Accounting

• Amy Allen, Tax Senior Manager, Whitley Penn
• Dan Barron, Partner, FORVIS
• Rick Baumeister, Managing Principal, CliftonLarsonAllen
• Paul Beauchamp, Partner, Deloitte
• Mark Bracker, BNSF Railway
• Anna Brewer, Partner, JTaylor & Associates
• Connie Coffey, Controller and Chief Accounting Officer, GM Financial
• Ben Colodney, Director of Financial Reporting, Matador Resources Company
• Kelsey Cunningham, Chief Financial Officer, Nolan Brothers of Texas, Inc.
• Amanda Hartman, Partner, Grant Thornton
• Rayford High, Partner, KPMG
• Brent Horak, Partner, BDO
• Debbie Jackson, VP & Controller, Walmart US
• Brian King, Head of Operations Excellence, Alcon
• Field Lange, President, Lange & Associates, PC
• Melinda Lawrence, Chief Financial Officer, Meriton
• Todd Lisle, Managing Partner, FORVIS
• Scott Miracle, Partner, Ernst & Young
• Robert Loritz, Partner, Weaver
• Martina Luna, Partner, PwC
• Anthony Placencio, Partner, RSM
• Suzanne Stevens, Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer, Crescent Real Estate
• Brent Woodford, EVP and Controller, Disney
• Scott Wrehe, Chief Financial Officer, Keller Independent School District

Each year, we celebrate the outstanding accolades and accomplishments of our alumni, students and faculty.

Outstanding Accounting Alum Award

Scott Miracle ’90, Partner, Ernst & Young
Scott Miracle helps the Accounting Department’s faculty and staff develop leaders in accounting and financial services by contributing to student- and faculty-related programming, and as a member of the department’s advisory board. Miracle has worked closely with publicly traded and high-growth private companies for more than 30 years in a variety of industries, including energy, homebuilding and retail/consumer products. He has extensive experience in public and private capital-raising transactions, mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, and other transactions. Miracle has served in various leadership roles at EY, including EY’s West Region’s assurance leadership team responsible for oversight of more than 3,600 professionals and 350 partners, working across 18 states. Miracle’s technical and leadership experience of more than 33 years in public accounting greatly benefit the TCU Neeley Accounting Advisory Board, and his advocacy and mentorship have elevated the career trajectories of many TCU accounting alumni.

Student Awards

• Madeline Blair – Outstanding Scholar in Accounting
• Anna Grace Powell – Senior Accounting Scholar
• Matt Massotto – Junior Accounting Award
• Kendall Gray – Distinguished Accounting Scholar Endowed Fellowship
• Carolyn Altshuler – Geraldine F. Dominiak Memorial Inspiration and Leadership Award
• Trevor Tramison – Texas Society of CPAs Accounting Excellence Award and Education Foundation Scholarship Recipient
• Chandler Quave – PCAOB Scholarship Recipient
• Victoria Rodriguez – R.J. Schumacher Accounting Scholarship
• Kelsey Bacon – Financial Executives International, Fort Worth Chapter Scholarship
• Katrina Metcalf – Financial Executive International, Fort Worth Chapter Academic Award
• Sergio Gonzales and Victoria Rodriguez – Admire Scholarship
• Madeline Blair – Petroleum Society Scholarship
• Nichole Wright – Robin Elise Boyer Memorial Scholarship
• Mia Hammond and Bryce Wujcik – Sally Hewell Brown Annual Scholarship
• Mary Clare McDonald – Sanoa Hensley Accounting Scholarship
• Payton Connolly – Outstanding MAc Classmate

Faculty and Staff Awards

• Jeff Chen – Appointed Robert and Edith Schumacher Junior Faculty Fellow
• Ann Tasby – NABA, Inc. Award for National Achievement in Education; TCU Trailblazer Award; Finalist for TCU Chancellor's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Award
• Connie Lamirand – Neeley Inclusive Excellence Award
• Elizabeth Plummer – Neeley Dean's Teaching Award; Bob Vigeland Excellence in Accounting Award; MAc Class of 2023 Most Outstanding Professor
• Karen Nelson – TCU Student Government Association Neeley Faculty of the Year; Neeley Undergraduate Teaching Award
• Amy Troutman – Neeley's Finalist for TCU Maryrose Short Distinguished Teaching Award
• Janice Cobb – Geraldine F. Dominiak Memorial Scholar's Faculty Mentor

We thank our generous donors for supporting the next generation of trailblazers during fiscal year 5-31-23 through accounting-designated awards and scholarships, as well as other Accounting Department support.

