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The paper may provide policy makers with another tool for analyzing the impact of disciplinary actions against public accounting firms. It analyzes the termination of US public accounting firm Arthur Andersen using arguments developed in the capital punishment debate and develops a paradigm for examining future actions against public accounting firms. The authors reviewed major arguments for and against capital punishment and assessed their usefulness as a tool in examining the Andersen case. A paradigm was then developed to assess the propriety of the action against Andersen and possible future cases. Most arguments regarding capital punishment were applicable to the Andersen case, allowing the authors to develop a template for assessing future disciplinary actions against public accounting firms. The “death penalty”, as applied to Arthur Andersen, was justified. While corporations are “legal persons”, they are obviously not human. This weakens (or renders moot) some of the most powerful arguments against capital punishment. Furthermore, this paradigm may be less useful in societies that prohibit capital punishment. Provides a unique way of examining the impact of disciplinary action against public accounting firms.

The knowledge management assessment tool (KMAT) is designed to help organisations make an initial high‐level assessment of how well they manage knowledge. Completing the KMAT can direct organisations toward areas that require more attention, as well as identify knowledge management practices in which they excel. The KMAT proposes ways that four enablers (leadership, culture, technology and measurement) can be used to foster the development of organisational knowledge through the knowledge management process. This process embraces the steps that the organisation takes to identify the information it needs and the manner in which it collects, adapts and transfers that information across the organisation. The model places all the major knowledge management activities and enablers together in a dynamic system. Describes how organisations can have their performance rated and benchmarked with those of other organisations for each of 24 practices.

This article analyzes Accenture’s reincarnation by pinpointing the main lessons that might be emulated by other companies contemplating going down the three‐pronged road to rebranding, restructuring and repositioning. Its objectives are three‐fold. First, it traces the company’s heritage and highlights that it pioneered the splitting of consulting from accounting activities. Second, it discusses the three pillars of Accenture’s transformation involving rebranding, restructuring and repositioning campaigns. Finally, it recognizes Accenture’s two leaders who transformed this company from merely good to truly great in a relatively short time.

This paper responds to concerns raised by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) and scholars over the rapid growth of Big 4 consulting practices. This paper aims to explores the question: Does the regrowth of sizable consulting practices by the Big 4 influence audit reporting lag and restatement rates?

A population of the SEC-registered US audit clients of the Big 4 was used in this study. Longitudinal data on Big 4 audit clients from 2000 through 2009 were analyzed to determine the impact of consulting practice size on the clients’ audit reporting lag and restatement rate.

This paper finds that consulting practice size has a positive and statistically significant influence on audit reporting lag and restatement rate. The results are robust to alternative specifications of the sample and controlling for the level of non-audit services provided to audit clients.

The findings contribute to the discussion of the scope-of-services issue. They provide empirical support for Zeff’s (2003) and Wyatt’s (2004) intuition that the loss of Big 4 professional focus – not simply conflicts of interests – is a major factor affecting the audit quality.

The uniqueness of this paper is in how it counts restatements. Each year this paper counts that annual financial statements are restated as opposed to each disclosure of a restatement. This paper’s contribution is to examine the association between the regrowth of Big 4 accounting firm consulting practices with audit reporting lag and restatements.

Establishing an audit committee presumably strengthens the external auditor’s independence. Several studies have examined how audit committees affect the selection of the company’s external auditor, negotiate audit fees and enhance the auditor’s independence. But what of the independence of the audit committee members themselves? Do audit committee members exhibit biases when they select their company’s auditors? The relationship between the entity’s external auditor and the audit committee member’s affiliated company’s auditors has not been examined. For example, are audit committee members prone to select or remain with audit firms with which they have developed a formal relationship within their own company? This study of 247 New York Stock Exchange firms finds significant relationships (at the 0.05 level of significance) between CPA firms selected by audit committees and by the CPA firm which audits the audit committee member’s own organization. Results indicate that audit committee members exhibit conscious or unconscious biases in their selection or retention of their companies’ auditors.

