Financial Accounting Textbooks Research Articles

Identifying gaps between research results and education

Although research results can enhance the content of education programs at various university levels, many important research results are only partly covered in major university-level textbooks. It is more difficult to transfer contributions from research results to practitioners if the former is not part of regular education programs. Here, we identify areas where researchers and educators can bridge the gap between theory and research results based on empirical studies, allowing findings to be more easily implemented by practitioners in situations that can improve their output. We take the use and accuracy of security and financial statement analysis as our prime target to examine empirical research results. Financial statement analysis and security valuation are two important applications in accounting and finance, and it is possible to measure changes in the models’ parameters and the effect these have on the outcome. We focus on five aspects of security and financial statement analysis: analysts’ use of valuation models, their estimates and accuracy, peer selection using multiples, valuation models target price accuracy, and differences in industry-specific valuation models and valuation factors. We find that most of the important research results are not referenced in major financial accounting textbooks.

The Extent to Which Textbooks Fulfill the Requirements of Digital Transformation in Accounting and Auditing

Purpose: The study aimed to determine how well textbooks meet the demands of accounting industries' transition to the digital age. To determine how well texts, meet the needs of auditing industries' growth to the digital age and to investigate the extent to which the books fulfill the requirements for digital transformation in accounting and auditing. Theoretical framework: The study's theoretical framework depended on an analysis of the past reviews done by researchers in their literature reviews. It was to show if the textbooks met the demands of a smooth transition of workers from the traditional to the digital age in the accounting and auditing fields. Many past reviews by researchers concluded that textbooks are among the top three resources used in both departments depending a lot on books. Methodology: The methodology used was content analysis, where 21 sources were reviewed. Literature research dates back to the 1960s, but critical articles were chosen from 2018 to the present, considering the advancement in technology and computers, which have impacted the world in numerous ways. Computers are fast, easy, and reliable, but textbooks are still the traditional source of information used in many curriculums across continents. The American Educational Research Association's journals (ERIC) database was used. References found online through Google Scholar and JSTOR searches and reference lists from the digitalization of accounting and auditing periodicals were also used. Findings: The findings from the 21 sources included all of the textbooks that had IT-related topics on accounting. The research suggested a slight emphasis on IT developments in management accounting, auditing fields, and financial accounting, which is consistent with our assumptions. Only 5 of the chosen textbooks in financial accounting addressed IT-related topics. The general coverage of IT advancements in the selected auditing textbook examples differs significantly from that of financial accounting and management accounting textbooks. In the past, it has been expected that most auditing textbooks will at least address computer-assisted audit techniques and technologies (CAAT). Research, practical and social implications: Considering the social implications and the practicality of the research, stakeholders and government agencies should push for policies that would ensure a proper transition to digitization for all its citizens to understand their work better. Originality/value: The novelty and worth were evaluated. Twenty-one books on financial accounting, managerial accounting, and auditing make up the sample. According to actual research, technology improvements and related topics are rarely covered in accounting degrees. Evidence from this study's analysis of the relevant literature indicates that accounting and auditing schools' textbooks ought to devote more time to IT-related issues

Do Accounting Textbooks Inculcate Global Mindsets: An Analysis of Textbooks Adopted in Indonesia

ABSTRACT This study examines the content of introductory financial accounting (IFA) textbooks to answer the questions: (1) do the textbooks inculcate global mindsets? (2) How and the extent to which the textbooks reflect global mindsets? We analyzed the textbooks by attentively read the texts, followed by an in-depth discussion among the researchers to establish major representations of the texts. Findings from the analysis indicate that instead of promoting a broader view of the world that might instill and foster global mindsets in business students, the textbooks narrow-mindedly inculcate only a single perspective, which dominantly draws on the ethical values and assumptions of Anglo-American capitalism. Consequently, students are deprived of a critical understanding of the subject as well as denying them from developing a mindset required by the global business environments. Thus, this paper calls for recasting the presentation of accounting knowledge within IFA textbooks by inculcating multiplicity rather than uniformity to develop cognitive complexity. Moreover, accounting educators should provide students supplementary readings that offer alternative frameworks for more critical reflection. These recommendations are a way forward to improve teaching international business (IB) education in business schools by facilitating an in-depth understanding of IB in individual business functional disciplines.

