since the establishment of the first audit firms in Slovenia in 1992, the number has consistently increased and reached 50 in 2007. This trend resulted in decreasing concentration and increasing price competition in the audit market for the large segment of non-listed companies. The aim of the article is to investigate the effect of the financial crisis on audit fees in Slovenia. Using the fixed effects panel model, our study provides evidence that financial crisis negatively affected audit fees in Slovenia. It seems that the negative effects on audit fees (reduced demand, increased competition and cost reduction measures) outweigh the opposing positive effect on audit fees resulting from increased audit engagement.
PDF
