2021
ACCOUNTING DEPARTMENT UPDATE
ACCOUNTING
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IN THIS ISSUE Message from the Chair
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Department News
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Student Highlights
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Alumni Highlights
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Faculty News
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Accounting at Isenberg
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UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST
MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR DEAR ACCOUNTING ALUMNI AND FRIENDS, Despite the many challenges of the pandemic during 2020-2021, the Isenberg School of Management’s Accounting Program and its students continued to achieve remarkable success and national recognition. In fact, the way our students persevered in a remote and socially distanced world makes me even prouder of their accomplishments. As we return to a fully operational campus life this fall, we are proud to share what’s been happening in Accounting at UMass Amherst:
OUR STUDENTS KEEP WINNING NATIONAL CASE COMPETITIONS This past year, our accounting students were national finalists in the Deloitte “Audit Innovation Campus Challenge,” the Deloitte “FanTAXtic” case competition, and the Deloitte “Best Practices: Invest in Yourself” competition. This follows other recent awards as national finalists or national champions in PwC, Grant Thornton, and EY competitions.
OUR FACULTY RANKS AT THE TOP OF THE NATION Our faculty ranks #2 in the nation in auditor judgment and decision-making research in the top accounting journals, #5 in financial accounting judgment and decision-making research, and #9 in the nation in audit research overall.* About 60% of our students go into financial statement auditing, and they are being taught by national thought leaders in judgment and decisionmaking issues in auditing and financial reporting.
OUR FACULTY CONTINUES TO RECEIVE NATIONAL ACCLAIM Professor Matt Sherwood was one of only three faculty nationally selected by the United States Public Company Accounting Oversight Board to serve as a PCAOB Economic Research Fellow during 2020-2021. In addition, the American Accounting Association selected Professor Jeremy Bentley as the 2020 winner of its international Early Career Researcher Award in Management Accounting.
OUR PROGRAMS KEEP GROWING Both our undergraduate and master’s degree enrollments grew significantly in the past year, despite the pandemic. In particular, as our national reputation as a world-class accounting program has grown, our Master of Science in Accounting program exploded in enrollment. Now with over 300 students, it attracts students from across New England, across the nation, and internationally. We offer courses in person, online, and in blended formats, and with concentrations in auditing and financial reporting, tax, and forensics and analytics. The reputation and value of an Isenberg Accounting degree keeps on growing! Go Isenberg! Go UMass! Sincerely,
M. David Piercey, PhD John F. Kennedy Endowed Professor Accounting Department Chair
*Source: 2020 BYU Research Rankings, top 6 accounting journals, past decade 3
DEPARTMENT NEWS ACCOUNTING RESEARCH AT ISENBERG SECURES NATIONAL STATUS
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A new survey by Brigham Young University ranks Isenberg among elite accounting programs for its research into the role of judgment and decision making (JDM) in accounting IN NATION FOR practice. In the survey, AUDITOR JDM Isenberg ranks #2 in the RESEARCH nation for research involving auditor JDM and #5 in financial accounting JDM. Isenberg also ranks #5 for JDM research across all accounting topics. The rankings were based on faculty publications over the last decade through 2020 in the top six accounting journals, as identified by The Financial Times.
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“JDM research, which studies individual judgment and decision making by stakeholders in accounting settings, is one of our field’s two dominant research methods,” notes David Piercey, chair of Isenberg’s Department of Accounting. It is also interdisciplinary. “Most often, we combine theories from psychology and economics in exploring questions about how practitioners form judgments in accounting and business. I’ve also seen JDM accounting researchers draw on other disciplines, including evolutionary biology and neuroscience.” JDM research, he continues, is both academic and pragmatic. “It can help practitioners improve their judgment
UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST
in financial statement auditing, financial reporting, investing, and other business activities. Our work informs accounting standard setters, investors, and financial statement auditors about their presentation of information in financial statements. We are frequently cited by the SEC, FASB, and PCAOB.” Piercey adds that Isenberg has been focused on recruiting talented new faculty from top doctoral programs over the past decade. “We've built a cohesive team; our faculty are national thought leaders. Most of our students go into auditing and financial reporting careers. That’s after receiving a world-class education from some of the top researchers in judgment and decision making. In our graduates’ careers, that can make a difference!”