• Patrick H. and Sondra K. Admire
• Admire Sanford & Lauderdale
• Amy Allen
• Austin Billman
• Mark Bracker
• Anna Brewer
• Keith Bunch
• Julia Cagle
• Day Family Charitable Gift Fund
• Debo Barnett Charitable Fund
• Deloitte Foundation
• Linh Do
• Ernst & Young Foundation
• ExxonMobil Foundation
• Kimberly Fransen
• Stuart Harrison
• Rayford High
• Hirth Family Foundation
• Brent Horak
• Hund Family Fund
• KPMG Foundation
• Lange & Associates
• Melinda Lawrence
• Todd Lisle
• Robert Loritz
• Virginia Lusch
• Gary Meek
• Scott Miracle
• George M. and Jennifer L. Murphy
• Robert Opitz
• Whitley Penn
• Nancy K. and Don C. Plattsmier
• Robert Reeves
• Gregory A. and Suzanne K. Stevens
• Christopher R. and Amy Suffron
• Robert Weyand
• Karen White
• Tiffany Wong

We welcome several seasoned professionals from across the nation to share their experiences and insights with students each year. Here's a snapshot of our speakers

Auditing

• Bill Leonard – PwC (retired, alumnus)
• Tiffany Wong – Deloitte (alumna)
• Anthony Placencio – RSM
• Evan Cliff – BDO
• Natalie Strong – KPMG
• Quade Gibson – Deloitte
• Moe Malik – Deloitte
• Madison Halboth – RSM
• Michael Kenny – Ernst & Young
• Natalie Wood – GT

Business Combinations and Advanced Topics

• Brent Woodford – The Walt Disney Company

Corporate Finance and Financial Analysis

• Taylor Paul – Lockheed Martin
• Aaron Reichner – Lockheed Martin
• Karoline Scherer – Standish Management
• Craig Miller – Goldman Sachs
• Jared Cline – Aquila Environmental

Ethics for Accounting Professionals

• Bob Hirth – Protiviti, Sustainability Accounting Standards Board
• Courtney Black and Chad Francis – Ernst & Young (alumna)
• Helen Sharkey – HSG Consulting

Financial Reporting

• Suzanne Stevens – Crescent Real Estate LLC (alumna)

Financial Reporting Research

• Amanda Hartman, Keith Konen and Alice Galaz – Grant Thornton

Fundamentals of Accounting

• Earl G. Fagan, Jr. – Amazon

Master of Accounting Program

• Rick Warne – SEC
• Anna Brewer, Emily Wade, Matt Riesen and Julie La Pata – JTaylor
• Adrianna Huffman – Brattle Group
• Michael Bornitz and Scott Oman – LKCM
• Kevin Muskat, Lindsay Sloan, Sonam Gupta, Chidambara Vinayagam, Laura Frazier and Parker Mack – Ernst & Young
• Rayford High – KPMG
• Shira Goldmann – SASB
• Paul Beauchamp, Chris Messer and Madison Greig – Deloitte
• Tyler Stage – Embark
• Brad Barrett, Amanda Hartman and Steve Villani – Grant Thornton
• Dana Smith – PCAOB
• David Young – Fagron

Professional Program in Accounting Seminar, Advisory

• Suzanne Stevens – Crescent Real Estate LLC (alumna)
• Anna Brewer – JTaylor (alumna)
• Jessica Marcotuli – Houlihan Lokey (alumna)
• Julie La Plata – JTaylor
• Charmaine Sherlock – Cerity Partners
• Hudson Trent – Alvarez and Marsal

