Cybersecurity breaches pose a significant risk to firms. To combat these risks, many firms engage in strategic cybersecurity risk management initiatives. While these efforts may reduce the likelihood of a cybersecurity breach, they do not eliminate the risk of a breach. In the event of a cybersecurity breach, firms may issue an apology to investors. This study uses an experiment to examine whether

Machine Learning (ML) applied to Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and chatbot interfaces can generate significant value for many business processes. However, these technologies generate the intended return only with a carefully planned deployment. Current literature only contains a small number of case studies about how the adoption of ML-based automation services impacts employees’ behavior. In particular

Reviewing literature is a demanding task that calls for effective tools. After examining literature review (LR) practices, this paper develops an innovative approach in representing literature. In particular, the paper introduces depictions based on a three-dimensional structure that enables the generation of unitary and highly informative literature representations, thereby improving the completeness

This paper is a response to Weber’s (2020) call for further debate on the (potential) contribution of agential realism for the understanding of the content and functioning of accounting information systems (AIS) (Weber, 2020). Contrary to Weber’s conclusions, we suggest that agential realism can make important contributions to AIS studies. In order to realize such contributions we have to acknowledge

Recent advances in technology have accelerated digitalization and intelligence in modern business. Particularly, the increasing use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in managerial accounting is expected to accurately measure corporate performance, provide intelligent analyses, and predict the future of a company. However, along with the benefits, ethical concerns of using AI also arise, such as deprofessionalization

The first-two digits ExcessMAD test was created in 2016, allowing to evaluate whether a certain data set conforms to Benford’s Law (BL). The purpose of this study is to explore some questions that remained open: develop the exact and approximate mathematical formulation of the first and second digit ExcessMAD test and study the type I error of these tests when applied to different sample sizes conforming

We investigate the feasibility of machine learning methods for attributional content and framing analysis in corporate reporting. We test the performance of five widely-used supervised machine learning classifiers (naïve Bayes, logistic regression, support vector machines, random forests, decision trees) in a top-down three-level hierarchical setting to (1) identify performance-related statements;

We examine the effects of information technology material weaknesses on a firm’s reputation by examining how management’s actions before and after disclosure influence investors’ trust in management and perceptions of investment risk. Specifically, we look at the influence of: 1) management taking responsibility for an information technology material weakness, and 2) replacing the CFO with someone

This paper surveys the published work on how blockchain technology will impact accounting in general, but AI-enabled auditing specifically. The purpose is to investigate how blockchain technology can improve transparency and trust in accounting practice and how professionals can use blockchain data to improve decision-making, based on the qualities of immutability, append-only, shared, verified, and

This study demonstrates a way of bringing an innovative data source, social media information, to the government accounting information systems to support accountability to stakeholders and managerial decision-making. Future accounting and auditing processes will heavily rely on multiple forms of exogenous data. As an example of the techniques that could be used to generate this needed information

Over the last decade, the use of different artificial intelligence (AI) tools has increased. To shed some light on the emerging trend of AI disclosure, the aim of this paper is to analyse the current practices of major Western European companies regarding the automated decision-making (ADM) disclosure in their annual or sustainability reports. This paper proposes a methodology based on bigrams that

Abstract not available

We propose an intermediate-term stock investment strategy based on fundamental analysis and machine learning. The approach uses predictors from the Earnings Power Index (EPI) as input variables derived from cross-sectional and time-series data from a company’s financial statements. The analytical methods of machine learning allow us to validate the link between financial factors and excess returns

This paper examines the “V-Matrix” and provides a wave theory life cycle model of organizations’ adoption of big data. The V-Matrix is based on the big data five “V’s”: Volume, Velocity, Variety, Veracity, and Value and captures and enumerates the different potential states that an organization can go through as part of its adoption and evolution towards big data. We extend the V-Matrix to a state

This paper proposes a method for estimating the expected duration of competitive advantage from emerging technology adoption for the average adopting firm. The proposed method relies on publicly available data (e.g., web search interest, news articles, book titles, and firm disclosures) and integrates elements from diffusion of innovation theory, hype cycles, and resource-based view of competitive

