American Accounting Association

An International Meeting of
the American Accounting Association

2005 Annual Meeting

August 7–10, 2005
San Francisco, California

Come to the City by the Bay!

Theme: "The Sarbanes-Oxley Act: A Three-Year Retrospective."

Invitation to San Francisco
From AAA President
Jane F. Mutchler

Jane F. Mutchler It is with great excitement and anticipation that I invite you to attend the AAA Annual Meeting from August 7–10 in San Francisco. Joe Carcello and his Annual Meeting Planning Committee have done an outstanding job in assuring that there is "something for everyone." This year's Annual Meeting theme is: "The Sarbanes- Oxley Act: A Three-Year Retrospective." Our plenary speakers are ideally positioned to comment on the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX). To kick off the meeting, the AAA is hosting a special dinner on Sunday night where Representative Michael Oxley will share his thoughts on this landmark piece of securities legislation.

Other plenary and luncheon speakers for the conference include:

  • Arnold Havens, Acting Deputy Secretary of the United States Treasury and General Counsel
  • Katherine Schipper, FASB Board member, will give the Presidential Scholars' address
  • Denny Beresford, Ernst & Young Executive Professor at the University of Georgia and a member of the Board and audit committee at MCI (post-WorldCom fraud)
  • Cynthia Cooper, best known for her role in uncovering WorldCom fraud
  • Judy Rayburn will share her vision as the new President of the AAA

In addition to the plenary speakers, the program includes numerous panelists, speakers and topics that will appeal to a broad cross-section of our membership.

Speakers for panel sessions include, among others:

  • Steve Albrecht, Senior Associate Dean of the Marriott School of Management and Accounting Professor, Brigham Young University
  • Andy Bailey, Deputy Chief Accountant at the SEC
  • Ben Bailey, partner with Bailey & Glasser
  • Colleen Cunningham, President of FEI
  • Dan Dhaliwal, incoming editor of The Accounting Review, Louis A. Myers Professor and Department Head, The University of Arizona
  • Johnny Frank, PricewaterhouseCoopers Partner in Charge of their fraud, risk, and controls practice,
  • The General Auditor at Microsoft
  • Larry Gordon, co-editor of the Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, and E&Y Alumni Professor at University of Maryland
  • Robert Hallagan, Vice Chairman of Heidrick & Struggles
  • Bob Herz, Chairman of the FASB
  • Gary Holstrum, Associate Chief Auditor and Director of Research at the PCAOB
  • Don Nicolaisen, Chief Accountant of the SEC
  • Chuck Noski, CFO of Northrup Grumman
  • Chuck Owens, senior executive with E&Y's Global Investigations and Dispute Advisory Practice
  • Zoe-Vonna Palmrose, PricewaterhouseCoopers Auditing Professor, USC
  • Dan Simunic, incoming editor of Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory, and CGA Professor at UBC
  • Patrick Taylor, CEO, Oversight Technologies Inc.
  • Ross Watts, William H. Meckling Professor, University of Rochester
  • Phil Wedemeyer, Deputy Director of Inspections at the PCAOB
  • Joseph Wells, Founder and Chairman of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners
  • Jerry Zimmerman, an editor at the Journal of Accounting and Economics.

Topics Include:

  • The current efforts of COSO to provide implementation guidance to smaller public companies in applying COSO's Internal Control: Integrated Framework document in reporting on internal controls under Section 404
  • Demonstrations of real-life accounting data for the classroom
  • Effects of SOX on auditors
  • Effects of SOX on preparers of financial statements
  • Effects of SOX on information systems
  • Ph.D. shortage in accounting
  • Board and audit committee search process, including a discussion of how academics get invited to join corporate boards
  • Managing group projects and assignments
  • Discussion of a model program in fraud and forensic accounting being developed under a grant from the National Institute of Justice, a unit of the U.S. Justice Department
  • Discussion of fair value accounting: Relevance or reliability?
  • Identifying and measuring learning outcomes—and
  • Many other topics to appeal to each of you!

In addition to the above, please check the AAA and Sections' websites for the many more sessions that will be available for you.

We are introducing two new initiatives at this year's Annual Meeting. First, in an effort to contribute to the development of new faculty members and doctoral students, we are running approximately 40 New Scholar Concurrent sessions. These sessions will involve two new faculty members or doctoral students receiving detailed feedback of a developmental nature from more senior faculty members in their discipline. Second, in an effort to attract greater participation in our meeting from practitioners, we are offering CPE sessions all afternoon on Monday and Tuesday. These CPE offerings will be delivered by Big 4 firm representatives and by representatives from Oversight Technologies, and will address fraudulent financial reporting, tax and corporate governance, and continuous monitoring technology. These new CPE sessions are separately ticketed events.

As always, there will be the usual surfeit of research paper offerings, but this year we'll have more of these offerings than ever—more than 200 concurrent sessions for research papers and more than 150 papers presented at the research forum!

Finally, San Francisco is one of the most beautiful cities in North America and it is a delightful location for a meeting in August. The city offers numerous opportunities for sightseeing, including Fisherman's Wharf, the Golden Gate Bridge, Aquarium of the Bay, Muir Woods and Sausalito, Alcatraz, and some of the best shopping on the west coast. And day trips are available to Yosemite National Park and Monterey and Carmel. If you never have driven from San Francisco to the Monterey, Carmel, and Big Sur area along California Highway 1, you owe it to yourself to make this drive at least once in your life. It is an experience you will never forget.

Please join us in San Francisco this August for what I believe will be a truly memorable Annual Meeting. I look forward to seeing you there.

Jane F. Mutchler
President, American Accounting Association

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