President's Letter

Steve Stubben
2022-2023 FARS Section President

Dear FARS Members and Visitors,
The Financial Accounting and Reporting Section was created in 1993 with 49 members as a provisional section of the AAA. The section has since grown to nearly 1,500 members from around the world!

The original mission still stands today, which is “to give greater attention to financial accounting and reporting, and to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of education, research, and professional practice by: (1) disseminating and evaluating teaching methods and materials; (2) encouraging, facilitating, and publicizing research interests and projects; and (3) creating opportunities for interchange and cooperation between academics and practitioners.”

It's truly amazing to reflect on all that’s been done over the past 29 years to fulfill this mission, and the extensive efforts by so many volunteers and AAA staff over the years. Looking forward, I hope to continue building on this great work with three priorities: (1) integrating research and practice, (2) mentoring junior faculty, and (3) diversity and inclusion.

Two years ago, FARS President Mary Ellen Carter created the Integrating Research and Practice Committee with a goal to increase the impact of our research on practice. Under the current chair, Nicole Cade, the committee is working to include practitioners and regulators in the next midyear meeting, publicize opportunities to share research with practitioners and regulators on the FARS website, create a Best Contribution to Practice Award, and increase the reach of our section’s LinkedIn page.

This year, I will create an Early-Career Mentoring Committee. My hope is to encourage and support mentoring of the junior faculty in our section. The committee will brainstorm and begin acting on ideas to meet this objective; one likely outcome will be a mentoring program that matches interested junior faculty to senior faculty mentors at other universities.

Earlier this year, the AAA hired Barbee Oakes to be the organization’s first chief diversity officer. Her primary goal is “to collaborate with our partners to equip the entire AAA membership with the requisite knowledge and cultural agility to foster an environment where everyone feels they belong.” In addition to benefitting from her leadership and efforts at the AAA level, our section leaders will continue to strive to take a thoughtful and inclusive approach to filling leadership roles and volunteer positions, and selecting papers and discussants for meeting programs.

For those who are still reading (and possibly wondering how much longer I plan to go on), I’d like to finish with a call to action. Attend a conference. Volunteer to discuss a paper or join a committee. Nominate a colleague for an award next spring. We need you. We all benefit from the collective involvement of those in our profession, so please join with us! And if you want to get involved but don’t know how, just send me an email and I’ll be happy to help.

I hope to see you all at our midyear meeting on January 19-21, 2023, in Phoenix!

Steve Stubben
FARS President, 2022-2023
Professor, University of Utah