A Comparative Empirical Analysis of Characteristics Associated with Accounting Internships

Internships are a popular element used to enhance accounting education. Although previous studies have considered internships, many have addressed enhancement of subsequent academic and professional performance. The purpose of this paper is broader and examines several characteristics of accounting internships: the frequency of participation, eligibility requirements, process for securing internships, level of participation, availability and amount of academic credit, area of assignments, nature of post-internship requirements, and benefits to students. Two random samples, one in 1998 and one in 2003, of 100 accounting programs were analyzed in the study. For each program selected, the survey was mailed to accounting program administrators. Responses were collected by fax. The results of this study should be of interest to accounting students, faculty program administrators, and practitioners. Gaining real-life knowledge of accounting tasks and obtaining insight regarding career planning were the two most important benefits identified. Future research should consider the perceptions of accounting students and practitioners

A Survey of Accounting Faculty Perceptions Regarding Tenure and Post-Tenure Review

Attaining tenure is a goal of every faculty member. Indeed, at the beginning of every faculty member’s career, there is concern regarding the process of earning tenure. Many factors enter into the tenure decision, but most universities place weight on three primary factors: teaching effectiveness, research activity, and demonstration of service to the university and beyond. The relative importance of these three factors varies, but most universities expect “satisfactory” performance in all three areas. One of the historical reasons for faculty tenure is to protect academic freedom. Once tenure was attained, a faculty member’s academic freedom was considered safe. Recent developments in academia, however, are challenging the safety of both tenure and academic freedom. Some universities have implemented a post-tenure review process that subjects a faculty member to continuing, periodic review. Some argue that this process impedes a faculty member’s academic freedom. Since the university is considered “locked” into an agreement to retain a tenured faculty member, the faculty member has been under little obligation for further development, except for a self-imposed or professional obligation. The rationale behind post-tenure review is to demand a continuing responsibility of a faculty member to participate in faculty growth. The paper will gather and analyze accounting faculty perceptions regarding post-tenure

Neural Correlates of Swimming Behavior in Melibe leonina

The nudibranch Melibe leonina swims by rhythmically bending from side to side at a frequency of 1 cycle every 2–4 s. The objective of this study was to locate putative swim motoneurons (pSMNs) that drive these lateral flexions and determine if swimming in this species is produced by a swim central pattern generator (sCPG). In the first set of experiments, intracellular recordings were obtained from pSMNs in semi-intact, swimming animals. About 10–14 pSMNs were identified on the dorsal surface of each pedal ganglion and 4–7 on the ventral side. In general, the pSMNs in a given pedal ganglion fired synchronously and caused the animal to flex in that direction, whereas the pSMNs in the opposite pedal ganglion fired in anti-phase. When swimming stopped, so did rhythmic pSMN bursting; when swimming commenced, pSMNs resumed bursting. In the second series of experiments, intracellular recordings were obtained from pSMNs in isolated brains that spontaneously expressed the swim motor program. The pattern of activity recorded from pSMNs in isolated brains was very similar to the bursting pattern obtained from the same pSMNs in semi-intact animals, indicating that the sCPG can produce the swim rhythm in the absence of sensory feedback. Exposing the brain to light or cutting the pedal-pedal connectives inhibited fictive swimming in the isolated brain. The pSMNs do not appear to participate in the sCPG. Rather, they received rhythmic excitatory and inhibitory synaptic input from interneurons that probably comprise the sCPG circuit

State and Local Taxation of the Bituminous Coal Industry

Few industries have presented more troublesome problems for legislators and tax administrators alike, over the years, than has bituminous coal. There are two principal reasons for this. One stems from the physical character of this resource. Lying hidden beneath the earth\u27s surface, coal deposits not only represent an asset of uncertain worth, but also one the value of which will gradually decline as mining activity proceeds. Consequently, the task of making equitable assessments for property tax purposes would be a difficult one even for an experienced mining engineer, and sometimes may verge on the impossible for an untrained local assessor. The other reason is that although the coal industry is still the primary source of income, employment, and tax revenue in many predominantly coal-mining areas, it has been the sick man of American industry for more than a quarter century. The purpose of this paper is to describe and analyze, from an economic standpoint, present methods of taxing this product and industry at the state and local levels. Although the analysis will encompass all major forms of taxation currently applied to the industry in the principal coal-producing states, special attention will be given to one particular state, West Virginia, and one revenue source, the property tax. In order to provide the necessary background for this analysis, the discussion will begin with a brief review of the chief economic and other considerations affecting the taxation of this industry. Among these are the criteria of a good tax, the physical characteristics of coal deposits and coal production, the economic condition of the industry, and the policy objectives of taxing bodies. Next, the practices currently followed by state and local governments in the taxation of this industry will be discussed. In this part of the paper, the structure and administration of coal-industry taxation in the principal coal-mining states will be described, and the level of taxation of the industry in West Virginia will be compared with that found in each of the five adjoining states. Following this, the strengths and weaknesses of the three principal types of taxes presently applied to the industry (property taxes, production or severance taxes, and corporate net income taxes) will be discussed. Finally, some concluding comments will be made with regard to the taxation of this important but long-ailing industry in West Virginia

