Mandatory audit firm rotation has been researched for decades with resulting opposition as well as support. Research has mainly treated mandatory auditor rotation at the firm macro level. We submit the client relationship length is comprised of firm tenure and audit team continuity, or auditor familiarity. Increased tenure, at the interorganizational or firm level and interpersonal or individual level, has been shown to increase trust; and further, trust is positively related to employee voice, such as speaking up about fraud (whistleblowing). We conduct an experiment examining whether increased audit firm tenure and auditor familiarity leads to increased trust, which enhances the willingness to whistleblow. We find evidence that suggests auditor familiarity enhances trust, which, in turn, positively influences an employee's intentions to whistleblow. This has important implications for the profession and for future research exploring mandatory audit firm rotation; in particular, the need to include auditor familiarity as a construct.

ChatGPT, a language-learning model chatbot, has garnered considerable attention for its ability to respond to users’ questions. Using data from 14 countries and 186 institutions, we compare ChatGPT and student performance for 28,085 questions from accounting assessments and textbook test banks. As of January 2023, ChatGPT provides correct answers for 56.5 percent of questions and partially correct answers for an additional 9.4 percent of questions. When considering point values for questions, students significantly outperform ChatGPT with a 76.7 percent average on assessments compared to 47.5 percent for ChatGPT if no partial credit is awarded and 56.5 percent if partial credit is awarded. Still, ChatGPT performs better than the student average for 15.8 percent of assessments when we include partial credit. We provide evidence of how ChatGPT performs on different question types, accounting topics, class levels, open/closed assessments, and test bank questions. We also discuss implications for accounting education and research.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether intention to report fraud varies by organization type or fraud type. Employees who self-select into not-for-profits may be inherently different from employees at other organizations. Design/methodology/approach The authors conduct a 2 × 2 experiment in which (n=107) individuals with a bookkeeping or accounting background respond to a fraud scenario. Analysis of covariance models are used for data analysis. Findings The authors find evidence that not-for-profit employees are more likely to report fraud and that reporting intention does not differ significantly by fraud type. Research limitations/implications Limitations of this study include the simulation of a fraud through a hypothetical incident and the use of online participants. Practical implications This study expands the commitment literature by examining the role that commitment plays in the judgment and decision-making process of a whistleblower. Findings suggest affective commitment, which is an employee’s emotional attachment to the organization, and mediate the path between organization type and reporting intention. Affective commitment significantly predicts whistleblowing in not-for-profit organizations but not in for-profit organizations. Originality/value This research provides insight into how organization type influences whistleblowing intentions through constructs such as organizational commitment and public service motivation.

Archival research suggests that nonprofit organizations are inaccurately reporting significant asset diversions on IRS Form 990. This suggests that information reported on Form 990, which is relied on by nonprofit stakeholders, may be misleading. As a result, this behavioral study investigates three possible causes for the under-reporting of significant diversions of assets, including reading the Form 990 instructions, how the threshold for reporting is met, and the threat of outside detection of the theft. Our findings suggest that reading the instructions for Form 990, where the IRS’s definition of a significant diversion of assets can be found, positively and significantly influences disclosure of an asset diversion. We also examine press release reporting of a significant diversion of assets, as nonprofits may try to get ahead of the disclosure on Form 990. We find that risk of detection of the theft is a significant predictor of press release disclosure.

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