A key advantage of conceptual models is that their quality can be evaluated and validated before beginning the costlier stages of information system development. Few research studies investigate the validation process for such models, particularly regarding multiplicities, even though multiplicity mistakes can be very costly. We investigated the validation of conceptual model multiplicities, varying

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is critical to an organization’s success. However, the factors that contribute to the success and usage of these ERP systems have received little attention. This study developed and validation of an improved DeLone-McLean IS success model. Additionally, we examined the factors which influence ERP system usage, employee satisfaction, information quality, service quality

Using 86,891 tweets, from the official corporate Twitter accounts of 715 unique firms, this study examines whether and how managers strategically attract and distract investors’ attention from corporate news through Twitter. We find that firms with good earnings news use Twitter to post more earnings-related information directly, whereas firms with bad earnings news post more non-earnings-related information

Changes to the General Ledger (GL) represent a link between transactional business events from Journal Entries and prepared financial statements. Errors in these very large datasets can result in material misstatements or account misbalance. Unfortunately, a plethora of conditions renders traditional statistical and non-statistical sampling less effective. As a full-population examination procedure

This paper presents a framework for proactive and intelligent continuous control monitoring (CCM) that helps management gain higher assurance over business processes and alleviate information overload. We adopt a design science approach towards systematically developing CCM artifacts, including operation and internal control violation display and multidimensional anomaly detection. We illustrate the

Many entities are progressively engaged in crypto asset transactions. The distinct nature of crypto assets from typical financial instruments makes it more challenging for external auditors to provide reasonable assurance on financial statements encompassing material crypto asset activities and transactions. To provide more specific guidance in crypto asset-related audits, this paper aims to (1) identify

Business transaction data includes numeric values of the transactions and the date/time when the transactions are recorded, and textual data such as descriptions. Understanding the textual information of business transactions is also important since this information captures the nature of transactions in a qualitative manner. This study proposes a text visual analysis approach for auditing. We argue

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) are gaining increasing attention regarding their potential applications in auditing. One major challenge of their adoption in auditing is the lack of explainability of their results. As AI/ML matures, so do techniques that can enhance the interpretability of AI, a.k.a., Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI). This paper introduces XAI techniques

Cybersecurity comment letters issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) may ask companies to disclose additional or clarifying information about their cybersecurity incidents, risks, and corresponding controls, where appropriate. Although responding to the comment letter in the form of disclosing more information about cybersecurity can better signal a company’s security posture to investors

A number of institutions make reports available regarding the types, impacts, or origins of cybersecurity breaches. The information content of cyber breach reports is examined in light of Principle 15 of the 2017 Committee on Sponsoring Organizations Enterprise Risk Management (COSO ERM) information security control framework to understand the degree to which cyber breach reports reflect the established

Abstract not available

An increasing amount of companies is transforming their IT departments towards cross-functional teams which are responsible for both development and operation of software and use automation to speed up their delivery process. This novel approach, which is commonly known as “DevOps”, promises many benefits such as increased speed and frequency of deployment. However, companies using DevOps are often

This study aims to develop and evaluate a model that seeks to measure the impact of Accounting Information System Quality, Internal Control System Quality and Non-Financial Information Quality on company success (Decision-Making Success and Non-Financial Performance). This model is empirically tested with data obtained from the managers of 381 Portuguese companies. We use structural equation modelling

The aim of this paper is to analyze the effectiveness of internal audit of cybersecurity. We developed a Cybersecurity Audit Index composed of three dimensions – planning, performing and reporting – to address this question. We hypothesize that cybersecurity audit effectiveness is positively related to cyber risk management maturity and negatively to the probability of a successful cyber attack. We

This paper investigates how analyst forecast optimism is associated with disclosures of internal control material weaknesses (ICMWs) and their remediation under Section 404 of the Sarbanes–Oxley Act (SOX). Drawing on agency theory, I hypothesize that analysts are likely to issue earnings forecasts that are more optimistic for firms with ICMW disclosures than for those without ICMW disclosures. Using

This paper studies the degree to which multinational enterprises (MNEs) use information technology for managing international transfer pricing (ITP). Based on 21 interviews conducted with in-house accounting and tax professionals in MNEs, we observed limited use of information technology for ITP management. However, some degree of ITP automation was observed in workflow management to produce transfer