Tax

• Crystal Casillas – KPMG
• Amy Van Burkleo – GT
• Gigi VanDenburgh – GT
• Mary Pate – Deloitte
• Christine King – Ernst & Young
• Marc Geisler – JTaylor
• Andrew Pirtle – JTaylor
• Victoria Conley – Koch

Impact of Faculty Research on Policy, Practice and Media
Fall 2022

Our accounting faculty are devoted to providing TCU students an outstanding education. We also strive to make two contributions with our research. First, we advance the body of knowledge in accounting and related areas by publishing our work in top academic journals. The best-known ranking of accounting departments’ research ranks us at the 90^th percentile among departments across the globe that likewise engage in scholarly research. In the same ranking of nearly 700 universities, we rank 100 places higher than the average rank of accounting departments at universities identified as peers by TCU’s leadership. 

Beyond publishing in top academic journals, we also aim to impact and inform the practice and teaching of accounting and business with our research. Following, we:

1. Provide examples of how our faculty have impacted business policy or practice
2. Note cases in which the media have shown interest in our work
3. Describe how we have contributed to accounting education beyond TCU’s campus by writing textbooks.

We also provide examples of some of our accounting faculty's current projects.

Research Projects

Anne Albrecht

Paper Title: Do Auditors Recognize the Dark Side of Executives’ Accounting Competence?
Journal: The Accounting Review
Date Published: January 2018
Authors: Anne Albrecht (TCU), Elaine Mauldin and Nathan J. Newton
Relevant to: Media
How relevant: This paper has been extensively cited by the media, including The Wall Street Journal, CFO Journal, Accounting Today, CPA Practice Advisor and other outlets.

Current Project or Working Paper: Auditors’ Going-Concern Opinions when GAAP Losses do not Capture Core Earnings
Authors: Anne Albrecht (TCU), Jeff Chen (TCU) and Karen Nelson (TCU)
Brief summary: Research has focused on auditors’ assessments of going-concern using GAAP financial distress signals. Yet, the increasing prevalence of alternative earnings measures (e.g., pro forma earnings) suggests that GAAP earnings may not capture core earnings. This paper examines firms with GAAP losses but core earnings profits (i.e., “switches”). Results show that switches are informative of future loss reversals and that auditors effectively incorporate this information into their going concern assessments, as evidenced by a lower likelihood of auditor going concern opinions for switch firms. This paper was presented to the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), indicating that it is already informing policy.

Jeff Chen

Current Project or Working Paper: Information Transparency and Investment in Follow-on Innovation
Authors: J. Chen (TCU), Y. Kim, L. Yang and J. Zhang
Brief Summary: In this study, we focus on the perspective of firms that make investments in follow-on innovation, showing that transparency on the part of cited firms reduces uncertainty and helps citing firms make more informed decisions. From the cited firms’ point of view, however, knowledge spillovers to rivals may deteriorate their competitive position. Firms that own predecessor knowledge may thus have an incentive to be opaque. Although these tactical disclosure decisions are beyond the scope of our investigation, proprietary costs of disclosures suggest that information transparency may not be achievable without strong pro-transparency public policies. It is debatable, however, whether information transparency facilitates or hampers economic growth if a pro-transparency public policy decreases overall innovative activity in the society despite its positive effect on knowledge spillover.

Shana Clor-Proell

Paper Title: Response by the Financial Reporting Policy Committee of the Financial Accounting and Reporting Section of the American Accounting Association to the FASB Invitation to Comment on Identifiable Intangible Assets and Subsequent Accounting for Goodwill
Journal: Accounting Horizons
Date Published: 2022
Authors: Clor-Proell, S.M. (TCU), N. Brown, S. Stubben, B. White, B. Blankespoor, E. Gordon, M. Gujarathi, E. Henry and K. Merkley
Relevant to: Policy
How relevant: The Financial Reporting Policy Committee sent a letter to the Financial Accounting Standards Board (the Board) in October 2019. The letter helps the Board with the accounting for goodwill and intangible assets. This paper summarizes the letter and discusses opportunities for future research.

