Management Accounting & Academe

Management accounting offers rewarding research opportunities. If researchers are able to identify more efficient ways to analyze internal accounting data, these new methods can be adopted immediately by interested companies. Breakthroughs in management accounting research do not have to filter through a standard-setting body before they can have an impact on practice. Due to the absence of management accounting rules, the great demand for management accounting research, and the availability of management accounting data, it is not surprising that academic research is beginning to drive the field of management accounting

The Internal Control Paradox: What Every Manager Should Know

Examines some conflicting trends concerning internal control systems of companies in the 1990s. Definition of internal control; Trends toward internal control; Trends away from internal control; Balanced view of internal control; Solution to the internal control paradox

COSO: More Relevant Now than Ever

In 1992 when the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) issued its internal control framework, few would have guessed that the framework would become an integral part of corporate accountability a decade later, but things are moving in that direction. COSO\u27s framework may become an important tool for implementing the directives set forth in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. With the newly mandated reporting on controls and other directives set forth in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the full effect of COSO\u27s internal control vision may finally be realized. COSO\u27s framework may help to address compliance with the new internal control reporting requirements. Although the primary focus of the COSO report is internal control, the framework has implications for other areas of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act as well

Organizational Control Systems: Matching Controls with Organizational Levels

Companies today face a number of risks, such as environmental liabilities, losses from misuse of derivatives or harassment suits, which underscore the need for better control systems. Clearly, there is a tradeoff between having too much versus too little control. However, in addition to the amount of control, the mix of controls is important in maintaining the right balance within an organization. A framework is proposed that should help managers determine the appropriate matching of control types and control levels in their organizations. The matching is discussed for both traditional companies and modern, information-age companies

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act: Insights for Internal Auditors

Douglas Faggioli, president and CEO of Nature\u27s Sunshine Products (NSP) made the above remarks as he accepted, on behalf of NSP, a 2004 100 Best Corporate Citizens award from Business Ethics magazine. NSP received the award two years in a row. Less than two years later, NSP would discover a bribery scheme in its Brazil operations that would expose it to Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) enforcement under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). Faggioli and the company\u27s CFO, Craig Huff, along with NSP, would be plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit, and the SEC would fine each officer $25,000. In order to register and import more products in Brazil, NSP made undocumented cash payments to Brazilian customs brokers, some of which were ultimately paid to Brazilian customs officials. NSP\u27s Brazilian subsidiary falsified its books and hid the nature of these payments in its filings with the SEC. NSP\u27s internal investigation revealed internal control weaknesses, which likely led to the violations

Audit Committee Material Weaknesses in Smaller Reporting Companies

One of the critical elements of internal control over financial reporting is an effectively functioning audit committee. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) defines an audit committee as committee (or equivalent body) established by and amongst the board of directors of an issuer for the purpose of overseeing the accounting and financial reporting processes of the issuer and audits of the financial statements of the issuer. Recent SOX section 404 filings by smaller reporting companies ( nonaccelerated filers, or registrants with less than $75 million of public float), however, indicate that some small companies still are struggling to develop effective audit committees. Examining the disclosures made by smaller reporting companies and then analyzing the available resources can be useful for small businesses seeking to establish and maintain effective audit committees. The SEC rules public companies to issue an annual report on the company\u27s internal control over financial reporting and to include an auditor\u27s opinion on their effectiveness

The High Road

Discusses the obstacles to international accounting standards convergence. Effort of the International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC) to promote to convergence theme; Comparison between the convergence frameworks of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Accounting Standards Board; Sections of the \u27Framework for the Preparation and Presentation of Financial Statements\u27 document issued by the IASC

The Role of Bargaining Style in Public Company Audits

According to prior auditing research, negotiation plans an important role in audit outcomes. General purpose negotiating literature suggests that bargaining styles are an important factor in business negotiations and that bargaining style mismatches between negotiating counter-parties can influence negotiation results. To date, the role of auditors\u27 bargaining-style tendencies in audit negotiations has gone unnoticed in the auditing literature. A study examines the bargaining styles of accountants and managers as measured by the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument. The results suggest that accountants are predisposed to avoid conflict or accommodate whereas managers are predisposed to collaborate or compete. Recognizing this potential mismatch of bargaining styles should help the auditor to develop more effective negotiation strategies

Obstacles to International Accounting Standards Convergence

Given the recent changes in the international sector, along with the similarities in the conceptual frameworks of the FASB and IASC, the relatively swift convergence of US GAAP and International Accounting Standards is a distinct possibility. This article contends convergence is possible, and reviews 3 key areas that could hinder or foster it: 1. the general organization, in terms of form and topical content, of the frameworks, 2. a significant pervasive difference between the frameworks, and 3. specific differences within the major topical areas of the frameworks

Notch induces cyclin-D1-dependent proliferation during a specific temporal window of neural differentiation in ES cells

AbstractThe Notch signaling pathway controls cell fate choices at multiple steps during cell lineage progression. To produce the cell fate choice appropriate for a particular stage in the cell lineage, Notch signaling needs to interpret the cell context information for each stage and convert it into the appropriate cell fate instruction. The molecular basis for this temporal context-dependent Notch signaling output is poorly understood, and to study this, we have engineered a mouse embryonic stem (ES) cell line, in which short pulses of activated Notch can be produced at different stages of in vitro neural differentiation. Activation of Notch signaling for 6h specifically at day 3 during neural induction in the ES cells led to significantly enhanced cell proliferation, accompanied by Notch-mediated activation of cyclin D1 expression. A reduction of cyclin-D1-expressing cells in the developing CNS of Notch signaling-deficient mouse embryos was also observed. Expression of a dominant negative form of cyclin D1 in the ES cells abrogated the Notch-induced proliferative response, and, conversely, a constitutively active form of cyclin D1 mimicked the effect of Notch on cell proliferation. In conclusion, the data define a novel temporal context-dependent function of Notch and a critical role for cyclin D1 in the Notch-induced proliferation in ES cells