A critical question arises as to whether data analytics (DA) can bring value and improve organizational performance. The benefit offered by DA can be achieved only when organizations are able to direct their attention on the conditioning factors that amplify business value. At the same time, organizations should cautiously resolve the issues that dampen DA business value. This study applied resource-based

In response to the increasingly sophisticated corporate information system environment in producing accounting data, audit firms are undertaking information system (IS) audit in addition to conventional auditing. This study focuses on examining the impact of input level of IS audit on audit quality. We collected data on IS audit hours, a unique reporting requirement for Korean listed-firms as disclosed

For over two decades, information systems researchers have grappled with defining what constitutes good design science research. With too many older papers simply documenting the development of systems without a clear message of the contribution to science, design science fell out of favor with the information systems discipline. With the emergence of intelligent systems and the re-shaping of knowledge

The exponential rate of increase in IT security breach incidents has led governments, regulators, and practitioners to respond by introducing standards and frameworks for the disclosure and management of organizational cybersecurity risk exposure. Cybersecurity, which is a part of IT risk management, is affected by the capability and the ability of senior leadership responsible for IT-related decisions

This study investigates the association between human resource investment in information technology (IT) controls over financial reporting and its investment efficiency. To conduct the analysis, it uses novel hand-collected data on the number of IT control personnel. In particular, it uses the ratio of (1) the number of IT control personnel, (2) the number of IT control personnel who are certified

This study explores the information regarding Artificial Intelligence (AI) included by European listed companies in their annual and/or sustainability reports. The study mainly focuses on (1) the development and use of AI systems/projects reported by companies, (2) the extent to which companies disclose ethical principles or guidelines regarding AI and (3) the factors explaining these practices. The

Audit efficiency and effectiveness can be significantly affected by data aggregation during audit procedures. Previous studies highlight that an appropriate level of data aggregation is needed because a continuous auditing (CA) system often generates numerous alarms. To respond to this issue, this study proposes a CA system with a three-layer structure. In the first layer of the proposed system, all

This study explores how government-adopted audit data analytic tools promote the abuse of power by auditors enabling politically sensitive processes that encourage industry-wide normalization of behavior. In an audit setting, we investigate how a governmental organization enables algorithmic decision-making to alter power relationships to effect organizational and industry-wide change. While prior

Financial transformation is a major organizational change that enterprises face today. Under the influence of information technologies, financial shared service mode has become a better option for enterprise financial transformation. Financial shared service mode has a positive or negative influence on the competitive advantage of enterprises under the promotion of internal and external factors. At

Given the increased emphasis on individual factors in knowledge management research, this study proposes a research model that examines the effects of personal information management capabilities and social-psychological factors on the knowledge-sharing intention of accounting professionals. The survey results from 136 accounting professionals reveal that both personal information management capabilities

Audit firms are increasingly engaging with advanced data analytics to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of external audits through the automation of audit work and obtaining a better understanding of the client’s business risk and thus their own audit risk. This paper examines the process by which audit firms adopt advanced data analytics, which has been left unaddressed by previous research

Agricultural information systems are an integral part of modern farming and are helping to make a significant contribution to improved farm productivity and profitability. To date, however, there has been a failure to integrate accounting information systems with on-farm data, despite today’s farmers facing unprecedented and interconnected economic and resource pressures. This study explores this problem

The audit of financial statements is a complex and highly specialized process. Digitalization and the increasing automation of transaction processing create new challenges for auditors who carry out those audits. New data analysis techniques offer the opportunity to improve the auditing of financial statements and to overcome the limitations of traditional audit procedures when faced with increasingly

Cloud accounting represents a major disruptive technology for the accounting industry. This qualitative study used semi-structured interviews to collect data from eight small and medium accounting practices (SMPs) to test a preliminary model of the determinants and impact of cloud-based client accounting adoption by SMPs. Accordingly, the SMP was the unit of analysis. The complex triadic relationship