George Drymiotes

Paper Title: Strategic Director Appointments
Journal: Journal of Accounting Research
Date Published: 2021
Authors: George Drymiotes (TCU) and Konduru Sivaramakrishnan
Relevant to: Practice, Media
How relevant: The editor of Columbia Law School’s blog on Corporations and the Capital Markets contacted the authors about writing a summary of their paper for the readers of the blog. The blog post is available here.

Kai Gu

Current Project or Working Paper: Accounting Conservatism and Debt Contracting: The Roles of Liquidation Value and Information Search
Authors: Kai Gu (TCU)
Brief summary: This paper examines the role of accounting conservatism in debt contracting by focusing on liquidation value and information search. I identify situations where 1) accounting conservatism will increase or decrease the cost of debt, and 2) conservative accounting, as opposed to aggressive accounting, will be socially optimal. I also examine whether an interim accounting report will enhance or impair social welfare and find that the degree of accounting conservatism is better endogenously chosen than exogenously set. Such finding speaks to whether standard setters should view conservatism as a useful quality of accounting information.

In-Mu Haw

Paper Title: Market Consequences of Earnings Management in Response to Security Regulations in China
Journal: Contemporary Accounting Research
Date Published: Spring 2005
Authors: In-Mu Haw (TCU), Daqing Qi, Donghui Wu and Woody Wu
Relevant to: Policy
How relevant: This paper was presented at the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC, which is equivalent to US SEC) and the implications of the findings were discussed with the senior regulators at CSRC. 

Paper Title: Ultimate Ownership, Income Management, and Legal and Extra-Legal Institutions
Journal: Journal of Accounting Research
Date Published: May 2004
Authors: In-Mu Haw (TCU), Bingbing Hu, Lee-Seok Hwang and Woody Wu
Relevant to: Policy
How relevant: This paper was presented at the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC, which is equivalent to US SEC) and the implications of the finding were discussed with the senior regulators at CSRC.

Paper Title: Audit Qualification and Timing of Earnings Announcements: Evidence from China
Journal: Auditing: A Journal of Practice and Theory
Date Published: September 2003
Authors: In-Mu Haw (TCU), Kyungjoo Park, Daqing Qi and Woody Wu
Relevant to: Policy
How relevant: This paper was presented at the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC, which is equivalent to US SEC) and the implications of the finding were discussed with the senior regulators at CSRC.

Patrick Hopkins

Current Project or Working Paper: Tax Indemnification and Unrecognized Tax Benefits in Mergers and Acquisitions
Authors: Patrick Hopkins (TCU)
Brief summary: Tax indemnification transfers the risk of potential tax settlements from a taxpayer to an external party. Current accounting standards require firms to reflect unrecognized tax benefits (UTBs) even when the underlying tax position is indemnified. In light of this standard, practitioners suggest that financial statement disclosures regarding tax indemnification are necessary to allow users to assess tax risk adequately. However, this paper documents that acquirers rarely disclose tax indemnification arrangements obtained from merger and acquisition (M&A) contracts. Furthermore, evidence suggests that tax indemnification significantly moderates the positive association between UTBs and future tax cash outflows. On average, investors do not consider this moderation when valuing UTBs, except when acquirers disclose M&A-related UTBs. Because of the expanding use of tax indemnification outside of the M&A setting, the findings suggest that changes to accounting practices may be necessary to allow financial statement users to adequately assess various income tax accounts when tax indemnification is present.

Steve Lim

Paper Title: The Information Content of Disaggregated Accounting Profitability: Operating Activities Versus Financing Activities
Journal: Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting
Date Published: 2014
Authors: Steve Lim (TCU)
Relevant to: Policy
How relevant: FASB project manager contacted Professor Lim regarding this paper and indicated that the paper would be used in FASB’s Financial Statement Presentation project.

Paper Title: Intangible Capital and Capital Structure
Journal: Journal of Banking & Finance
Date Published: 2020
Authors: Steve Lim (TCU), Antonio Macias and Thomas Moeller (TCU)
Relevant to: Practice
How relevant: Editor of a leading applied finance journal contacted the authors regarding preparing a version of the paper for his journal, describing the paper as “clearly relevant to business practitioners.”