MASTER OF SCIENCE IN ACCOUNTING PROGRAM IN HIGH DEMAND The Covid-19 pandemic did not dampen interest in Isenberg’s professional graduate accounting degree program: Enrollment in the MS in Accounting program in fall 2020 passed 300 students for the first time. The program’s growth since 2015, when only 40 students joined, stems in large part from the addition in 2017 of a groundbreaking transition program—an intensive four-course series created to give nonbusiness majors and professionals a path of entry into the master’s program. Its popularity during the past year might also reflect the career reassessment many professionals have been doing since the pandemic disrupted their day-to-day work lives, particularly because the Isenberg MS in Accounting program can be completed either on campus or online, and it fulfills the Massachusetts educational requirements for CPA certification.
SPECIALIZATIONS
MS in Accounting Program Student Enrollment NUMBER OF STUDENTS PER YEAR
The MS in Accounting program also benefits from its two specialty focuses. The forensic accounting focus debuted in 2017, and includes elective courses in fraud investigation, auditing, and complex decisionmaking that support accountants in tracking patterns of financial transactions and identifying discrepancies. Courses are taught by highly experienced practitioners and researchers in the field of forensic accounting. Graduate students can also specialize in taxation, a focus area first offered in 2020 that includes courses in partnerships, research, and state and local taxation. The taxation focus was developed in response to industry demand, after conversations with partners in the region’s leading accounting firms.
306 253
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89 40
FALL 2015
FALL 2016
FALL 2017
FALL 2018
FALL 2019
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STUDENT HIGHLIGHTS
ISENBERG STUDENTS EXCEL IN CASE COMPETITIONS Deloitte FanTAXtic Two teams representing Isenberg in the Deloitte FanTAXtic case competition in October finished in first and second place in the Northeast regional competition and became eligible to compete at the national level of the event in January. Deloitte’s FanTAXtic is a tax case study competition that helps students gain real-world business experience. The two Isenberg teams were tasked with solving a complex business case simulation, and presented their solution virtually to a panel of judges made up of Deloitte tax leaders. The Isenberg students joined about 55 other groups representing more than 40 colleges and universities that participated in the regional events. Nationwide, Isenberg was the only school to take both winning positions in its regional competition.
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“That means Isenberg just cleaned house!” said David Piercey, John F. Kennedy Endowed Professor and chair of the accounting department. “This is a prestigious, invitation-only competition including students from the top accounting programs nationally,” he adds. Isenberg’s Team 2 (pictured top right, with Deloitte contact and Boston recruiter) was the overall winner in the Northeast regional competition. Team 2’s members—Chau Le, Angel Lin, Ethan Ly, Philip Saal, and Sean Waters—were advised by Senior Lecturer II Cathy Lowry and Lecturer Jennifer Roy. The faculty members also advised runner-up Team 1, whose student members included Mariah Belletti, Andrew Circle, Joshua Cox, and Emma Lewandowski.
AUDIT INNOVATION CAMPUS CHALLENGE
BAP/DELOITTE BEST PRACTICES COMPETITION
A team of six accounting undergraduate students earned a spot in the national finals for a case competition focused on the future of work. Hope Cantwell, Jenna Cox, Ryan Dresner, Hannah Dugan, Curtis Gogolinski, and Angel Lin submitted their presentation virtually in November along with 51 other teams.
In March, students in Isenberg’s chapter of Beta Alpha Psi (BAP), the national accounting honor society, came out on top in the regional round of the BAP/Deloitte Best Practices Competition. Vying against more than 100 submissions, the students captured first place in the Atlantic region for their presentation in the category “Invest in Yourself” (meaning the Isenberg BAP chapter). They also placed third in the category “Invest in Your Community.” The first-place win and third-place finish both come with cash prizes.
“Our students found a unique way to translate traditional in-person hallway conversations into a virtual hallway experience,” says Kerri Bohonowicz, a clinical lecturer for the accounting department who served as faculty advisor, explaining how the team’s solution addressed the assignment to use innovation and tech to allow audit professionals to deliver great client service while also having a professionally rewarding experience. “Their idea allows for these important—but unplanned—communications to continue during a pandemic and other times that employees cannot be physically together,” she continued. “This solution addresses the problem of declining employee engagement and business communication when employees are working remotely.”
