Accounting and financial reporting by a late 18th century American charity

Empirical research to date has neglected accounting and external financial reporting among 18th century American charitable institutions. Contemporary understanding of 18th century American practices is supported by evidence relating to commercial transactions primarily among colonial merchants. Our study examines the accounting and financial reporting of the Charleston Orphan House, the first municipal orphanage in America, from its inception in 1790 through its first five years of operations. The institution was established by city ordinance in 1790 which required the institution to keep a book of fair and regular accounts of all receipts and expenditures which will be subject at all times to the inspection of the Commissioners. The ordinance charged the orphanage\u27s Committee on Accounts to audit its accounts.The City Council required the institution\u27s board chairman to countersign the financial statements in 1792 before subjecting them to a second audit. The Orphan House employed a system of account books that recorded and facilitated the reporting of expenditures and sources of funds. Accounting and external reporting may have been legitimizing factors to overcome the liability of newness by promoting a sense of propriety and transparency among benefactors

Improving Business Students Oral Communication Skills

This study empirically examines a model for improving the oral communication skills of business students. First, the researchers worked to identify the elements of effective oral communication in a business setting, and to enumerate the related oral communication skills that potential employers hope to find in new employees.  Next we endeavored to gauge the degree to which an intensive program of instruction in oral communication within an existing business course can improve these skills and abilities among college seniors. The study utilized a pre/post test quasi-experimental design and provides evidence that by redesigning one of the senior level business courses to include an intense oral communications element it is possible to improve a student's oral communication skills

The Effects Of Self-Efficacy, Assertive-ness, Stress, And Gender On Intention To Turnover In Public Accounting

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of these variables on intention to turnover among public accountants, and to suggest ways to improve retention of both male and female accountants in public practice.  Results indicate that self-efficacy had a direct, positive relationship with male public accountants’ intention to turnover; whereas, self-efficacy had no significant relationship with females’ intentions to turnover.  Assertiveness had a direct, positive relationship with female public accountants’ intentions to turnover, but had no significant relationship with male public accountants’ intention to turn over.  In addition, evidence presented in this paper demonstrates that while stress is higher among female public accountants, and is related to intention to turnover for both genders, intention to turn over is not higher among female public accountants than male public accountants