Deconstructing the Language of Accounting Textbooks to Make Power Relations Visible

The paper is motivated by the realization of the absent of critical engagement research problematizing the mainstream accounting worldview within accounting textbooks in the context of Indonesia. By doing so, this study uses the Thompson’s (1990) Schema of analyzing ideology to examine the content of popular introductory financial accounting (IFA) textbooks adopted by universities to reveal how, and the extent to which, the ideological status quo is reflected within these texts. This means the analysis tries to understand how ideological meaning is constructed within the textbooks. The analysis shows that the investigated textbooks portray accounting as an abstracted notion of a practical and calculative tool. Meanwhile, the ideological assumptions and socio-political and cultural background and conflict inherent in accounting are concealed and obscured. The textbooks have not scrutinized the concepts and measurement of accounting beyond employing a shareholder perspective. Consequently, the users’ attention is deflected from or glossed over the underlying ideological nature of the textbooks

TEXTBOOK AS A CORNERSTONE OF THE TEACHING/ LEARNING PROCESS: THE CASE OF THE ESTONIAN ACCOUNTING TEXTBOOK

After regaining independence, only three financial accounting textbooks have been published in Estonia. Observed Financial Accounting Textbook has become Estonian bestseller and the students have called it the “Bible of the Alvers”. Textbook is intended for use in the first accounting course at the college and university level. The concept of the textbook was formulated by three postulates. The authors of current paper explain how to write successful textbook.

An institutional perspective on the selection and use of accounting textbooks: the case of universities in Indonesia

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the selection and use of introductory financial accounting (IFA) textbooks in the context of achieving the objectives of accounting education to provide both discipline-specific skills and liberal education.Design/methodology/approachThis paper adopts a qualitative research design to collect data through semi-structured interviews with 33 accounting educators across Indonesia. This study uses the institutional theory approach to explain how accounting textbooks are selected and used to meet the objectives of accounting education at universities.FindingsThe study provides evidence of the adoption of a systematic procedure for the selection of recommended IFA textbooks. The selection was driven by the technical-regulatory objective of providing technical training. This objective also guides the use of the recommended textbooks. In a sense, accounting educators were more concerned about responding to institutional pressures of preparing accountants for work in the accounting industry rather than providing students with a liberal education that promotes critical thinking and problem-solving skills.Research limitations/implicationsThis study focuses on the selection and use of IFA textbooks. Further research should examine the contents of various accounting textbooks and obtain feedback from the people involved in the publication of the textbooks.Originality/valueThe findings of this study have important implications for accounting educators. They can use these findings to improve their selection and use of accounting textbooks.

Dilemmas and Directions in the Consideration of Differences in Teachers and Students’ Evaluations of Recommended Financial Accounting Textbooks

This provocation focuses on the problems that may emanate from the consideration of differences between stakeholders–teachers’ and students’ evaluation of recommended textbooks for informed curricular decision making. The article draws on empirical data from a study on the evaluation of recommended senior secondary financial accounting textbooks in Southwestern Nigeria. It highlighted the emergence of four dilemmas and describes how a focus on resolving them can proffer remedy for the perennial worrying about the contemptuous misconstructions in the consideration of curriculum (evaluation) outcomes. The article also offers an open discourse for evaluative research practitioners.

A Discussion Paper on Accounts Payable Ratio

Generally speaking, financial accounting textbooks are in harmony on the explanation of accounts payable and accrued liabilities/expenses. However, the same thing cannot be said for accounts payable turnover and days in accounts payable ratios. Different financial accounting textbooks and academic papers have different explanations for the accounts payable turnover ratio. The extant literature on the ratio is mainly comprised of two groups of authors. The first group relates the ratio to purchases and the second group relates the ratio to cost of goods sold (COGS). Purchases, in a purely theoretical sense, relate to periodic inventory method, whereas the perpetual inventory method relates purchases with inventory (being debit) and accounts payable (being credit). The second major group who explain the ratio by using the COGS figure ignore what is included in COGS. It should not include depreciation, amortisation, payroll and interest expenses to be meaningful for the purposes of the calculation of the ratio. In practice, manufacturing companies do not attempt to calculate these ratios due to the difficulty of obtaining the figures. These ratios can only be truly calculated from within the company if need be. Their accounting departments will be able to calculate the ratio correctly since they can reach the data. Any financial analyst not being able to reach a detailed breakdown of the expenses of the companies whose shares are being traded in stock exchanges will not able to calculate these ratios.

