Report of the President

As I write my first President’s report for the Section, I am reminded of what an outstanding Section this is. I am very pleased to have the opportunity to provide service to the Auditing Section in the role of President. As we go through the upcoming year, I am hopeful that the Executive Committee will find new and creative ways to provide benefits to the Section members and to recognize the many outstanding accomplishments of the Section’s members.

The Executive Committee
Last year, President Mark Peecher and Past President Ray Whittington provided the Section with leadership that has greatly benefited the Section. I also want to recognize the contributions of the other members of the Executive Committee.  Our two outgoing officers, Julia Higgs, Secretary, and Trevor Stewart, VP-Practice, have been a pleasure to work with.  Both have been very dedicated to the success of the Section.  Thank you Julia and Trevor for all of your time and effort! We are very fortunate that they are being replaced by two outstanding Section members – Jay Thibodeau, Secretary, and Shaun Budnik, VP – Practice.  As Mark Peecher moves into the role of Past President, Urton Anderson transitions from his role as Historian to VP – Academic. We are very pleased to welcome Jean Bedard to the Executive Committee in the role of Historian.

If you have ideas on how the Auditing Section can help you or ways in which the Section can recognize the many outstanding accomplishments of the Section’s members, please send us your ideas.

Section Committees
One of the primary reasons that the Auditing Section is successful is because so many of you agree to serve on Section Committees.  Thank you to all of you who said “yes” when I sent that email or made that call asking you to provide service to the Section. And especially thanks to those who volunteered even before I asked! I very much appreciate your willingness to serve.

I especially want to recognize those members who have agreed to chair or co-chair a Section Committee.  We all appreciate your efforts.

Thanks also to those who are involved with the Section’s publications:

New Awards, Initiatives, and Resources
One of the goals of the Executive Committee is to find new and creative ways to provide benefits to the Section members and to recognize the many outstanding accomplishments of the Section’s members. At the Auditing Section Luncheon at the AAA Annual Meeting we announced the creation of a new award for the best Ph.D. Student Paper submitted to the Midyear Conference. The award winning paper will receive a $1,000 award, and one student-author of the paper will receive reimbursement of travel costs to cover 3 hotel nights, conference registration costs, and coach airfare up to $2,000. We also announced that beginning with the 2009 Auditing Midyear Conference, the winner of the Outstanding Dissertation Award will receive a $2,500 monetary award.

The Section is also exploring the possibility of providing the members with complimentary Webinars throughout the year.  Barb Arel and Greg Jenkins are considering possible formats, topics, and presenters.  If you have any ideas related to these Webinars please contact Barb (barel@bsad.uvm.edu) or Greg (greg.jenkins@vt.edu).

Do you teach Information Systems Audit and Control?  Or would you like to implement a module on this topic into your auditing course? Sam Hicks at Virginia Tech has available to the Section members a DVD of virtual cases addressing these topics.  See his article in this newsletter for more information.

2008 AAA Annual Meeting Recap
I hope that many of you were able to attend the 2008 AAA Annual Meeting in Anaheim, CA. Chris Hogan and Tim Louwers did an outstanding job for the Section in terms of selecting papers for concurrent sessions and the Forum session, as well as organizing panels on emerging issues.

Chris and Tim received 152 papers and teamed up with over 150 reviewers to evaluate these papers. Eighty-nine papers were presented in concurrent sessions, and 26 papers were included in the Forum.  The Section also had four panel sessions covering topics related to PCAOB Developments, Stakeholders’ Expectations of an Audit, COSO Guidance on Monitoring, and Fair Value Standards.

A highlight for the Section was the Section luncheon address by Shaun Budnik, our newly elected VP – Practice. Shaun provided some very refreshing perspectives on the auditing profession and the relationship between the profession and the academy.  Her luncheon address will be available in an upcoming issue of Current Issues in Auditing. I encourage you to read her forthcoming article.

Thank you Chris and Tim for an outstanding job!  And thanks to the authors, reviewers, discussants, moderators, and panelists for all of your hard work!

