Short-term debt maturity structures, credit ratings, and the pricing of audit services

ABSTRACT: Short-term debt and credit ratings have benefits for financial reporting quality that may be associated with lower audit fees. Using U.S. data for 2003 through 2006, we find that short-term debt is negatively related to audit fees for firms rated by Standard & Poor’s, consistent with more monitoring and better governance mechanisms in firms with higher short-term debt. Credit ratings quality is negatively related to audit fees, consistent with ratings quality reflecting a firm’s liquidity risk, governance mechanisms, and monitoring from rating agencies. We also find that the negative relation between short-term debt and audit fees is stronger for firms with low-quality credit ratings, consistent with auditors pricing lender monitoring.

Convergent journalism : the fundamentals of multimedia reporting

This book explains the phenomenon of media convergence, defines what has been until recently a confusing topic, describes the main business models, provides case studies of successful converged newsrooms around the world, and explains how to introduce convergence into the newsroom. Stephen Quinn provides a practical introduction to the changing landscape of news reporting, and has written a useful book for students and professionals alike.

The role of internal audit in corporate governance and management

This research report is based on a study undertaken in Australia, and aims to evaluate the role of internal audit in corporate governance and management. It identifies the accountability structures and objectives of internal audit, considers the nature of internal audit functions and the extent of application of The Institute of Internal Auditors Standards of Professional Practice, reviews the relationships of the chief audit executives (CAEs) and assesses the nature of financial report risks and other issues covered by internal auditors. The research findings include a diversity of accountability structures for CAEs and a range of internal audit activities, with the application of the IIA Standards being in need of improvement. In conclusion, the researchers make recommendations for improvements in practice to be considered by The Institute of Internal Auditors and other regulating and governing bodies.

Valuation and reporting of native fauna in monetary terms: compatibility between a market-Based system and natural resources?

A change in community values and priorities has introduced ethical,
environmental and social issues into the way in which business conducts
its activities. There are an increasing number of managed investment funds focusing on socially responsible investment (SRI) by concentrating on firms that operate according to predetermined criteria for environmental, social and ethical issues. For investors in these funds environmental stewardship issues are integrated with concern over financial resources and performance. In this paper the accounting and reporting by business activities concerned with conservation of wildlife are examined. The world of accounting has functioned for many years with relatively few accounting standards devoted to specialised industry needs. In 1998 the Australian Accounting Standards Board and in 2001 the International Accounting Standards Board issued standards devoted to agriculture. Both standards deal with the reporting of managed biological assets and require application of essentially the same approaches despite the Australian standard requiring net market value while the International standard requires fair value. In this paper we analyse how one conservation firm Earth Sanctuaries Ltd. (ESL) has applied AASB 1037 and then we explore the implications for conservation firms operating in geographical locations outside Australia. It is suggested that AASB 1037 and indeed lAS 41 may not provide value appropriate information for investor decisions relating to accounting profits for such firms. Our examination shows that it is appropriate to reconsider accounting guidelines provided by these standards in order to link the information relating to economic and environmental performance. Transparency may be improved by a move closer to Elkington 's (1997) triple bottom line reporting. We therefore contend that the issues arising from the use ofAASB 1037 and lAS 41 need to be widely considered by all standard setters, particularly given the increasing attention to SRI.

News values and country non-daily reporting

Australia's country, non-daily newspapers present journalism graduates with excellent opportunities to get a foot in the door, experience a wide range of journalistic responsibilities and compile an impressive portfolio. However, tertiary journalism courses largely ignore the unique news values, issues and challenges involved with country non-daily reporting. Considering a large percentage of future journalists are likely to enter the industry on a country non-daily, journalism education's current attitude has serious implications for the profession. However, this situation cannot be rectified until these specific news values, issues and challenges have been documented in order for them to be integrated into pedagogical models. This article documents the country non-daily's news values, issues and challenges, and indicates their importance to journalism training and education.

Give us a fair go! Legal obstacles to reporting sport on the internet

As the Internet becomes a mainstream conduit for business and communication, it can no longer be referred to as a “ lawless frontier" (De Zwart 1999, 112). The laws that regulate this environment, however, are not always obvious, particularly to reporters who have to collect stories for online newspapers, which are facing competition from their traditional sources of information. This article uses a case study of on-line sport to examine the legal pitfalls facing journalists reporting on-line.