The BAP/Deloitte challenge defines Best Practices as initiatives by chapters to pursue specified goals laid out by Deloitte and by BAP’s board of directors. To that end, the Isenberg presentation shared the chapter’s initiatives for embracing those goals and devising skills to achieve them. Isenberg students also showed how the chapter’s presentations and activities have encouraged its members to go beyond obtaining internships and jobs. And the students described how they added value as multi-year BAP members. The Isenberg chapter’s Co-Chairs of Competitions were Cassandra Raffi ’20, MS ’21 and John Stanfield ’20, MS ’21. The chapter’s faculty advisors are accounting professors Yoon Ju Kang and Cathy Lowry.
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STUDENT HIGHLIGHTS PURSUING FORENSIC ACCOUNTING THROUGH ISENBERG “It wasn’t until I took my first accounting course during my sophomore year that I realized my passion and skillset for accounting,” says Rachel Panton ’21, who started working on her master of science in accounting degree through Isenberg this past summer, immediately after graduating. “Fortunately, I was able to take the smaller section of this course with Professor Pamela Trafford who encouraged students to use problem solving and critical thinking to solve challenging problems. I soon learned that accounting had everything I loved—organization, math, and law.” Panton’s decision to major in accounting paid off as she discovered through her undergraduate coursework that the field is constantly changing and innovating. “You can always learn something new, such as a new law or an emerging industry trend,” she says. “This past summer I learned about continuous auditing and monitoring in one of my classes, and I am excited to see how technology will be further implemented in the accounting field. I am especially interested in seeing how AI impacts the field in the future.” Her interest in forensic accounting was inspired by her father, who holds a CPA license and had a 35-year career in federal accounting. Panton is pursuing her master’s degree with a focus in forensic accounting.
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During her undergraduate years at Isenberg, Panton’s extracurricular activities spanned the UMass campus and Isenberg building—on top of her coursework, she also served as an employee at the UMass Bakeshop and a teaching assistant for the Isenberg Fellows RAP. During her junior year, she worked as an Isenberg Peer Mentor and volunteered to tutor at Homework House in Holyoke. She also became co-president of Isenberg Global Citizens (IGC)—a position she continued to hold through her senior year—where she facilitated the Global Citizens Award of Outstanding Citizenship and led the executive board. Through IGC, Panton completed more than 200 hours of community service, and coordinated volunteer projects including a virtual facemask sewing event and a socially distant beach cleanup.
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I soon learned that accounting had everything I loved— organization, math, and law.” — RACHEL PANTON ‘21
Panton insists that IGC is more than a volunteering club. “It is a community of business students who are passionate about making positive change in their community and carrying that ideal with them when they enter a career,” she says. “We are the future leaders of our society and have the responsibility to not only become aware of issues in our communities, but also engage with those issues, make a positive difference, and change those issues.” In spring of 2021, Panton was awarded a $2,500 Women in Accounting Scholarship from the Massachusetts Society of CPAs. She will join RSM US LLP as an audit associate in its Boston practice when she completes her master’s degree.
SENIOR SPEAKER 2021: Thomas Colucci, Accounting Thomas Colucci, who is from South Kingstown, Rhode Island, was chosen to represent the Accounting Department as a 2021 senior speaker. Colucci did an internship at PwC’s Core Tax group this summer, before returning to Isenberg in the fall to pursue an MS in Accounting degree. What clubs or organizations have you been most involved with? I served as vice president of communications for the Beta Alpha Psi Academic Fraternity. I was also a member of the Isenberg Ethics Team. What was your favorite class at Isenberg? Accounting 483, CPA Law, with Professor Frank Caruso. What would you say was your best experience in college? Winning Deloitte's Regional Tax Case Competition and travelling to Dallas to compete in Nationals. What piece of advice would you offer to an incoming first-year Isenberg student in your department? Aspire to inspire, but be true to yourself. Lead with integrity, and you will motivate others to do the same.
THOMAS COLUCCI
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ALUMNI HIGHLIGHTS bombing in April 2013. (He had run in the race with his family on the sidelines.) Before his current promotion, he ran the Bureau’s human resources branch. “I wanted to be an FBI agent from the beginning,” he told an Isenberg audience. “Among other things, my accounting degree was a means to an end, a differentiator.”
