SYNOPSIS
While the internal audit function (IAF) plays a critical role in organizations, it faces challenges in finding sufficient numbers of high-quality job applicants to fill its ranks. The results of two experiments suggest that practicing external auditors are twice as likely to apply for positions that are labeled as accounting positions rather than either in-house or outsourced internal audit positions. The results also suggest that external auditors have negative perceptions of the profession and work environment of internal auditors—especially in-house internal auditors relative to outsourced internal auditors—and are more likely to recommend that mediocre rather than top students apply to work in internal auditing. We also provide survey results from experienced external auditors about aspects of internal auditing that may be improved to make it a more attractive career option. Taken together, the results suggest internal auditing faces significant hiring challenges, but also offer ways to mitigate these challenges.
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.
This paper examines factors affecting non-accounting business professionals' willingness to work in internal auditing. In a 2 × 6 experiment with 502 participants from across the country, we find that, in contrast to prior research examining accountants, business professionals have relatively favorable views of internal audit. Although they hold favorable views, participants were still less likely to apply for a position labeled as internal audit than an identical position with an alternate label. Varying the structure of internal audit, including job responsibilities, career path, and sourcing arrangement, did not affect participants' willingness to apply for an internal audit position. We also find that high academically performing participants are less likely to apply to work in internal audit. Finally, based on an additional survey of 46 business students, we find that lower academically performing students would be more interested in internal audit if it paid more, but higher academically performing students would be more interested if internal audit performed more interesting work, was in a preferred company/field, or if they had more understanding of the profession.
Data Availability: Contact the authors.
This study investigates factors that influence audit interns' commitment and long-term intentions to work in public accounting. We measure the organizational and professional commitment of 127 audit interns prior to the start of busy-season internships with public accounting firms and then again at the conclusion of the internship. We find that both organizational and professional commitment decline significantly as a result of the internship experience. We note that heavy workloads during the internship decreased the degree of commitment to a particular firm. On the other hand, offering challenging work assignments and surrounding the intern with desirable coworkers significantly increased commitment to both the firm and the profession. We also find that changes in organizational commitment are related to changes in interns' long-term intentions to work in public accounting, and that by the end of the internship, nearly 60 percent of the interns changed their views with regard to how long they planned to work in public accounting, with a majority of respondents anticipating a shorter career in the profession.
JEL Classifications: M42.
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