{"title":"Audit effort in the digital Era: Uncovering the dynamic interplay of business strategy and digital transformation","authors":"Qiaoling Fang , Zichen Wang , Li Dang","doi":"10.1016/j.accinf.2025.100747","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.accinf.2025.100747","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study investigates the impact of business strategy, digitalization, and their interaction on audit effort in the digital transformation era. Our findings reveal that Chinese prospector-type companies require higher levels of audit effort compared to defender-type companies. Furthermore, companies with greater digitalization tend to demand more audit effort due to the increased business risks associated with the adoption of advanced digital technologies. Contingency Theory predicts that a fit between prospector strategies and digitalization leads to more successful transformation outcomes and reduced business risks. Consistent with this theory, we find that the impact of digitalization on audit effort is reduced (increased) for prospector-type (defender-type) companies due to the strategic fit (misfit). This result highlights how the fit/misfit between a company’s strategy and its transformative initiatives can lead to varying levels of business risk, ultimately impacting the audit effort.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47170,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Accounting Information Systems","volume":"56 ","pages":"Article 100747"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2025-05-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143917354","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Manuel Cano-Rodríguez , Manuel Núñez-Nickel , Ana Licerán-Gutiérrez
{"title":"Divergence from Benford’s law fails to measure financial statement accuracy","authors":"Manuel Cano-Rodríguez , Manuel Núñez-Nickel , Ana Licerán-Gutiérrez","doi":"10.1016/j.accinf.2025.100745","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.accinf.2025.100745","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The Financial Statement Divergence (<em>FSD</em>) score, a metric of the deviation of figures from Benford’s Distribution, has become increasingly popular in assessing financial information quality at the firm-year level. We test the validity of this metric by analyzing (1) if error-free financial statements conform to Benford and (2) if the <em>FSD</em> score increases with the presence of accounting errors or manipulations. Regarding the first analysis, firm-year financial statements’ conformity to Benford is much lower than previously reported in the literature; this implies that the assumption of error-free financial statements conforming to Benford would hold only if an exceptionally high proportion of companies report financial statements with a substantial number of line items affected by errors or manipulations. Regarding the second analysis, we theoretically show that the relationship between accounting errors or manipulations and divergence from Benford is inconsistent: <em>FSD</em> score variations are independent of the size of the error or manipulation, and errors or manipulations may increase, decrease, or have no effect on the <em>FSD</em> score. Empirically, we show that various subsamples with <em>a priori</em> lower accounting quality do not exhibit a higher <em>FSD</em> score and, using simulated values, we verify that manipulations can increase, decrease, or have no effect on the <em>FSD</em> depending on the value of the pre-managed <em>FSD</em>. Taken together, our results cast doubts on the <em>FSD</em> score’s validity in assessing financial information quality at the firm-year level.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47170,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Accounting Information Systems","volume":"56 ","pages":"Article 100745"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2025-05-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143903401","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"CEO gender and cybersecurity: The role of female CEOs in mitigating data breach risks","authors":"Liang Sun","doi":"10.1016/j.accinf.2025.100746","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.accinf.2025.100746","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>While cybersecurity is an important concern and CEOs play a crucial role in managing cybersecurity risks, evidence on how CEO characteristics influence data breach incidents is limited. Motivated by the increasing frequency and severity of data breaches, this study investigates how CEO gender affects firms’ likelihood of experiencing a data breach. The findings show that firms led by female CEOs are less likely to experience breaches. This association remains robust after matching on breach likelihood and correcting for selection bias. Cross-sectional analyses show that the effect of female CEOs on reducing data breach likelihood is more pronounced in poorly governed firms and in firms lacking IT expertise among top executives. Further investigation suggest that enhanced IT governance is a mechanism through which female CEOs reduce firm’s data breach likelihood. Overall, my findings reveal how CEO characteristics influence firms’ cybersecurity outcomes and complement the literature on information security and gender diversity in corporate leadership.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47170,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Accounting Information Systems","volume":"56 ","pages":"Article 100746"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2025-04-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143859213","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Excessive custom XBRL tag usage in 10-K filings and SEC oversight","authors":"Joung W. Kim , Daeun Lee","doi":"10.1016/j.accinf.2025.100742","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.accinf.2025.100742","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We conduct an in-depth examination of excessive custom XBRL tag usage in 10-K filings among U.S. firms. We discuss why some firms are prone to creating custom tags in 10-K filings and assess whether such excessive usage is associated with heightened regulatory attention from the SEC. First, we find that firms with weak internal controls are more likely to create custom tags in 10-K filings. Next, we observe a positive association between excessive custom tag usage and SEC oversight, evidenced by a higher likelihood of receiving comment letters and increased SEC involvement, which raises concerns over substantive disclosure deficiencies. In response to increased regulatory scrutiny, we document that firms reduce the proportion of custom tags in subsequent filings, and we find that SEC-reviewed custom tags enhance the informativeness of financial reports for investors. Collectively, our findings suggest that the excessive use of custom tags reflects a manifestation of firms’ disclosure deficiencies, which are mitigated during the SEC review process.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47170,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Accounting Information Systems","volume":"56 ","pages":"Article 100742"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143678306","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Yu-Cheng Lin , Roni Padliansyah , Yu-Hsin Lu , Wen-Rang Liu
