Whether Big N auditors provide higher quality audits than non-Big N auditors remains a debate. Big N acquisitions of non-Big N auditors provide a unique setting of exogenous shocks to the acquired non-Big N auditors' client firms because they have to change auditors. We identify a sample of 331...

Many profession-changing events have occurred in the 25 years since Sikka, Willmott, and Lowe (1989) published Guardians of Knowledge and Public Interest, among them the collapse of Enron and other international corporate frauds and failures along with the demise of Arthur Anderson; the creation...

We study clauses in private lending agreements requiring auditors to assure lenders of borrowers' compliance with financial covenants. Auditors are required under general purpose financial reporting to review covenant compliance. However, by informing lenders directly that they have no knowledge...

We investigate whether auditor size is associated with the disclosure of internal control exceptions among Circular A-133 audits of nonprofit healthcare organizations. Our focus on auditor report outcomes within the nonprofit healthcare sector is timely and relevant, given the sector's growth...

Both in US common law or in French codified law, Forensic Accountants aim to serve justice by illuminating technical, financial facts in the context of a dispute or a trial.According to the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), Forensic accounting services..."generally...

In its October 2010 Green Paper on audit policy, the European Commission suggested that joint audits might be a way of improving the audit market in Europe. However, some parties consider that a joint audit system is not an efficient solution because the perceived improvements in audit quality,...

Hundreds of studies have been published in forensic accounting journals over the past 15 years on various topics using a variety of research methods. But the basic question has yet to be addressed – what is the purpose of research in forensic accounting? Forensic accounting and forensic...

Offshoring of accounting processes has become a common business practice, pursued by firms to reduce costs and focus on core competencies. However, our understanding about internal controls of these offshored processes is limited. Grounded in theory that is supported by prior literature and...

Auditors increasingly employ technologies to improve audit quality. Using a design science approach, we examine whether using drones and automated counting software can improve audit quality and thereby improve financial reporting. We assess three dimensions of audit quality—efficiency,...

We examine changes over time in Big N auditors' client selection and retention strategies, from 1970 to 2015, by client size and risk segments. We particularly focus on the period from 1997 to 2001, characterized by numerous tumultuous events that led to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX). We...