Stephen Lusch

Paper Title: Are Declining Effective Tax Rates Indicative of Tax Avoidance: Insight from Effective Tax Rate Reconciliations
Journal: Journal of Accounting and Economics
Date Published: 2020
Authors: Katharine Drake, Russ Hamilton and Stephen Lusch (TCU)
Relevant to: Media
How relevant: Numerous media stories focus on low corporate tax rates and/or declining corporate tax rates. Our study provides an explanation for why there are firms with such low tax rates. It was cited by the Dallas Morning News.

Paper Title: The Effectiveness of the R&D Tax Credit: Evidence from the Alternative Simplified Credit
Journal: Journal of the American Taxation Association
Date Published: 2015
Authors: Andrew Finley, Stephen Lusch (TCU) and Kirsten Cook
Relevant to: Policy, Practice
How relevant: This paper has been cited twice by the Iowa Department of Revenue in their review of the effectiveness of their own R&D tax credit. Coauthor was interviewed on a practitioner podcast about the paper.

Paper Title: Credit Unions and Earnings Management to Mitigate Political Scrutiny over Tax-Exempt Status
Journal: Journal of Accounting and Public Policy
Date Published: 2022
Authors: James Brushwood, Curtis Hall and Stephen Lusch (TCU)
Relevant to: Policy, Media
How relevant: This paper was cited by National Affairs, a publication of the American Enterprise Institute. It informs the debate over whether credit unions should be tax-exempt or not.

Paper Title: State Taxation of Cloud Computing
Journal: Santa Clara High Technology Law Journal
Date Published: 2013
Authors: Stephen Lusch (TCU)
Relevant to: Practice
How relevant: This paper was republished by the Oregon Law Institute on their continuing legal education textbook on Internet Law Developments.

Current Project or Working Paper: Does the Initial Disclosure of Tax-related Critical Audit Matters Constrain Tax-related Earnings Management?
Authors: Katharine Drake, Nathan Goldman, Stephen Lusch (TCU) and Jaime Schmidt
Brief summary: Paper examines whether the disclosure of a tax-related critical audit matter effects the tax strategies a company engages in. Paper reports evidence consistent with a decline in earnings management via the tax accounts after the disclosure of a tax-related CAM by the company's auditor. The paper has been cited by the PCAOB in their white paper on critical audit matters; thus, it is already informing policy.

Karen Nelson

Paper Title: The Relation Between Auditors Fees for Non-Audit Services and Earnings Management
Journal: The Accounting Review
Date Published: 2002
Authors: Marilyn Johnson, Ron Kasznik and Karen Nelson (TCU)
Relevant to: Policy, Practice, Media
How relevant: This paper was covered extensively in the financial press, including The Wall Street Journal, Business Week, and MIT Sloan Management Review, among other outlets. We published companion pieces targeted to practitioner in Investor Relations Quarterly and Directorship. Cited in the Report of the Advisory Committee on the Auditing Profession to the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

Paper Title: The Impact of Securities Litigation Reform on the Disclosure of Forward-Looking Information by High Technology Firms
Journal: Journal of Accounting Research
Date Published: 2001
Authors: Marilyn Johnson, Ron Kasznik and Karen Nelson (TCU)
Relevant to: Policy, Practice, Media
How relevant: Covered by the San Jose Mercury News, SEC Filings Insight, Securities Regulatory Update, among others. We published a companion piece for practitioners in Investor Relations Quarterly.

Paper Title: Carrot or Stick? The Shift from Voluntary to Mandatory Disclosure of Risk Factors
Journal: Journal of Empirical Legal Studies
Date Published: 2016
Authors: Adam Pritchard and Karen Nelson (TCU)
Relevant to: Policy, Practice, Media
How relevant: Interviewed by CFO Magazine. Featured in the Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance, July 17, 2014.