JASON JANOFF ’93 BECOMES ADJUNCT ISENBERG FACULTY MEMBER JEFFREY SALLET '93
JEFFREY SALLET ’93 NAMED FBI ASSOCIATE DEPUTY DIRECTOR Proof positive that an Isenberg accounting degree coupled with a passion for forensic accounting can go a long way: In February, Jeffrey Sallet became associate deputy director of the FBI in charge of FBI personnel, budget, administration, and infrastructure. Along the way, the Isenberg graduate confronted a host of challenges—administrative and in the field. After five years as an auditor and forensic accountant, Sallet joined the FBI in 1997 as a special agent in its New York field office, investigating garden variety and organized crime. During the bureau’s key 9/11 investigations, he tracked how the attacks were funded and al Qaeda’s financial assets. In 2005, in the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division in Washington, he supervised La Cosa Nostra investigations in the northeast. A frequent visitor to Isenberg accounting classes, he underscored the FBI’s approach to incriminating “untouchable” organized crime bosses: You deploy forensic accounting to secure leverage on their underlings, incentivizing them to cooperate. Sallet continued his upward spiral in Providence and later ran field offices in New Orleans and Chicago. He also headed the investigation into the Boston Marathon
UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST
“Accounting is one of the last apprenticeship professions,” Jason Janoff ’93 told an undergraduate class during a visit to Isenberg. “Who likes to teach?” he continued. “You’re constantly teaching the staff, which provides the opportunity to advance and get promoted.” The recently retired EY executive is further plying his teaching prowess in his own, innovative course for the Isenberg Master of Science in Accounting program, “Emerging Financial Reporting and Auditing Topics.” Its overview of emerging topics and trends touches on non-GAAP financial measures, SEC rules and regulations, auditing trends, and other concerns. The idea is to impart technical accounting issues commonly encountered in practice but rarely covered in accounting courses. Earlier this year, Janoff retired after 28 years at EY, where he was a global client service audit partner and a national accounting professional practice partner. In addition, he excelled for more than 15 years as the firm’s New England assurance recruiting lead partner and campus coordinating partner. In that role he led EY’s recruiting at UMass Amherst, where EY became the top recruiter of Isenberg accounting students. The firm, in fact, hired more Isenberg students across its departments than any other company. An active member of Isenberg’s Accounting Alumni Advisory Council, Janoff is now chief accounting officer with Bright Horizons, a publicly traded leader in the child care industry.
RYAN SALAME ’15 TAKES ACCOUNTING SKILLS TO CRYPTOCURRENCY “Accounting has the unique attribute of being needed everywhere,” says Ryan Salame. After graduating six years ago with degrees in accounting and economics, he became a certified public accountant and worked in EY’s tax department, but he has since moved out of his traditional professional services role to work with the trading team of a Boston firm focused on digital asset exchange. Now he is head of Over-the-Counter (OTC) Trading for FTX, a cryptocurrency exchange. “Change occurs at a rapid pace,” he says, explaining why the excitement of working in crypto appeals to him. “You’re forced to keep up or fall behind. The industry jokes that a day in crypto is a year in traditional.” His accounting background helped prepare him for the fast-paced and global nature of his current work, though he admits that it takes “a slightly higher than average risk tolerance” to work in a startup environment. “I believe the trajectory from EY with a CPA to digital assets was a natural fit as reconciliation and proper entry of transactions was being redefined, but was still necessary, with blockchain tech,” Salame says. This past year, Salame has sought to support other Isenberg accounting students who are interested in pursuing nontraditional careers by committing to create a $250,000 endowed scholarship called the Ryan D. Salame Crypto Scholarship in Accounting. He also made a gift of $100,000 during the university’s annual UMassGives campaign to support Isenberg’s priority of “creating global citizens and inclusive leaders.”
FOR ACCOUNTING MAJORS IN THE CLASS OF 2020:
92% $62K
HAD JOBS OR WENT ON TO GRADUATE SCHOOL 6 MONTHS AFTER GRADUATION
MEDIAN STARTING SALARY
WANT TO STAY IN TOUCH WITH OTHER ISENBERG ACCOUNTING ALUMNI? Join our LinkedIn group to expand your network so it includes your Isenberg classmates and other graduates of our undergraduate and graduate accounting programs. Members share news, leads, and information at tinyurl.com/IsenbergAccountingLinkedIn.
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FACULTY NEWS BENTLEY EARNS PRESTIGIOUS ACCOUNTING HONOR
Jeremy Bentley, an accounting assistant professor at Isenberg, has been named by the American Accounting Association (AAA) as 2020 Best Early Career Researcher in Management Accounting. The prestigious award recognizes the early-career researcher—nationally and internationally— with the best overall body of research in management accounting. AAA’s award criteria include originality and innovativeness; relevance to management accounting, theory, practice, and education; and prospective benefits to future management accounting research.