{"title":"Bankruptcy prediction: Integration of convolutional neural networks and explainable artificial intelligence techniques","authors":"Yu-Cheng Lin , Roni Padliansyah , Yu-Hsin Lu , Wen-Rang Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.accinf.2025.100744","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.accinf.2025.100744","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Accurately predicting a company’s future performance is vital for both management and investors. This study employs the Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) approach, utilizing a Convolutional Neural Network model (CNN) to forecast company financial conditions based on their financial ratios. By transforming financial data into images, we introduce a Bankruptcy Prediction Model (BPM) that enhances interpretability through techniques like Shapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) and Local Interpretable Model-Agnostic Explanations (LIME). These XAI methods aim to clarify AI decisions in the BPM, addressing the ongoing debate within the financial research community regarding the most informative ratios for bankruptcy prediction. This research marks a significant advancement in financial accounting by merging the transparency of XAI with effective bankruptcy prediction, offering a more comprehensive understanding of financial ratio analysis.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47170,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Accounting Information Systems","volume":"56 ","pages":"Article 100744"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143609497","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Earnings management visualization and prediction using machine learning methods","authors":"David Veganzones , Eric Séverin","doi":"10.1016/j.accinf.2025.100743","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.accinf.2025.100743","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>To create new insights and understanding of earnings management, this study attempts to diagnose firms’ financial profiles using machine learning methods and thereby provide a visual representation of the financial profiles that characterize earnings management strategies (upward and downward) and tools (accruals and real activities). By applying a novel machine learning method to detect signs of earnings management, this research reveals diverse financial profiles related to earnings management. Firms that conduct downward manipulation (accruals and real activities) share a sound financial profile. For firms that manipulate earnings upward, different types of financial distress influence the earnings management tool they use: Companies with liquidity constraints undertake accruals earnings management; companies with solvency difficulties are prone to real activities management. Notably, the proposed machine learning method outperforms traditional prediction methods in detecting signals of earnings management.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47170,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Accounting Information Systems","volume":"56 ","pages":"Article 100743"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143579594","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Tassilo L. Föhr , Valentin Reichelt , Kai-Uwe Marten , Marc Eulerich
{"title":"A Framework for the Structured Implementation of Process Mining for Audit Tasks","authors":"Tassilo L. Föhr , Valentin Reichelt , Kai-Uwe Marten , Marc Eulerich","doi":"10.1016/j.accinf.2025.100727","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.accinf.2025.100727","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Process Mining (PM) enhances the evaluation of the internal control system with corresponding tests of controls due to a comprehensive analysis of variants within business processes. It can be used by external and internal auditors to improve audit efficiency, effectiveness, and quality. Nevertheless, PM is still not an industry-wide best-practice standard, especially due to existing implementation barriers for practitioners. This study utilizes Design Science Research (DSR) to develop the Audit Process Mining (APM) Framework to implement PM into audit tasks and overcome existing implementation barriers. The APM Framework was designed using empirical insights extracted from interviews with subject matter experts across various audit firms and large industrial companies. Furthermore, 19 auditing professionals confirmed that the APM Framework is a valid and verified solution.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47170,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Accounting Information Systems","volume":"56 ","pages":"Article 100727"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143579593","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Rosemary Kim , Timothy Hedley , Jagdish Gangolly , S.S. Ravi
{"title":"Segregation of duties in accounting systems: A framework","authors":"Rosemary Kim , Timothy Hedley , Jagdish Gangolly , S.S. Ravi","doi":"10.1016/j.accinf.2025.100725","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.accinf.2025.100725","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Developing systems to enforce segregation of duties in accounting information systems is a complex task in high-transaction-volume environments. We develop a framework for alleviating the drawbacks of many SoD systems: absence of skills and tasks in SoD data models, lack of interfaces with business processes, and weak detection of non-compliance during business execution. Assuming the goal of SoD is to have no tasks unassigned to employees, no task assigned to an employee that does not have the skills to perform it, and compliance with all SoD rules, the paper develops polynomial time algorithms for the verification of SoD compliance of task and role assignments to employees in a sales order processing example with three SoD rules to illustrate the concepts in the paper. We also discuss the relationship of our model with the work on computational auditing and suggest how the two together can provide a unified view of SoD.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47170,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Accounting Information Systems","volume":"56 ","pages":"Article 100725"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2025-02-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143422180","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Stuart Black (Special Issue Guest Editor), Gregory J. Gerard (Special Issue Guest Editor)
{"title":"Accelerating the future of audit technologies: Introducing the special issue and emphasizing future research directions","authors":"Stuart Black (Special Issue Guest Editor), Gregory J. Gerard (Special Issue Guest Editor)","doi":"10.1016/j.accinf.2025.100740","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.accinf.2025.100740","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":47170,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Accounting Information Systems","volume":"56 ","pages":"Article 100740"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2025-02-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143445632","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Danielle R. Lombardi , Meehyun Kim , Janice C. Sipior , Miklos A. Vasarhelyi
{"title":"The increased role of advanced technology and automation in audit: A delphi study","authors":"Danielle R. Lombardi , Meehyun Kim , Janice C. Sipior , Miklos A. Vasarhelyi","doi":"10.1016/j.accinf.2025.100733","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.accinf.2025.100733","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Audit practices were re-evaluated to perform audits remotely during and after the pandemic, accelerating the use of advanced technology. In response, this study seeks to gain expert predictions on the future directions of advanced technology supporting auditors. The results from a Delphi panel reveal that experts anticipate audits will be highly automated, technology usage will increase for internal and external audits, the pace and characteristics of audit automation are predominantly shaped by regulatory frameworks, technological skill sets of auditors will greatly increase, and cognitive technology will be used to assist in making judgments. Consequently, there is concern about the ethical implications of using technology. Interestingly, the experts did not foresee technology moving as quickly as it is. To appraise these predictions, we reexamine prior predictions from two previous Delphi studies. Since due care is necessary, the risks and implications of using technologies are provided.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47170,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Accounting Information Systems","volume":"56 ","pages":"Article 100733"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2025-02-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143386455","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}