Assessment in textbooks: Exploring cognitive demand in first-year accounting textbooks

The South African higher education program expects to develop graduates with high cognitive skills. This is endorsed further by the expectations of high cognitive attributes for entry level members from the Accounting professional bodies. Although learning is largely driven by assessment, relatively few studies have investigated assessments in Accounting textbooks. Furthermore, most used Bloom’s taxonomy as their sole analytical lens. Using a hybrid framework of Revised Bloom’s taxonomy and Leong’s levels of difficulty, this paper examines the cognitive demand of assessment tasks in selected level-one Financial Accounting textbooks used in South Africa and Kenya. The findings reveal the dominance of the Apply-Task-Hybrid and the possibility of enabling higher cognitive attributes within lower levels of cognition. The article provides new insight for accounting academics who seek to enhance their pedagogical engagement, as well as textbook producers, curriculum developers and professional accounting bodies. It also offers the Layered Analytical Framework as an alternative approach to examining cognitive demand across diverse fields of study, but specifically within the discipline of Accounting.

The ideological character of accounting textbooks

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the perspectives of accounting lecturers regarding the contents of accounting textbooks. It focusses on the ideological character of introductory financial accounting (IFA) textbooks prescribed in the first year of accounting degrees in Indonesia. Design/methodology/approach The ideological analysis is informed by Thompson’s (1990) concept of ideology, which was used in a critical sense to refer to its role in serving unequal power relations. Semi-structured interviews of Indonesian accounting lecturers were utilised to collect data. Findings In the interviews, the lecturers revealed that the prescribed IFA textbooks focussed on prioritising shareholder interests. The mainstream view among the lecturers was that accounting textbooks realistically exhibited the natural form of accounting, whilst lecturers with an Islamic accounting and finance background notably viewed the character of IFA textbooks as serving an ideological role or permeating propaganda. The latter suggests that alternative worldviews, relevant and nuanced to the Indonesian context, are promoted in accounting education. Research limitations/implications The findings presented in this paper should provide a basis for further research into the ideological character of accounting textbooks by analysing the internal structure of accounting textbooks and investigating the broader perspectives of other users and individuals involved in the production of accounting textbooks. Practical implications An awareness of the ideological representation of accounting textbooks can provide insights for universities, publishers and policy makers concerned with lecture structure, textbook design and regulation formulation in accounting education. Originality/value This is the first paper to empirically explore the ideological character of accounting textbooks prescribed in an Islamic developing country setting.

Empirical Validation of Indices for Consideration in the Revision of Recommended Senior School Financial Accounting Textbooks in Southwestern Nigeria

Empirical Validation of Indices for Consideration in the Revision of Recommended Senior School Financial Accounting Textbooks in Southwestern Nigeria

The Implications of the Similarity between Fraud Numbers and the Numbers in Financial Accounting Textbooks and Test Banks

ABSTRACT Accounting students learn financial accounting through examples. The examples in accounting textbooks, and the exam questions in the test banks, use round numbers excessively. After graduation, these individuals could be asked to audit client journal entries and to scan transactions to identify unusual items. They will be expected to realize that, in this context, those familiar round numbers are now red flags for fraud. This study reviews the auditing standards and the authoritative practice aids that state that inappropriate journal entries have characteristics that include round numbers and consistent ending digits. Four fraud schemes in which the investigation of the round numbers would have uncovered the frauds are then described. The realism of the numbers in accounting textbooks and test banks is then evaluated using Benford's Law, their round number frequencies, and their number duplications. This analysis finds that the first digits of the textbook numbers conform to Benford's Law, but the second digits do not. It also finds that textbooks frequently use numbers that are both large and round. The concluding discussion explains why round numbers might be used so often in accounting textbooks and includes recommendations aimed at remedying the round-number conundrum. Data Availability: The datasets were created by manually entering the textbook and test bank numbers into several spreadsheets. Each record in the final database includes the dollar amount, the chapter number, the page number, and a chapter-body or end-of-chapter-material indicator. The author will consider requests to share the data.