Jeremy Bentley
“This international award from the world’s largest and most prestigious accounting academic association is a significant recognition,” observes David Piercey, Isenberg accounting department chair. In a recent paper, Bentley demonstrated that narrative accounting reporting can help decrease operational distortion and surrogation. In a second paper, cited in the Financial Times and Wall Street Journal, he explored managers’ and analysts’ use of non-GAAP reporting. An Isenberg faculty member since 2015, Bentley received the school’s Research Excellence award in 2019. His PhD in accounting and his master’s degree in management are from Cornell University. He also has master’s and bachelor’s degrees in accounting from Brigham Young University.
SHERWOOD TO SERVE AS ECONOMIC FELLOW AT ACCOUNTING OVERSIGHT BOARD
Matthew Sherwood
UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST
Matthew Sherwood, an assistant professor in Isenberg’s Department of Accounting, has been named an Economic Fellow for 2020-2021 by the U.S. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB). Sherwood will work under the PCAOB’s chief economist on projects supporting development of the board’s long-term strategic plan. Created in 2002 through the SarbanesOxley Act as a nonprofit corporation, the board protects investors through its oversight of audits of public (and other) issuers of securities. In audits of public companies, PCAOB is both the regulator and standard setter. Think of the board as “the SEC of financial auditing,” advises Department of Accounting Chair David Piercey.
“I expect to focus on the integration of data analytics into the financial statement audit,” notes Sherwood. “That overlaps with my undergrad financial statement audit course and master's data analytics course.” The fellowship, he continues, “will allow me to tailor my courses to ensure that students are learning about timely, relevant topics. From a research perspective, it will allow me to work with proprietary PCAOB data and give me a first-hand view of the PCAOB inspection process. That will inform and strengthen my own research projects.” Isenberg’s accounting faculty is internationally renowned for its financial statement auditing research, emphasizes Piercey. Sherwood’s PCAOB fellowship and an earlier one awarded to Isenberg Assistant Professor Andrew Kitto are testaments to the department’s reputation. “The board,” underscores Piercey, “awards only two or three fellowships each year. We are in elite company!”
FROM TOP LEFT: JEREMY BENTLEY, ELAINE WANG, DAVID PIERCEY, KERRI BOHONOWICZ, AND PAM TRAFFORD
ACCOUNTING FACULTY WIN ISENBERG AWARDS Assistant Professor Jeremy Bentley earned the 2020 Isenberg Outstanding Research Award for pre-tenure faculty, and Elaine Wang, associate professor and dean’s research fellow, won the same award for tenured faculty members.
Isenberg School of Man
Department Chair and John F. Kennedy Endowed Professor David Piercey received the school’s Teaching Excellence Recognition Award. Students said, “He made it feel like we were always involved even if it wasn’t live,” and “the asynchronous lecture videos were maybe the best supplemental material I had in any class.” Clinical Lecturer Kerri Bohonowicz was named to the 2021-2022 slate of Isenberg Teaching Fellows, a group that helps codify and share best practices for instruction in person, online, and through hybrid methods—with the rest of the school’s faculty. (Pam Trafford, senior lecturer II, was honored among the inaugural group of Teaching Fellows during the 2020-2021 academic year.)
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FACULTY NEWS RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS The Accounting Review • ●Jeremiah Bentley. “Identifying Insincere and Sincere Bias Through Post-Report Interactions,” with R. Bloomfield, S. Davidai, and M. Ferguson, in press. • ●Jeremiah Bentley and Elaine Wang. “The Effect of Increased Audit Disclosure on Managers’ Real Operating Decisions: Evidence from Disclosing Critical Audit Matters,” with T. Lambert, 2021. • ●Elaine Wang. “Auditor Actions and the Deterrence of Manager Opportunism: The Importance of Communication to the Board and Consistency with Peer Behavior,” with J. Buchanan (UMass PhD ’17) and B. Commerford, in press. • ●Andrew Kitto, Editorial Board Member.
Accounting, Organizations and Society • Chris Agoglia and Bradley Bennett. “The Influence of ‘Relationship’ Partners on Client Managers’ Negotiation Positions,” with M. K. Dodgson (UMass PhD ’17), in press.
• Chris Agoglia, Ad Hoc Editor and Editorial Board Member.
Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory • David Piercey. “How Simple Changes to Workpaper Language and Tick Marks Can Curtail the Ghost Ticking of Audit Procedures,” with J. Buchanan (UMass PhD ’17), in press. • Matt Sherwood. “Office-Client Balance and Metro Area Audit Market Competition,” with M. Ettredge and L. Sun, in press. • Matt Sherwood. “Mandatory Audit Partner Rotations and Audit Quality in the United States,” with H. Kuang, H. Li, and R. Whited, 2020. • Chris Agoglia, Consulting Editor. • Bradley Bennett, Yoon Ju Kang, and David Piercey, Editorial Board Members.
Accounting Horizons
• David Piercey, Editor
• Jeremiah Bentley. “Improving the Statistical Power and Reliability of Research Using Amazon Mechanical Turk,” in press.
• Chris Agoglia and Elaine Wang, Editorial Board Members.
• Matt Sherwood. “Non-CPAs and Office Audit Quality,” with A. Nagy and A. Zimmerman, 2020.
Contemporary Accounting Research
Behavioral Research in Accounting
• Yoon Ju Kang. "Revealing Oz: Audit Firm Partners’ Experiences with National Office Consultations," with M. K. Dodgson (UMass PhD ’17), S. Aghazadeh, and M. Peytcheva, 2020.
• David Piercey. “Too Big to Comprehend? A Research Note on How Large Number Format Affects Voter Support for Government Spending Bills,” with A. Saiewitz (UMass PhD ’14), 2020.
• Yoon Ju Kang and David Piercey. “Does an Audit Judgment Rule Increase or Decrease Auditors’ Use of Innovative Audit Procedures?” with A. Trotman, 2020.
• Bradley Bennett, David Piercey, Elaine Wang, and Yao Yu, Editorial Board Members.
• David Piercey. “The Effects of High Estimate Uncertainty in Auditor Negligence Litigation,” with J. Pickerd (UMass PhD ’16), in press. • Yao Yu. “What Drives Investor Response to CSR Performance Reports?” with A. Guiral, D. Moon, and H.T. Tan, 2020.
UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST
Journal of Management Accounting Research • W. Timothy Mitchell. “Needs Versus Wants: The Mental Accounting and Effort Effects of Tangible Rewards,” with A. Presslee, A. Schulz, and A. Webb, in press.
Chris Agoglia
Tim Mitchell
Bradley Bennett
David Piercey
Jeremy Bentley
Matt Sherwood
Yoon Ju Kang
Elaine Wang
Andrew Kitto
Yao Yu
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UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST
ACCOUNTING AT ISENBERG At the Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst, we focus on preparing accounting students to make informed, data-driven financial decisions for businesses. The expert faculty and diverse classroom and professional experiences at Isenberg teach students to avoid competitive traps and unlock new growth opportunities so they’ll be valued advisors to their clients. .
WE DO THIS BY OFFERING: • Expert faculty who are top leaders in the auditing field. Our faculty ranks second in the nation in auditor judgment and decision-making research in the top accounting journals, and fifth in financial accounting judgment and decision-making research.* Considering that the majority of students start in the auditing field, learning from our award-winning faculty gives them a true competitive advantage. • Flexible and efficient curricular options. Our curriculum allows students to graduate in seven semesters with a bachelor of business administration and to complete a master of science in accounting, all within four years plus a summer. This is a cost-effective, timely approach to meeting education requirements for CPA certification.
• Hands-on experience. We give students real-world skills, like the Semester in the Profession internship program, the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program, and case challenges offered by many of the accounting firms. • A ACSB Accounting Accreditation. AACSB represents the highest standard of achievement for business schools worldwide. Isenberg is part of the one percent of the world’s 13,000 business programs that have earned the AACSB Accounting Accreditation. AACSB-accredited schools produce highly skilled graduates valued by employers over graduates from non-accredited schools. Isenberg is proud to have this distinction.
• Teaching, tutoring, and mentoring opportunities. Many of our talented seniors are teaching assistants in various courses across Isenberg, including accounting. They are actively involved as tutors and mentors.
* Source: 2020 BYU Research Rankings, top 6 accounting journals, past decade
Isenberg’s bachelor of business administration (BBA) yields employment opportunities in most private accounting and finance jobs and offers exceptional preparation for a graduate degree. Isenberg’s master of science in accounting program allows students to complete their degree in as few as two semesters after the senior year. Taught by some of the world’s top researchers, Isenberg’s doctoral program in accounting prepares students for exceptional academic careers in business schools.
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UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST
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