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether the use of commercial‐in‐confidence arrangements within the public sector allows the deliberate manipulation of accounting figures to generate support for the privatisation agenda.

A case study is presented of an Australian power entity, United Energy, where the privatisation was subject to commercial‐in‐confidence restrictions and differing opinions as to the accuracy of the entity's financial accounts during the privatisation process. It examines many of the key “commercial‐in‐confidence” documents, which are now available through parliamentary and official document sources, together with pre‐ and post‐privatisation financial statements.

The accounting figures were shaped to support a privatisation agenda and this was obscured by the commercial‐in‐confidence provision. Some attempts were made to use accounting arrangements to reduce federal taxes but this failed. A substantial element of the reported sale price represented internal transfers between the state‐owned entity and the government with the actual price paid by the purchaser being substantially lower than the reported price. The price paid was based on the financial statements which were openly challenged by the Auditor‐General. The paper strongly supports the contention that manipulation of accounting figures occurs under commercial‐in‐confidence privatisations.

This was limited to one example at one time. Further work is needed on other settings.

The paper challenges the success claimed for the privatisation process and for the social benefits of privatisation by tender.

There was little evidence of a substantial improvement in financial performance following privatisation or that the pre‐privatisation performance was substantially boosted to support the privatisation agenda. It did show that the accounting served political ends.

During the 1990s the value to an intending professional accountant of undertaking a period of liberal (general) studies was promoted internationally by a number of individuals and organisations, including the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) and the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants (the “Institute”). The Institute significantly changed its admissions policy for Chartered Accountants in 1996 and one change was to require four years of degree level study with a compulsory liberal studies component. This study surveys the perceptions of New Zealand accounting practitioners on the impact of this compulsory liberal component. The results of this study demonstrate that there is little support from accounting practitioners for IFAC’s claim that liberal education “can contribute significantly to the acquisition of professional skills”, including intellectual, personal and communication skills. In addition, the majority of respondents did not perceive any improvements in the professional skills of the staff that had qualified under the Institute’s current admissions policy. However, any perceived improvements were mainly attributed to the Institute’s admissions policy change. Notwithstanding the lack of support for the assertion that liberal education develops professional skills, there is a strong belief by respondents in the value of liberal education for intending professional accountants.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between market structure, competition and pricing in the UK accounting services market. This association is important because mergers amongst the leading firms and the collapse of Arthur Andersen have reduced the number of international accounting firms to four.

The paper examines concentration ratios (CR) and the fees charged by accounting firms. The data used encompass the period when the number of leading suppliers fell from eight to four.

FTSE100 consultancy fees increased rapidly in the 1990s. Independence concerns, corporate scandals and additional legislation contributed to a sharp increase in audit fees and a significant decrease in consultancy fees since the turn of the century. The international accounting firms responded to saturation of the FTSE100 market by targeting the small and medium‐sized client sectors as avenues for further growth. The audit market is competitive at the initial tender stage but concentration has allowed firms to significantly increase audit fees on repeat engagements.

A number of theoretical and empirical limitations are acknowledged that could further increase the statistical power of the tests.

The study should be of interest to regulatory bodies, auditors, audit clients and academics.

This paper fills a gap in the literature regarding the evolution of CRs and accounting service fees over a significant time frame.

Examines the securitization market and explores the factors which fuel grounds for growth in this market and whether, in light of proposed BIS changes, it will continue to expand. Discusses possible pitfalls and itemizes these with further explanations. Looks at the situation in three countries in particular – Italy, Germany and France, giving useful breakdowns on each. Concludes that banks will have an even greater incentive to remove high‐credit risk corporates from balance sheets owing to capital required.

Strategy consultants have much to offer a top executive in terms of improving the bottom line. Yet little is known about the strategy consulting industry, because the firms and their clients are often reluctant to disclose details of their activities. This article surveys the leading strategy consulting firms and explores trends affecting the future of the industry.