Charles T. Horngren: Mentor, Role Model, Colleague, and Friend

This expresses the feeling of inadequacy of doing justice to the life and career of Charles Thomas Horngren. Chuck, the son of William and Grace Horngren, was born on October 28, 1926, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His father worked for over 40 years as a railway mail clerk on the Milwaukee Road. His father was an avid baseball fan, a passion he passed on to his son. Chuck often reminisced about his dad taking him to the baseball games and meeting many of the day’s baseball luminaries. He also had a collection of baseball memorabilia, including Yogi Berra’s autograph in his book, Yogi: It Ain’t Over. . . , co-written by Chuck’s close friend, Tom Horton. Chuck graduated from Washington High School in 1944 and joined the Army. The Army sent him to pre-engineering classes at Ripon College and to engineering classes at what is today known as Texas A&M University. After over two years in the Army, Chuck enrolled at Marquette University and was elected to Beta Alpha Psi. While at Marquette he gained an appreciation for teaching after tutoring basketball players and disabled veterans. He graduated from Marquette as valedictorian in 1949 and remained very loyal to Marquette throughout his life. Upon graduation, he joined Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co. (now part of KPMG) as a staff auditor. A year later, he taught full time at Spencerian College, a commercial business college,

Illustrations in Financial Accounting Textbooks: Function and Placement Interact to Affect Student Learning

ABSTRACTPrior research has documented that text readability varies among introductory accounting textbooks, but few studies in any discipline have documented the extent to which illustrations vary, and even fewer studies have explored how these variations might impact student learning. We report results of a content analysis of introductory financial accounting textbooks that reveal diversity in how illustrations are used, in ways that depart from normative recommendations in the education literature. We then conduct an experiment to test whether two of these variations, illustration function and placement, interact to affect student learning. We find that students learn more when decorational images precede rather than follow corresponding text and when conceptual images follow rather than precede corresponding text. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Illustrations in Financial Accounting Textbooks: Function and Placement Interact to Affect Student Learning

Prior research has documented that text readability varies among introductory accounting textbooks, but few studies in any discipline have documented the extent to which illustrations vary, and even fewer studies have explored how these variations might impact student learning. We report results of a content analysis of introductory financial accounting textbooks that reveal diversity in how illustrations are used, in ways that depart from normative recommendations in the education literature. We then conduct an experiment to test whether two of these variations, illustration function and placement, interact to affect student learning. We find that students learn more when decorational images precede rather than follow corresponding text and when organizational images follow rather than precede corresponding text. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Enhancing Student Learning: An Examination Of The Student Use Of Textbooks In Financial Accounting

As accounting instructors, we provide our students with guidance that will assist them in more effectively and efficiently learning the required material. Often, this guidance includes prescriptive advice on how to properly use their textbook. However, little evidence exists as to whether students actually follow our advice on how to use their textbook. Therefore, when student (and instructor) frustrations arise with regard to class performance, it is unclear whether students are simply not using the textbook effectively or if there are more fundamental problems with the textbook itself. The purpose of this study is to provide evidence as to how students actually use their financial accounting textbooks. Based on instructor and student surveys, the results indicate that students approach textbooks differently from the traditional notion that many instructors encourage. Evidence suggests that students value textbooks, but that they primarily use textbooks as a source of examples and descriptions to help them complete homework. In short, students do not appear to be reading textbooks, but referencing them. The implications of this behavior suggest that textbook authors and publishers need to reconsider textbook design. In addition, instructors, armed with the knowledge of how their students are using the textbook, can better design their course to encourage student success.