Empirical Support for the PCAOB’s Elimination of the Independent Auditor’s Opinion Regarding Management’s Assessment of Internal Control

In an attempt to bolster public confidence in the accounting profession, the PCAOB issued several standards that were intended to address weaknesses in audit reporting and to increase public confidence in financial reporting. One of these standards, Auditing Standard No.2, added two opinions on an enterprise’s internal control to audit reporting requirements. This Standard was superseded by Auditing Standard No. 5, which eliminated one of these opinions. The purpose of this paper is to examine the efficacy of the elimination of the auditor’s opinion regarding management’s assessment of internal control. The data in this study were taken from 10-K reports filed by Fortune 500 Companies in 2004-2007. From the 10-K reports, copies of audit reports were gathered for 114 of the 120 largest companies and the opinions (unqualified, qualified, or adverse) were recorded

Relationship-Based Persuasion: A Guide for the CPA

An issue faced by a CPA on a regular basis is how to persuade a client to take a recommended action. Maybe your client is unprepared financially for the future and needs to establish a retirement account. As much as your client understands the importance of planning for retirement, the allure of a new car or a kitchen renovation may be too great, and that sensible alternative you are recommending may be ignored until some uncertain future date. Or, maybe the client’s internal controls are inadequate. For many small businesses, where trust in employees is paramount, internal controls may be weak or lacking. You would like to persuade your client to consider implementing some critical controls over petty cash. How do you best communicate this need to your client? How can you persuade him/her to accept your recommendation? There are many approaches to persuasion. This paper outlines an effective method of persuasion that CPAs may apply

A Survey of Accounting Educators Regarding Convergence of Financial Reporting Standards

Generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and international financial reporting standards (IFRS) are becoming more and more similar. Though their sources are different and though GAAP has the force of the authority in the United States, the two sets of standards are reaching a greater level of convergence. In some cases, GAAP has been altered in order to align with the position of IFRS. Similarly, some IFRS have been altered in order to converge with GAAP. The motivation for these changes is to improve financial reporting standards across political borders by creating a common set of standards. In the process, global markets will benefit from having standards that are comparable worldwide. The purpose of this paper is to summarize the progress made toward convergence and report the results of a survey of accounting educators regarding their opinions of the current progress and future potential for convergence of financial accounting standards

An Analysis of Restatements Due to Errors and Auditor Changes by Fortune 500 Companies

Events leading to the breakup of Arthur Anderson and Co. included the failure of Enron and other evidence of financial reporting irregularities. Many of these irregularities involved restatement of financial statements due to error. During the last several years, numerous articles in the accounting literature and accounting press have chronicled such restatements and the often associated change in auditor. This paper analyzes restatements due to error and auditor changes made by Fortune 500 companies during 2001 and 2002 in order to assess whether restatements due to error lowered or raised income and whether companies with income-decreasing errors showed a greater propensity for changing auditors. The data in this study were taken from 8-K reports filed by Fortune 500 Companies in 2001 and 2002 and from a search of the Securities and Exchange Commission\u27s EDGAR database using the word restate and its derivatives. We searched for and analyzed restatements that were due to error. The income statement effects of these restatements were classified as income-decreasing or as non income-decreasing. We identified and confirmed two hypotheses related lo restatements. First, restatemenls generally lowered rather than raised income. Second. companies reporting restatements that materially reduced income were more likely to change auditors than companies with non income-decreasing errors. More importantly. this study extended prior research by showing that the magnitude, not simply the direction, of a restatement was important in explaining when a change in auditor was likely lo occur

A 17 degree of freedom anthropomorphic manipulator

A 17 axis anthropomorphic manipulator, providing coordinated control of two seven degree of freedom arms mounted on a three degree of freedom torso-waist assembly, is presented. This massively redundant telerobot, designated the Robotics Research K/B-2017 Dexterous Manipulator, employs a modular mechanism design with joint-mounted actuators based on brushless motors and harmonic drive gear reducers. Direct joint torque control at the servo level causes these high-output joint drives to behave like direct-drive actuators, facilitating the implementation of an effective impedance control scheme. The redundant, but conservative motion control system models the manipulator as a spring-loaded linkage with viscous damping and rotary inertia at each joint. This approach allows for real time, sensor-driven control of manipulator pose using a hierarchy of competing rules, or objective functions, to avoid unplanned collisions with objects in the workplace, to produce energy-efficient, graceful motion, to increase leverage, to control effective impedance at the tool or to favor overloaded joints