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.

Audit fieldwork is shifting from the client site to remote environments due to generational preferences, budget restrictions, and health mandates as seen with the COVID‐19 pandemic. This may negatively impact professional skepticism without purposeful safeguards. Based in Social Presence Theory (SPT), our experiment uses Big 4 senior auditors to examine how the perceived level of social presence (high vs. low) influences an auditor's professional skepticism and how increasing one's feeling of accountability can increase auditor skepticism in a remote audit environment. We predict and find that auditors who feel a greater degree of social presence with their client are more skeptical. We also find that increasing an auditor's feelings of accountability can increase skepticism, and that increasing accountability in a low social presence environment can mitigate lower feelings of professional skepticism. This finding offers an effective and efficient method to help auditors remain skeptical in remote audit environments.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore how firms can enhance feedback systems by studying the effects of offering junior auditors an opportunity to provide upward feedback and acknowledging their voice has been heard and will be considered for evaluation purposes. Design/methodology/approach This study uses a 2 × 1 + 1 (voice confirmation × opportunity + no opportunity) between-subjects experimental design that manipulated upward feedback opportunity (i.e., opportunity or no opportunity) and voice confirmation for those that do receive upward feedback opportunity (i.e., receive indication upward feedback was heard and will be considered or receive no indication upward feedback was heard). Within the no upward feedback opportunity condition participants did not have a chance to receive voice confirmation. Findings Through analysis of 117 upper-division undergraduate accounting students, the authors find the receipt of upward feedback opportunity and voice confirmation positively influence justice perceptions. Furthermore, the authors find interactional justice is positively associated with organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB), negatively associated with counterproductive work behaviors (CWB) and mediates the association between upward feedback voice confirmation and both OCB and CWB through indirect-only mediation. The authors also find distributive justice facilitates competitive and indirect-only mediation between upward feedback opportunity and OCB and CWB. Originality/value This is the first study to examine the influence of giving staff auditors the opportunity to provide upward feedback and informing upward feedback providers (e.g., staff) their voice has been heard and will be considered for evaluation purposes.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of auditor alternative work arrangement (AWA) participants’ and non-participants’ perceptions of procedural and distributive justice on organizational commitment. Design/methodology/approach Using survey data from 110 auditors in the USA, this study uses a regression model to explore how AWA participants’ and non-participants’ perceptions of procedural and distributive justice affect organizational commitment. Findings As predicted, results show both participants’ and non-participants’ perceptions of procedural justice significantly affect organizational commitment. However, neither groups’ perceptions of distributive justice significantly affect their organizational commitment. Originality/value Organizational justice literature has shown that procedural and distributive justice influence organizational commitment. However, no study has controlled for AWA participation. The authors extend research by investigating the effects of procedural and distributive justice perceptions on organizational commitment for both participants and non-participants. The authors also extend accounting research that has narrowly examined AWA benefits and drawbacks, support, viability and perceptions of subordinate career success. Furthermore, there is limited AWA auditing research and this study offers a view prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

No abstract