Looking Towards the 2009 AAA Annual Meeting – Your Opportunity to be Involved
Tim Louwers will be coordinating the Auditing Section's portion of the 2009 AAA Annual Meeting. We need scholars in the Auditing Section to participate as authors, reviewers, discussants, and moderators. Please look for submission and volunteer information in this newsletter. And whether you are a new or very experienced scholar, we would greatly appreciate if you could provide this service to the Section.

Annual Midyear Conference and Doctoral Consortium
Please mark your calendars for the Fifteenth Annual Midyear Auditing Section Conference that will be held January 15–17, 2009 at the Hilton Bayfront in St. Petersburg, FL. Co-chairs Chris Hogan and Brian Ballou have been working very hard to plan this conference and are in the process of lining up some very interesting plenary speakers and organizing a rich agenda of concurrent sessions and panels. They are receiving invaluable assistance from Vice-Chairs Jennifer Joe and Susan Shu.

Ph.D. students will be happy to learn that Mark Zimbelman, with the assistance of Brian Mayhew, is developing an outstanding Doctoral Consortium to be held in conjunction with the Midyear Conference.

Ray Whittington, in conjunction with the Education Committee, is organizing our second Auditing Education Workshop. Both novice and experienced auditing educators will find this workshop, which will be held on January 15th, to be a wealth of information and resources on topics that can be brought into our auditing classrooms.

I want to extend the Section’s appreciation and thanks to The KPMG Foundation and Bernie Milano. The KPMG Foundation continues its financial support for the Section's Midyear Conference and the Auditing Section Doctoral Consortium. The generous financial commitment made by the KPMG Foundation has been a significant factor in ensuring the success of the Section's Midyear Conference and related activities.

Upcoming Elections
This Fall you have an opportunity to participate in the Section’s elections. Our nominating committee has put forward four outstanding candidates. The candidates for the position of Vice President – Academic are Steve Glover and Roger Martin. The candidates for the position of Treasurer are Chris Hogan and Karla Johnstone. This Fall you will receive an email asking you to cast your votes. Please exercise your right to vote! Thanks Steve, Roger, Chris, and Karla for agreeing to run.

Activities within the Profession
It is certainly important for section members to stay current on the myriad of activities happening within the auditing profession. I also like to acknowledge our section members who are involved in these activities. I will try to highlight one or more of these activities in each of my reports. If you are involved in some professional activity that you would like to see highlighted, please let me know. This column highlights the final report of the Treasury Department's Advisory Committee on the Auditing Profession.

In September, the Treasury Department's Advisory Committee on the Auditing Profession approved its final recommendations for promoting a sustainable public company auditing profession (see http://www.treas.gov/offices/domestic-finance/acap/ for details). Auditing Section members Joe Carcello (Chair), Jean Bedard, and Dana Hermanson served as the AAA's "Treasury Tracking Team" and provided input on the Committee's deliberations through a comment letter (see http://www.treas.gov/offices/domestic-finance/acap/submissions/06032008/Bedard060308.pdf), as well as written and oral testimony (Carcello on 12/3/07 and Bedard on 6/3/08) and other communications with the Committee (see http://www.treas.gov/offices/domestic-finance/acap/agendas/QFRs-6-3-08.pdf). The Tracking Team members also participated in a panel discussion at the Annual Meeting in Anaheim to present and provide thoughts on the Committee's proposed recommendations.

Thanks Joe, Jean and Dana for your participation in this important process.

Concern for our Colleagues Affected by the Recent Hurricanes
Our thoughts are extended to the Section members who have been affected by the recent hurricanes. We offer encouragement and support to you and your family members. If there is a way that the Section can help you during these difficult challenges, please let us know.

Continuing to Communicate
Please keep the Executive Committee informed of recent developments that affect the profession and the Auditing Section. If there is something occurring that you think we should know about or become involved in, please let us know. We will try to keep you up-to-date on various activities and events through the Section’s website and through periodic emails.

I look forward to seeing you in St. Petersburg, FL in January!  Please make your plans to attend the 2009 Auditing Section Midyear Conference.