Audit professionals are valued members of society and are expected to be both skilled and ethical in their decision-making. The role of the auditor extends far beyond that of counting beans by demanding a social and political awareness, a technical knowledge, ethical principles and relationship skills. In addition, due to the team-oriented nature of the audit approach, auditors require strong team-building and interpersonal skills. This book offers expert descriptions of, and insights into, how such skills and responsibilities can be inculcated in tertiary education and professional training environments. Unlike other books which focus on auditing as a technical process, this volume examines auditing from a teaching and learning perspective. Expert contributors provide authoritative insights into an audit education which is embedded in accounting practice. The book’s descriptions of these insights into improving education for future audit professionals may allow the introduction of new and challenging fields of enquiry. Audit Education will be of great interest to educators in tertiary institutions, trainers in professional firms, and key individuals in accounting professional bodies seeking to ensure their members possess acceptable levels of attainment for admission and continued membership. This book was originally published as a special issue of Accounting Education: an international journal.

Accounting education ought to prepare future professionals to enter a principles-based, rules-oriented field of activity wherein technical knowledge of accounting standards (principles, rules and decision procedures) and ethical awareness (the capacity to discern moral issues and resolve ethical dilemmas) are crucial. Accounting education is best performed by the accountant’s adherence to the principles of the accounting profession and by individuals and firms following the appropriate rules, act according to the codes of conduct adopted by their profession, exercise clear judgment whenever they address financial transactions and consider/assess the state of a given business. Accounting Ethics Education: Making Ethics Real gathers a diversity of contributions from invited well-known experts and other specialists. It promotes comprehensive reflection around key trends, discussing and highlighting the most updated research on accounting ethics education, being an essential and useful reference in the field. In the performance of accounting tasks, the accountant should be educated and supported in the skills development and habit formation to solve accounting problems, recognize moral issues and resolve ethical dilemmas that will be encountered in their special tasks. Also, this book provides a moral map for identifying and acting on values when difficult situations arise. Examining multiple perspectives, the book improves the scholarly debate by providing cutting-edge and insightful research vital for all those interested and immersed in these matters. It will be of great value to academics, students, researchers and professionals in the fields of accounting, accounting education and ethics.

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Auditing is constantly and quickly changing due to the continuous evolution of information and communication technologies. As the auditing process is forced to adapt to these changes, issues have arisen that lead to a decrease in the auditing effectiveness and efficiency, leading to a greater dissatisfaction among users. More research is needed to provide effective management and mitigation of the risk associated to organizational transactions and to assign a more reliable and accurate character to the execution of business transactions and processes. Organizational Auditing and Assurance in the Digital Age is an essential reference source that discusses challenges, identifies opportunities, and presents solutions in relation to issues in auditing, information systems auditing, and assurance services and provides best practices for ensuring accountability, accuracy, and transparency. Featuring research on topics such as forensic auditing, financial services, and corporate governance, this book is ideally designed for internal and external auditors, assurance providers, managers, risk managers, academicians, professionals, and students.

The 1988 Education Reform Act meant that schools had to manage themselves in ways which satisfied the world outside the school gates. Governors become more powerful, parents took on a greater influence and employers were given new rights. This book discusses the total management of schools as they respond to these new imperatives. It examines the responsibilities of Teachers, Head Teachers and Principals as they shape and execute their management plans. Against the background of a compulsory National Curriculum, the book also examines the management of the diverse pressures within the curriculum itself.

Education policymakers often demonstrate surprisingly little awareness of how popular reforms impact teaching and teacher education. In this book, well-regarded scholars help readers develop a more robust understanding of the nature of teacher preparation, as well as an in-depth grasp of how popular policies, practices, and ideologies have taken root domestically and internationally. Contributors include Deron Boyles, Anthony Cody, Kerry Kretchmar, Carmen Montecinos, Beth Sondel, and Christopher Tienken. “This book will help readers consider the possibilities of democratic visions in the teaching profession and in public education, particularly in this time of intense political polarization when critical citizen engagement with our public institutions and policies is deeply needed.” —Janelle Scott, University of California, Berkeley “The chapters in this book make clear that ongoing policy disconnects cannot be ignored and that now is the time to elevate the teaching profession for students who have faced historical inequities.” —Julian Vasquez Heilig, dean, University of Kentucky College of Education “Public teaching and teacher education in the U.S. and in many other parts of the world are under assault by concerted efforts to deregulate and marketize them. This collection of essays examines the consequences of these privatization efforts in the U.S., Chile, and Singapore and should be required reading for those wanting to understand their complexity and consequences for teaching and teacher education today.” —Ken Zeichner, Boeing Professor of Teacher Education, University of Washington