Reporting and the politics of difference : (non) disclosure on ethnic minorities

This article is based on two related research questions. First, what is the level of disclosure on ethnic minorities in the two sectors of the U.K. economy that historically have employed the most ethnic minorities: the banking and retail sectors? And secondly, what influences the (non)disclosure? It specifically investigates the level of disclosures from 1935 to 1998 and situates them within the changing social, political and economic context of this period. It is contended that the changing pattern of disclosure during this period can be understood with reference to changes in the political strategies for managing the threat of racism adopted by successive governments. The article provides some tentative theoretical reflections on the nature of the racism problematic and the way in which power may be seen to operate through (non)disclosure in this particular instance.

The importance of audit committees in initial public offerings

This paper follows Balvers, McDonald and Miller (1988), and Beatty (1989), who find lower underpricing in Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) when prestigious auditors are used to attest to the IPO's financial statements. Australian IPOs are not obliged to nominate audit firms in the prospectus, but often identify that they will have audit committees so as to assist in more appropriate corporate governance. This paper analyzes if IPOs identifying the existence of audit committees in the prospectus have a lower underpricing return. While our findings are consistent with previous studies concluding that both the size of the new issue and the use of an underwriter are important ingredients in the level of underpricing return, the inclusion of an audit committee in the prospectuses has actually increased underpricing returns. The capital market may view the audit committee identification with some skepticism.

Financial reporting for environmental and social responsibility: a normative strategic concept

Corporate responsibility demands that firms address environmental and social values in their firms' policy and key performance indicators. These are integrated through strategic planning and require firms to merge the long-term environmental and social values with short-term economic objectives and performance measures. Each firm's strategy will differ. This paper provides a normative reporting concept to connect the financial implications associated with long-term planning for environmental and social values, with short-term accounting reports. Reporting variants adapted from total cost assessment, life cycle costing and variable costing are integrated to offer upstream information based on a product segment view.

The advantages of a proactive business response to human rights reporting

In a globalizing world, with shifting production, labor and consumer markets and increased competitiveness, human rights are gaining new practical relevance. The UN Global Compact presented by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to the World Economic Forum at Davos in 1999, sought to create a voluntary international corporate citizenship network to bring together private-sector and other social actors. Its central aim is to advance responsible corporate citizenship and universal social and environmental principles to meet the challenges of globalization. The business (and ethical) case for corporate engagement in human rights reporting is strengthening, although much still needs to be done. The Danish Human Rights and Business Project launched its 2006 educational project on company codes of conduct aimed at developing models for business in the pharmaceutical, steel, agricultural, logging, lumber, paper and cardboard, and apparel and textile industries, assessing company codes against international human rights standards.

Easier analysis and better reporting : modelling ordinal data in mathematics education research

This article presents an examination of the use of Rasch modelling in a major research project, 'Improving Middle Years Mathematics and Science' (IMYMS). It is unarguable that it is important to take students' perceptions, or views, into account when planning learning and teaching for them. The IMYMS student perceptions survey is an attempt to make visible these student viewpoints, and report them in a way that is accessible to teachers and researchers involved in the project. The project involves four clusters of schools from urban and regions of Victoria to investigate the role of mathematics and science knowledge and subject cultures in mediating change processes in the middle years of schooling. There are five secondary and twenty-eight primary schools. The project has generated both qualitative and quantitative data, with much of the qualitative data being ordinal in nature. Reporting the results of analyses for a range of audiences necessitates careful, well-designed report formats. Some useful new report formats based on Rasch modeling -the Modified Variable Map, the Ordinal Map, the Threshold Map, and the Annotated Ordinal Map - are illustrated using data from the IMYMS project. The Rasch analysis and the derived reporting formats avoid the pitfalls that exist when working with ordinal data and provide insights into the respondents' views about their experiences in schools unavailable by other approaches.

Environmental management system auditing within Australasian companies

Reviews the literature on environmental management auditing, and surveys 132 ISO 14001 certified organizations in Australia and in New Zealand. Identifies the main reason for internal environmental audit, and the most frequent actions that result from the audit process, such as formation of a preventive plan. Looks at review procedures by top management, and the frequency of audit. Reveals the length of time an audit takes and the method of documentation adopted, by different industries. Notes six major findings and recommends sharing the findings of audits with employees and  suppliers so that improvements can be identified and implemented.