Lessons to be Learned: An Examination of Canadian and U.S. Financial Accounting and Auditing Textbooks for Ethics/Governance Coverage

This study examines a sample of three editions of 19 financial accounting and auditing textbooks (n = 57) to explore the state of accounting educational content through the coverage of five key topics (ethics, professional judgment, governance, corporate social responsibility, and fraud) and 16 accounting scandals/troubled corporations. The study method is descriptive and uses independent sample t tests to identify significant differences over time and between countries. The major findings are fourfold. First, some topics’ coverage and/or scandals exist in most of the sample’s books based on their indexes. However, the page coverage for these topics/scandals is not overwhelming when compared to the number of pages in these texts. Second, the scandals/troubled corporations’ page coverage increased between the earliest and the later editions as did a depth of coverage trend measure. Third, U.S. texts in the sample contained significantly more pages devoted to these topics and scandals than the non-adapted Canadian sample texts. Finally, and as expected, the sampled auditing texts contain significantly more pages devoted to these topics and scandals compared to the other financial accounting texts in the sample. Educators and textbook authors interested in the future of business and accounting education will find this study of interest. If reminding accounting students of the ethical dilemmas they will face in their future careers is important, then this study indicates places where coverage in this sample of texts may be enhanced either through the use of standalone supplementary ethics texts or instructor introduced sources.

Constructing meaning in the service of power: An analysis of the typical modes of ideology in accounting textbooks

Abstract This paper provides an analysis of the typical modes of ideology in introductory financial accounting textbooks and training materials. Drawing on Thompson's [Thompson JB. Ideology and modern culture: critical social theory in the era of mass communication. Cambridge: Polity Press; 1990] schema concerning the typical linguistic modes through which ideology operates, this research suggests that the operation of ideology is apparent within educational accounting texts, with particular strategies being more evident than others: in particular, the strategies of universalization, narrativization, rationalization and naturalization. Given the predominantly technical nature of introductory financial accounting textbooks and training manuals, the modes of ideology identified in the texts were often quite subtle; more specifically, the ideological characteristics displayed in each of the six texts analyzed were often expressions of implicit or taken for granted assumptions.

Lessons to be Learned: An Examination of Canadian and U.S. Financial Accounting and Auditing Textbooks

Recent Canadian and U.S. surveys have found that over 50% of undergraduate and MBA students admit to past cheating. While these findings represent a broad societal issue, cheating is of particular concern for accounting programs buffeted by the involvement of accountants and auditors in business scandals such as Enron. This study examines three editions of 19 textbooks (n = 57) to explore the state of accounting educational materials through the coverage of five key concepts (ethics, professional judgment, governance, social responsibility and fraud) and 16 accounting scandals/troubled corporations. The study method is descriptive and uses independent samples t-tests to identify significant differences. The major findings are fourfold. First, some coverage of the topics and/or scandals exists in most books based on their tables of contents and indexes. However, this coverage is not overwhelming when compared to the average number of pages in these texts. Second, coverage of the scandals/troubled corporations increased between the earliest editions and the later editions examined. Third, U.S. texts were found to contain significantly more mentions of most topics and scandals than the non-adapted Canadian texts. Finally, and as expected, auditing texts contain significantly more mentions of the topics and scandals compared to the other financial accounting texts. Accounting educators and textbook authors who are interested in the future of accounting education may find this study of interest. If reminding accounting students of the ethical and social dilemmas they will face in their future careers is important, then this study indicates places where enhanced coverage is required.

The Folly Of Making EPS Comparisons Across Companies: Do Accounting Textbooks Send The Correct Message?

This paper demonstrates why EPS comparisons across companies are meaningless. An example is provided showing how a company with a higher ROE than another company may have a lower EPS simply from having a lower book value per share (and more shares outstanding) than the comparison company. While ROE comparisons across companies can be useful, cross-company EPS comparisons are meaningless due to the arbitrary number of shares outstanding across companies. The authors review the EPS discussion of 31 financial and intermediate accounting textbooks aimed at US students and find that six of these textbooks incorrectly assert or imply that cross-company EPS comparisons are meaningful. Over 50% of the textbooks reviewed provide no warning that cross-company EPS comparisons should be avoided.