The overall purpose of the thesis is to explore the meaning of professionalism and independence for the individuals within the audit arena. Professionalism is defined as the occupational values that guide auditors’ professional behaviour, and how independence is understood is assumed to be influenced by the social groups the auditors identify with. The audit arena consists of several social actors, i.e. the audit profession, audit firms, and auditors, as well as external constituencies of the profession, i.e. accountors and accountees. The audit profession both serves the public interest by quality-ensuring the information provided by the accountors to the accountees as well as conducts business in a state-sanctioned monopoly-like market. Appearing independent and professional is therefore critical for the profession as independence and professionalism is the basis of society’s trust in the profession and may particularly influence the profession’s ability to recruit and retain staff. The audit profession, audit firms, offices and audit teams are social groups which influence the values, attitudes, and behaviours of the auditors through the process of socialization into the profession and the audit firm. However, accountors (i.e. clients) and accountees (i.e. stakeholders such as investors) are also social actors, who may influence the values, attitudes, and behaviour of auditors, if auditors identify with these social actors. Exploring the social identities at ‘play’ within the audit arena enables us to more fully understand the values that guide professional work. The thesis empirically investigates the social identity audit arena through potential, current, and former audit employees’ perceptions of the audit arena, where the data is both qualitative (interviews) and quantitative (surveys) in nature. The empirical material provides both pre-socialized and post-socialized perspectives on the audit arena, where the bulk of the material stems from the pre-socialized perspective. The thesis suggests that there are two types of auditors, namely small client auditors and large client auditors, where the small client auditor group dominates the audit arena. The role of the small client auditor is described differently from the large (public) client auditor’s role. The small client auditor is perceived as a teacher who helps the clients run their businesses better, and avoid problems with tax authorities et cetera, making it necessary for the auditor to have a good and close relationship with the client in order to fulfil her/his role. The large client auditor is described more as having the ‘traditional’ guardians of the market role. Hence, it seems as the small client auditor is guided by other values and has a different understanding of independence compared to the large client auditor. However, the large client auditor is also perceived as having a counselling teacher role, indicating that some professional values are shared by small client and large client auditors. These different roles auditors are perceived to have, where independence and working for the public interest seem to mean different things, can influence how new audit employees perceive the profession. If employees expect to work as ‘large client auditors’, but instead experience work being guided by small client auditor values (or vice versa), it may influence the willingness to stay in the profession. These two roles are also a potential factor influencing the expectation gap, i.e. the gap between what society thinks the auditor does and what s/he does in practice. These two roles may therefore influence society’s image of the auditor, and where the profession may have issues in appearing independent in the relationship with small clients. Avhandlingens övergripande syfte är att utforska innebörden av professionalism och oberoende för individerna inom revisionsarenan. Professionalism definieras som de yrkesrelaterade värderingarna som styr hur man som professionell revisor bör agera och hur oberoende förstås antas påverkas av vilka sociala grupper revisorn identifierar sig med. Revisionsarenan består av flera sociala aktörer, nämligen revisionsprofessionen, revisionsbyråer, och revisorer, och även externa intressenter till professionen, nämligen redovisningsskyldiga och redovisningsberättigade. Revisionsprofessionen har ett viktigt samhällsuppdrag att kvalitetssäkra informationen som de redovisningsskyldiga tillhåller de redovisningsberättigade. Dock bedriver professionen samtidigt affärer på den monopolmarknad professionen har genom den lagstadgade revisionen. För professionen är det därmed av yttersta vikt att framstå som oberoende och professionell, då oberoende och professionalism är grunden för samhällets tillit till professionen. Innebörden av professionalism och oberoende inom revisionsarenan kan speciellt påverka professionens möjligheter att rekrytera och behålla personal. Revisionsprofessionen, revisionsbyråerna, arbetskontoren och revisionsteamen är sociala grupper som påverkar revisorers värderingar, attityder och beteende genom socialiseringen in i professionen och revisionsbyrån. De redovisningsskyldiga (klienter) och de redovisningsberättigade (intressenter så som investerare) är andra sociala aktörer som kan påverka revisorers värderingar, attityder och beteende, om revisorerna identifierar sig med dessa sociala grupper. Genom att utforska vilka sociala identiteter som verkar inom revisionsarenan kan vi få större kunskap kring vilka värderingar som styr det professionella arbetet. Avhandlingen undersöker potentiella, nuvarande och före detta revisionsmedarbetares uppfattningar om revisionsarenan, där empirin både är av kvalitativ (intervjuer) och kvantitativ (enkäter) natur. Det empiriska materialet ger både ett ‘försocialiserat’ och ‘eftersocialiserat’ perspektiv på revisionsarenan, där tyngden ligger på det försocialiserade perspektivet. Avhandlingen tyder på att det finns två typer av revisorer, nämligen ‘småbolagsrevisorer’ och ‘storbolagsrevisorer’, där ‘småbolagsrevisorer’ är den största gruppen. ‘Småbolagsrevisorns’ roll beskrivs annorlunda jämfört med hur ‘storbolagsrevisorns’ roll beskrivs. ‘Småbolagsrevisorn’ uppfattas som en lärare som hjälper klienterna att driva sina företag bättre, och undvika problem med Skatteverket med mera, vilket innebär att revisorn måste ha en god och nära relation med klienten för att kunna uppfylla sin roll. ‘Storbolagsrevisorn’ beskrivs mer som revisorsrollen traditionell beskrivs, d.v.s. som en ‘marknadsväktare’ och en oberoende granskare. Det verkar alltså som att ‘småbolagsrevisorn’ utgår ifrån andra professionella värderingar och har en annan förståelse av oberoende jämfört med ‘storbolagsrevisorn’. Dock uppfattas ‘storbolagsrevisorn’ även ha en rådgivande lärarroll, vilket indikerar att ‘småbolagsrevisorer’ och ‘storbolagsrevisorer’ delar vissa professionella värderingar. Dessa olika roller som revisorer upplevs ha, där oberoende och arbete för det allmännas intresse verkar betyda olika saker, kan påverka hur nya anställda upplever revision som yrke. Om anställda förväntar sig att arbeta som en ’storbolagsrevisor’ men istället får uppleva yrket som en ’småbolagsrevisor’ (eller tvärtom) så kan det påverka viljan att vara kvar i yrket. Dessa två roller är även en potentiell aspekt som påverkar förväntansgapet, dvs skillnaden mellan vad samhället tror att revisorn gör och vad hen faktiskt gör. Dessa två roller kan alltså påverka samhällets bild av revisorn, där revisionsprofessionen kan ha svårt att hävda sig vara oberoende gentemot dessa mindre klienter.