Governments may unintentionally impose heavy administrative burdens on companies as they want to ensure the flow of tax revenue. Drawing on an engagement involving the Danish Business Authority and following a design science research (DSR) approach, this paper develops a prototype of a platform for value-added tax (VAT) settlement that is enabled by distributed ledger technology (DLT) and design principles

Ongoing advancements in technology have dramatically changed the disclosure media that companies adopt. Such disclosure media have evolved from traditional paper-based ones to the internet as the new platform for disclosing information on companies’ designated websites; however, the new media for disclosures are currently social media platforms. Among the important disclosures that companies make are

This study examines the value relevance of blockchain and cryptocurrency disclosures in firms’ 10-K filings, which act as proxies for the firms’ involvement in this trending technology and its applications. Using textual analysis to quantify blockchain and cryptocurrency disclosures, the study first shows that these disclosures overall are value relevant. However, when the disclosures are further categorized

This study experimentally examines potential non-professional investors’ understanding of a random sample of SOX 404 reports containing both IT weaknesses (ITWs) and non-IT weaknesses (non-ITWs) as reflected in their internal control weakness (ICW) severity ratings and their accuracy in identifying the reported ICWs. We find that the number of perceived non-ITWs and report length are positively associated

In April 2019, the Journal of Business Ethics (JBE) held a conference devoted to the “The Impact of Technology on Ethics, Professionalism and Judgement in Accounting”. This follows the summer 2017 Journal of Information Systems (JIS) themed issue on “Accounting Information Systems and Ethics” I treat this conference and the themed issue as two natural experiments into the evolution of the research

The International Journal of Accounting Information Systems (IJAIS) celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2019. This study conducts a retrospective analysis of IJAIS articles using a bibliometric analysis to commemorate the event. Findings show a consistent increase in both journal publications and citations. Authors affiliated to United States institutions are the predominant contributors. However, Australian

This study is based on a longitudinal in-depth case study, conducted in a Portuguese public-sector organization, where the accountants adopted a strategic business partner role and promoted the implementation of two new accounting information systems (AIS), under the context of increasing business competition. Given their role, we examined how the implementation processes of such AIS were influenced

Karen Barad’s (2007) agential realism conceives the world as intra-acting agencies that take definite form only when an agential cut is made. In the information systems discipline, her theory underpins much of the work that goes under the rubric of sociomateriality. Importantly, her work challenges the validity of theories about the world based on representationalism and so-called Cartesian dualism

In this paper we utilize a structured natural language processing implementation of the Financial Industry Business Ontology (FIBO) to extract financial information from the unstructured textual data of the social media platform Twitter regarding financial and budget information in the public sector, namely the two public-private agencies of the Port Authority of NY and NJ (PANYNJ), and the NY Metropolitan

Though cybersecurity risks are significant and could materially affect business operations and the integrity of financial reporting, there is limited empirical research on the cybersecurity risk disclosure trends and practices of public companies. In this study, we conduct a longitudinal study of the content and linguistic characteristics of public companies' cybersecurity risk disclosure practices

Given exponential growth in the size of big data, its multi-channel sources and variability in quality that create challenges concerning cost-effective use, firms have invested significantly in databases and analytical tools to inform decision-making. In this regard, one means to avoid the costs associated with producing less than insightful reports and negative effects on performance through wasted

This paper develops a theory-based taxonomy for cybercrime. The need for a cybercrime taxonomy stems from the lack of a definition and standards to measure and manage cybercrime. We define cybercrime as an act that uses computer technology to commit a crime. The four building blocks of our taxonomy include mutual exclusivity, structure, exhaustiveness, and well-defined categories, which together provide

Blockchain technology has garnered the interest of the accounting profession in recent years. However, when considering whether to adopt this technology, many business professionals have voiced a lack of a compelling use case as a major challenge. To utilize the technology effectively, first, we need to establish how organizations will connect to the blockchain that will also provide a compelling use-case

In this paper, we model the business process within which blockchain applications operate in order to extract an endogenous demand for auditing in that environment. We begin by undertaking a case study of the pharmaceutical drug industry supply chain, exploring both the proposed blockchain initiatives in it initiated by the FDA and startup companies, and the problems in the supply chain that blockchain