Paper Title: Mind the Gap: CEO-Employee Pay Ratios and Shareholder Say on Pay Votes
Journal: Journal of Business Finance and Accounting
Date Published: 2021
Authors: Steve Crawford, Karen Nelson (TCU) and Brian Rountree
Relevant to: Policy, Practice, Media
How relevant: Cited in Securities and Exchange Commission Final Rule for Pay Ratio Disclosure. Featured in the Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance.

Paper Title: Are Individual Investors Influenced by the Optimism and Credibility of Stock Spam Recommendations
Journal: Journal of Business Finance and Accounting
Date Published: 2013
Authors: Richard Price, Karen Nelson (TCU) and Brian Rountree
Relevant to: Practice, Media
How relevant: Tweeted by Jason Zweig, Investing columnist for the Wall Street Journal

Current Project or Working Paper: Data Visualization in 10-K Filings
Authors: Ted Christensen, Karson Fronk, Josh Lee and Karen Nelson (TCU)
Brief summary: The Securities and Exchange Commission encourages the presentation of information or data in graphical form to improve users’ ability to understand financial disclosures. We find a dramatic increase in the disclosure of both qualitative and quantitative infographics in 10-K filings over time and substantial cross-sectional variation in firms’ choices regarding picture types, data content, and the placement of infographics within 10-Ks. We provide evidence on factors determining firms’ use of infographics, and explore the persistence with which they are disclosed over time. Finally, we investigate capital market outcomes associated with the use of infographics. Overall, we find that infographics have become a key element of corporate financial disclosure.

Elizabeth Plummer

Paper Title: Trends of Prescription Drug Manufacturer Rebates in Commercial Health Insurance Plans, 2015-2019.
Journal: JAMA Health Forum
Date Published: May 2022
Authors: Plummer, E. (TCU), Socal M., Ballreich J., Anderson, G. and Bai, G.
Relevant to: Policy, Practice, Media
How relevant: Wrote an op-ed for The Hill (May 6, 2022) "Individual prescription drug plans are less affordable despite the Affordable Care Act." Discussed by Axios, "Prescription drug rebates on the rise." (May 9, 2022). Presented to Congressional Budget Office's (CBO) Low-Income Health Programs & Prescription Drugs Cost Estimates Unit (June 2022). CBO was interested in our findings to see if they could use similar approaches and data in their budget scoring and estimations.

Paper Title: Do Health Insurers Manage their Medical Loss Ratios? At What Cost?
Journal: Journal of Insurance Regulation
Date Published: 2021
Authors: Elizabeth Plummer (TCU) and Bill Wempe (TCU)
Relevant to: Policy, Practice
How relevant: JIR is the journal of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Conferenced on the paper’s findings in 2022 with the Chief Strategy Officer at North East Medical Services, one of the largest community health centers in the U.S. targeting the medically underserved. Paper presented at the National Association of Insurance Commissioners in December 2022 in connection with receiving the Spencer L. Kimball Award for the best paper in JIR in 2021.

Paper Title: Health Insurers’ Claims and Premiums Under the Affordable Care Act: Evidence on the Effects of Bright Line Regulations
Journal: Journal of Risk & Insurance
Date Published: 2020
Authors: Sandy Callaghan (TCU), Elizabeth Plummer (TCU) and Bill Wempe (TCU)
Relevant to: Media
How relevant: This paper was featured in an article in Modern Healthcare. Interviewed by Modern Healthcare for the article.

Paper Title: The Affordable Care Act’s Effects on the Formation, Expansion, and Operation of Physician-Owned Hospitals
Journal: Health Affairs
Date Published: August 2016
Authors: Elizabeth Plummer (TCU) and Bill Wempe (TCU)
Relevant to: Media
How relevant: Cited by many websites (e.g., nationalaffairs.com). Interviewed by The Washington Examiner, Politico, and D Magazine about this paper. Paper was cited by the American Medical Association’s Request for Information (RFI) letter in response to Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ RFI on hospital-related policy proposals (June 2017).

