This paper focuses on some of the ethical issues related to voluntary disclosure of qualitative information by Canadian public companies. Drawing on various organizational theories, we examine some of the ways that companies can symbolically manage legitimacy through disclosure. Press releases of a sample of companies that received cease‐trading orders were analysed for their use of language. We found that high‐risk companies attempted to manage legitimacy by selectively releasing information and by using ambiguous language. Moreover, some companies behaved unethically by using language that suggested a positive future despite the imminent release of a cease‐trading order. These findings have implications for organizational and accounting theorists and stakeholders in the corporate, fiduciary, and investment communities. Copyright © 2008 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Expressing concern about the Canadian capital market environment, Boritz (2006) suggested that the accounting and auditing profession may be paying limited attention to quarterly reports. This study investigates whether fourth-quarter adjustments are significantly different from the previous three, thereby limiting the reliability or faithful representation of the firms' results for each quarter. This study includes four years (2003)(2004)(2005)(2006) of quarterly financial information of 353 Canadian public companies. Our results indicate that the volatility of net income in each of the first three quarters is considerably lower than in the final quarter. While lower volatility can improve predictability, the resulting relevance may be limited. The low volatility of reported earnings in the first three quarters suggests that either earnings management is taking place or that management may not be exercising sufficient care at the end of each of the first three quarters on the measurements that generally accepted accounting principles call for and readers of financial statements expect. This could result in quarterly financial statements that do not faithfully represent the underlying resources and obligations of the reporting firms at the end of the quarter, or the firm's performance during the quarter. Our findings support Boritz's proposition for increased audit requirements for interim reports and changes in the approach to the annual audit to integrate it more closely with interim financial reporting. QUALITÉ DE L'INFORMATION LIVRÉE DANS LES ÉTATS FINANCIERS INTERMÉDIAIRES RÉSUMÉExprimant ses pre´occupations a`l'e´gard de l'environnement des marche´s de capitaux canadiens, Boritz (2006) a avance´que le milieu professionnel de la comptabi-lite´et de l'audit faisait peu de cas des rapports trimestriels. Les auteurs effectuent une e´tude empirique visant a`de´terminer si les ajustements du quatrie`me trimestre sont sensiblement diffe´rents de ceux des trois trimestres pre´ce´dents, ce qui pourrait indiquer que les e´tats financiers interme´diaires ne sont pas complets et, par conse´quent, ne donnent une image ni fiable ni fide`le des re´sultats de chaque trimestre.

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If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -The purpose of this paper is to investigate the accuracy and informational quality of the cash from operations section of the cash flow statement. Design/methodology/approach -This paper empirically tested the accuracy of the cash from operations reported by Canadian non-financial companies. The authors studied 262 companies at three different time periods providing 786 firm observations. For each observation, the balance sheet was used to confirm the figures reported in the statement of cash flows. In addition, the authors investigated management's disclosure of the particular working capital items. Findings -The findings suggest that in recent years, companies are more likely to overstate their cash flow from operations, thereby presenting a better financial picture than is supported by the balance sheet accounts. This would suggest that the investing or financing section would be correspondingly understated. The presence of acquisitions reduces overstatements, which may be the result of more auditor presence. Research limitations/implications -This paper extends previous research from documented single, isolated instances of cash from operations being misstated to include a significant sample with more generalizable findings. The data are Canadian which may limit the generalizability to other countries. Future research should address the extent to which financial analysts rely on the reported cash from operations figure.Practical implications -This preliminary study may have implications for financial analysts and others relying on the free cash flow figure.Originality/value -This study expands on previous research which has taken place only on a case-by-case basis.

Two studies were conducted to assess meta-cognitive and individual difference influences on students’ choice of writing tests in paper-and-pencil or computer-administered format. In Study 1, university students chose the test format for an accounting exam (paper-and-pencil or computer). In Study 2, students disclosed their reasons for their choice of test format, predicted their scores on the first test and provided confidence ratings for their predictions. The results of both studies show that the reasons for choosing a computer vs. a paper-and-pencil test format differ, and that both choice and performance can be explained to some extent by individual difference and meta-cognitive factors.Deux enquêtes ont été menées afin de mesurer l’apport des différences métacognitives et des différences individuelles dans une tâche où un étudiant doit choisir de compléter un examen en format papier ou administré par ordinateur. Dans la première enquête, des étudiants universitaires ont choisi le format d’un examen de comptabilité (format papier ou administré par ordinateur). Dans la deuxième enquête, on a demandé aux étudiants d’expliquer leur choix, de prédire les résultats de leurs examens, et de fournir leur niveau de confiance quant à l’exactitude de leurs prédictions. Les résultats des deux enquêtes ont montré que le choix d’un exam en format papier est associé à un raisonnement différent que celui associé au choix d’un examen administré par ordinateur. De plus, les résultats ont montré que le choix du format de l’examen et la performance aux examens peuvent être, en partie, expliqués par des facteurs individuels et métacognitifs