Membership

Benefits of Membership in the Auditing Section of the American Accounting Association

If you are not currently a member of the Auditing Section, the Section’s Executive Committee, on behalf of our over 1,500 members from throughout the world, extends a warm invitation for you to join us in our mission to improve the theory and the practice of auditing.

There are many benefits to membership in the Auditing Section of the American Accounting Association (AAA). Through the Section’s committee structure, program sponsorship, and publications, members are kept informed and provided with many opportunities to become involved. A primary benefit of Section membership is the opportunity to interact with a diverse group of scholars on topics of mutual interest – the teaching, research, and practice of auditing. Membership in the Section can lead to collaborations and friendships, many of which last a lifetime. Section members also benefit from publications, meetings, awards and recognition, and the opportunity to influence academic thinking and field practice.

Affecting Practice

The Auditing Section has a continuing impact on auditing practice. In addition to the important and continuing effects of research and teaching, the work of the Section’s Auditing Standards Committee (ASC) makes an immediate and direct contribution to practice. The ASC’s charge is to maintain an active dialogue with auditing standards setters. The ASC provides comments on proposed auditing standards to standard setting bodies. Standard setters frequently request the ASC to provide an overview of the research findings on a topic of current interest. 

Publications

Auditing Section members receive two publications, the Section’s research journal, Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory (AJPT), and the Section’s newsletter, The Auditor's Report. Current Issues in Auditing, which promotes timely and widespread dissemination of ideas to the academic and practice communities, is published online and is free to all interested parties. In addition, our members often receive publications from other organizations. 

The Section’s publishes AJPT twice a year. It is generally considered the premier journal dedicated to auditing research in the world. Much of the highest-quality auditing research is published in AJPT.  Faculty interested in performing research and incorporating research findings into the classroom definitely benefit from reading AJPT.

The Section’s newsletter, The Auditors’ Report, is published electronically three times a year. In addition to announcements of general interest to the Section’s membership, the newsletter’s continuing columns address current research, education, and practice issues important to our membership. One standing feature is the "Have You Seen . . . ?" column which presents abstracts of recently published auditing research drawn from numerous academic journals. The newsletter has recently added a similar teaching oriented column titled, "Have You Seen These Instructional Resources?" This column will be of interest to members wanting to add to their tools for classroom use. Furthermore, all individuals with an interest in audit practice benefit from the "ASB Update" column. Finally, the newsletter frequently publishes brief articles on a wide range of research, teaching, and practice issues submitted by members.

Current Issues in Auditing is devoted to advancing the dialogue between academics and practitioners on current issues facing the auditing practice community (e.g., new opportunities and challenges, emerging areas, global developments, effects of new regulations or pronouncements, and effects of technological or market developments on audit processes). We define "auditing practice" broadly to include practice-related issues in external auditing, internal auditing, government auditing, IT auditing, assurance services, and related fields. The journal seeks short, well-written papers from academics, practitioners, and regulators addressing timely issues facing the auditing practice community.

Meetings

The Section sponsors a two-day annual Midyear Conference (MYC) each January, usually in a warm weather location. The MYC typically attracts over 400 participants, and is consistently viewed by members as one of the most beneficial and enjoyable academic conferences during the year. In addition to high-profile plenary speakers, the MYC consists of panel sessions, typically focused on practice- or education-related issues, and numerous sessions highlighting the latest research. A doctoral consortium occurs in conjunction with the MYC, in which students at all stages of their doctoral programs are encouraged to participate.

Due to the generous support of the KPMG Foundation, the MYC and doctoral consortium are attractively priced.

Auditing Section members also participate in the American Accounting Association (AAA) Annual Meeting. The Section manages the submission and evaluation of auditing-related papers intended for the AAA Annual Meeting. Historically, the Section is well represented on the annual meeting program. The Section’s luncheon at the AAA Annual Meeting has attracted some noteworthy luncheon speakers. The 2001 luncheon speaker was Connie McDaniel, Coca-Cola’s corporate controller.

The Auditing Section also cooperates with the AAA Regional Meeting planners to manage the submission and evaluation of auditing-related research papers intended for Regional Meetings. Sessions at the regional meetings are more likely to focus on education- and practice-related issues, although research related papers are also encouraged. The Section also facilitates prominent speakers at regional meetings. 

Awards

The Section sponsors five awards for its members:

• Distinguished Service in Auditing Award
• Innovation in Auditing and Assurance Education Award
• Notable Contributions to the Auditing Literature Award
• Outstanding Auditing Educator Award
• Outstanding Auditing Dissertation Award

These awards serve our members in several ways. First, they are a formal recognition of a member’s outstanding contributions to the Section, to the academy, and to the practicing profession. Second, they serve to highlight for the academic and practice communities, the many outstanding contributions of Section members. Finally, they serve to highlight the importance of the human capital investment made by Section members.

Committees

The Auditing Section has numerous committees, with a variety of functions. Serving on one of the Section’s committees provides an excellent way for members to interact with other members with similar interests and to make a difference. More information on the Section’s committee structure and its other activities is available on the Section’s website.