Current Project or Working Paper: Neighborhood Differences in Geographic Access to Hospitals and Hospital Quality
Authors: Elizabeth Plummer (TCU) and Bill Wempe (TCU)
Brief summary: This study examines the association of neighborhoods’ socioeconomic status, racial composition, and location with their access to hospitals and hospital quality. We find no evidence that the noted factors are associated with hospital access. However, we find that access to hospital quality is increasing in neighborhoods’ socioeconomic status, and that hospitals accessible to neighborhoods located in small towns are generally of lower quality than hospitals accessible to neighborhoods located in urban and suburban areas. Results for the association of neighborhood racial composition and access to hospital quality were inconsistent.

Bill Wempe

Paper Title: Effective Tax Rate Changes and Earnings Stripping Following Corporate Inversion
Journal: National Tax Journal
Date Published: December 2004
Authors: Jim Seida and Bill Wempe (TCU)
Relevant to: Policy
How relevant: Cited extensively in the U.S. Treasury Department’s 2007 Report to the Congress on Earnings Stripping, Transfer Pricing, and U.S. Income Tax Treaties. Also cited in 2011 by the Joint Committee on Taxation in its Description of Revenue Provisions Contained in the President’s Fiscal Year 2012 Budget Proposal.

Paper Title: JIT Adoption: The Effects of LIFO Reserves and Financial Reporting and Tax Incentives
Journal: Contemporary Accounting Research
Date Published: Fall 2004
Authors: Mike Kinney and Bill Wempe (TCU)
Relevant to: Policy
How relevant: Cited in a 2006 U.S. Senate Finance Committee hearing as evidence that LIFO usage can discourage adoption of JIT.

Current Project or Working Paper: Nursing Home Staffing Shortages and Vaccine Mandates
Authors: Elizabeth Plummer (TCU) and Bill Wempe (TCU)
Brief summary: This paper examines the effects of the federal COVID-19 vaccination mandate on shortages of nurse aide and nursing staff in nursing homes. Both pre-federal mandate and post-federal mandate, nurse aide and nursing staff shortages were more prevalent for nursing homes in states without vaccination mandates (28%-30% of nursing homes report shortages) than states with vaccination mandates (17%-19% of nursing homes report shortages). Shortages changed little for either group after the federal mandate. Over this same period, staff vaccination rates for nursing homes in mandate states were relatively unchanged (94%-95%), while rates for nursing homes in non-mandate states increased from 81% to 85.6%. In non-mandate states, staffing shortages were lower for nursing homes with higher staff vaccination rates, while in mandate states, there was no association between staffing shortages and vaccination rates. For both groups, staffing shortages were more likely for nursing homes located in rural, white, and less affluent communities.

Winnie Wen

Current Project or Working Paper: The Role of Audit Risk Disclosure in Financial Reporting Precision and the Quality of Audited Financial Reports
Authors: M. Deng and W. Weng (TCU)
Brief summary: Regulators in various jurisdictions have adopted new standards that require auditors to disclose audit risks of material misstatements in audit reports. As of June 1, 2017, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) requires auditors to communicate in the auditor’s report any critical audit matters (CAMs) that are meaningful to investors and other financial statement users if the CAMS required especially challenging, subjective, or complex auditor judgment. Our study finds that audit risk disclosure requirements may discourage some companies from improving financial reporting precision. As such, we find an unintended consequence of the recent audit regulation.

Textbooks

Shana Clor-Proell

Phillips, F., S.M. Clor-Proell, R. Libby, and P. Libby. 2021. Fundamentals of Financial Accounting, 7e, McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

Renee Olvera

Contributing author on Dzurannin, Data Analytics in Accounting, Wiley, 1^st Edition

Karen Nelson

Financial Accounting for Undergraduates, James S. Wallace, Karen K. Nelson, and Theodore E. Christensen (currently in 5^th edition), Cambridge Business Publishers (2019).

Intermediate Accounting, Michelle Hanlon, Leslie Hodder, Karen K. Nelson, Darren Roulstone (currently in 3^rd edition), Cambridge Business Publishers (2019).

Financial & Managerial Accounting for Undergraduates, James S. Wallace, Karen K. Nelson, Theodore E. Christensen, and L. Scott Hobson (currently in 2^nd edition), Cambridge Business Publishers (2019).