Higher Professional Education for General Practitioners is a practical guide on the best ways to plan educational and vocational training needs throughout professional practice. It clearly outlines the underlying issues surrounding the introduction of higher professional education (HPE) enabling newly qualified professionals to focus on areas that they feel less competent in, and areas that require additional training. In an easy-to-read format it provides all the necessary information to assist readers undertaking HPE, and for all those setting up educational programmes for newly qualified GPs in the first year after their vocational training scheme.

Praise for Auditor's Guide to Information Systems Auditing "Auditor's Guide to Information Systems Auditing is the most comprehensive book about auditing that I have ever seen. There is something in this book for everyone. New auditors will find this book to be their bible-reading it will enable them to learn what the role of auditors really is and will convey to them what they must know, understand, and look for when performing audits. For experiencedauditors, this book will serve as a reality check to determine whether they are examining the right issues and whether they are being sufficiently comprehensive in their focus. Richard Cascarino has done a superb job." —E. Eugene Schultz, PhD, CISSP, CISM Chief Technology Officer and Chief Information Security Officer, High Tower Software A step-by-step guide tosuccessful implementation and control of information systems More and more, auditors are being called upon to assess the risks and evaluate the controls over computer information systems in all types of organizations. However, many auditors are unfamiliar with the techniques they need to know to efficiently and effectively determine whether information systems are adequately protected. Auditor's Guide to Information Systems Auditing presents an easy, practical guide for auditors that can be applied to all computing environments. As networks and enterprise resource planning systems bring resources together, and as increasing privacy violations threaten more organization, information systems integrity becomes more important than ever. With a complimentary student'sversion of the IDEA Data Analysis Software CD, Auditor's Guide to Information Systems Auditing empowers auditors to effectively gauge the adequacy and effectiveness of information systems controls.