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With recent increases in cybersecurity incidents, it is imperative to supplement current accounting curriculum, equip accounting graduates with sufficient knowledge and skills to assess cybersecurity risk, and learn about controls to mitigate such risks. In this chapter, the authors describe 10 teaching modules, supported by 10 professionally produced video series. The authors developed these videos for educating students on cybersecurity and the videos are available free to instructors from other institutions who wish to use them. The videos are filled with insights and advice from our two experts – one a former hacker and the other an experienced cybersecurity professional. This dialogue between two different sides provides a rich discussion that leads to answering many questions that people often have about cybersecurity. Further, in Exhibit 1, this chapter offers a framework for characterizing and analyzing some recent publicized data-breach cases, which can supplement discussion on cybersecurity modules. Instructors can add more cases to this source overtime. Finally, the authors share the analysis of feedback from students who went through the series. The results suggest that the students show interest in the topic, and videos helped them better understand the complexity of cybersecurity risk and controls.

This paper provides a comprehensive review of the academic research related to the certified public accountant (CPA) exam. Our review identifies several research streams in this area, including studies that examine the effects of educational requirements and institutional and candidate characteristics on CPA exam success. In addition, we describe the CPA licensure regulatory landscape and show a general trend of lessening educational requirements among the jurisdictions over the past two decades. In the meantime, the governing bodies of CPA licensure are beginning the CPA Evolution project, a project that entails evolving licensure requirements, including the CPA exam, to meet the demands of a constantly changing business environment. We call on the CPA licensure regulators to align their jurisdictions’ educational requirements to best serve the CPA Evolution project. Lastly, we provide suggestions for future research that would assist accounting regulators, academic administrators, and practitioners during this transformative period.

This paper leverages the concept of business information intensity (BII) with the aim of developing a model to assess control deficiency risk (CDR) in organizations. BII measures the extent of use of IT by an organization in its products and value chain.

The paper develops a conceptual model that uses BII and CDR to examine alternative approaches to risk management. This model contains four quadrants that provide insight into varying risk management strategies for business processes. CFOs and internal auditors from Fortune 100 companies are surveyed to illustrate how the model may be used to guide management in assessing IT security expenditure.

The model suggests that spending on IT and information security is higher for companies with high BII‐CDR than those with low BII‐CDR.

Analysis focused on only two quadrants in a four‐quadrant model. Future research may seek to refine the measurement of BII and CDR, and offer greater insight into the types of business processes that fall into each of the four quadrants as well as those that do not fit neatly into those quadrants.

Organizations may use the BII‐CDR model to assess risk and to evaluate investments in IT security and other control activities. The model also highlights the need to redefine the concept of materiality and to consider its link to BII and CDR. Auditors should consider the interaction of BII and CDR in planning the audit, conducting field work, and managing overall audit risk.

The paper provides original insights into the relationship between BII and CDR and its implications for treatment of materiality. It was observed that activities which support critical business processes are themselves critical. This is an important departure from traditional approaches to evaluating materiality.

Research readings groups represent a recent innovation in accounting doctoral education that appears to be spreading at research-oriented universities. In this chapter, the authors describe how accounting research readings groups can serve as a mechanism to engage doctoral students in the consumption and discussion of research throughout all phases of the doctoral program. An accounting research readings group supplements the breadth of knowledge gained in doctoral seminars by adding depth of knowledge in a focal research area. The authors offer insights from the educational psychology literature to justify research readings groups as a form of team-based learning and then offer suggestions on the formation and operation of these groups. The authors enumerate the many benefits that these groups afford to both doctoral students and faculty members. The authors also distribute a survey to faculty organizers of the existing accounting research readings groups and share the results of this survey to supplement their advice with firsthand experiences, the authors also share the results of a survey distributed to faculty organizers of existing accounting research readings groups. The authors’ goal is to encourage the use of accounting research readings groups to inspire, foster, and enhance the research culture within accounting departments and doctoral programs.