Reference at Newman Library

Tag: Audit Analytics

LibGuide updated for ACC 4100 Summer

I have updated the LibGuide for Accounting 4100 Summer.  There are two sections being taught by Prof. Jian Xiao.  This is a communications intensive course. The students are doing research on one of 12 companies that are listed in the guide.  All of the companies, except Facebook, are non-U.S.-based public companies that trade their shares on U.S. exchanges  as ADRs.  The company websites, Edgar Online I-Metrix, Mergent Online, Standard & Poor’s NetAdvantage, Audit Analytics, Factiva and Value Line, are among the suggested resources to help the students prepare their presentations.  The students need to discuss the impact of International Financial Reporting Standards on the company’s bottom line, and whether to invest in the company.  (Facebook, uses the FASB Accounting Standards Codification, rather than IFRS, and being newly publicly traded hasn’t filed a 10-K.)

The course runs through July.  I made a presentation to the two sections yesterday but I also said that they could get help at the reference desk if I were not available.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Accounting assignment involving revenue recognition

I’ve learned that there have been several inquiries at the reference desk relating to a revenue recognition assignment (2 pages) for an accounting class.  Apparently they need to locate three companies in the same industry and make some comparisons.

Based on this limited information, and a student’s comment that he had an hour to locate the information, I would make the following suggestions:

Revenue recognition is a very broad topic.

The SEC has a topical index of revenue recognition issues at:

http://www.sec.gov/interps/account/sabcodet13.htm

To quickly identify three companies in the same industry with some revenue recognition problems (which would likely provide something to write about), I would suggest:

Go to the Audit Analytics Database

Select restatements in the right column and a text search.

Then, select an industry from choices available in the Industry box.

(If a company has had to restate their earnings, it’s usually a news making event.)

Restatements can occur for many reasons.  All four of these options in Audit Analytics

include revenue recognition as a choice, so the student can select the choice(s) the student wants.  The results can be downloaded and the three companies selected.

Databases such as Factiva, Business Source Complete, ABI Inform Global may have specific articles about the companies identified.  Edgar Online I-Metrix, Metrix, and other resources can be selected for keyword searching of SEC filings relating to revenue recognition by the companies.

Another possible search is on Factiva, limiting the search to specific industries, geographically to the the U.S. and the subject Commodities, Financial Market news, and a specific time period and doing a keyword search like (revenue recognition) and (FASB or SEC), and news articles for companies in the same industry will be retrieved.

The “gift card” assignment that some students have had in the past would be an example of a revenue recognition issue.  Searching ABI Inform Global for “gift cards” and “revenue recognition” brings up 14 articles, some which mention specific companies.

Since most retail companies have some form of gift cards, or customer loyalty programs, it would be easy to identify three retail companies and search their SEC filings as to how they account for them.

I hope that this information is helpful.

Audit Analytics as Source for Info on Company Executives, Board Members, Compensation

For a number of student projects, they are looking for compensation of executives and members of the board of directors.  This information can be found on a number of our databases–historically on the Corporate Library, and searching proxies on Mergent, Edgar Online I-Metrix. Thomson Research, and the SEC site.

Audit Analytics is also a very good source for this information.  You can search by public company name or ticker symbol.  Under the Governance and Compensation tabs, you can locate the names, ages, positions of executives and board members, committees on which they serve, any other board(s) they serve on, and their compensation for attending board meetings (as well as their attendance record at such meetings).  The source of the information is provided, such as the proxy filing, or an 8-K filing.

Changes in executives and board members are also indicated, with the source of the information, and the reason for the change.  For example, this week I did a workshop in which I showed the students AEO, whose ceo recently announced his retirement and the head of the audit committee had submitted his resignation citing “too many commitments.”

Report that Prof. Carmichael’s students need

Accounting students of Prof. Carmichael need the Missal Final Report regarding the New Century Financial Bankruptcy Investigation.  The report, more than 500 pages, is posted on the website of the law firm in which Missal is a partner. I located it with a Google search, missal final report new century.  There are articles on ABI/Inform, Business Source Complete and Factiva relating to the report and its impact.

New Century Financial restated some financial statements, filed for bankruptcy and emerged from it.  Audit Analytics has some information and the SEC filings may be located on the SEC website.  (Some databases remove filings of bankrupt companies and also remove the original filing after a restatement.)

Finding SEC filings by non-US companies by industry sector

In response to an inquiry on the Business Librarians listserv today asking for help in locating 20F filings (the annual filing made with the SEC)  by non-US oil and gas companies,  I was reminded that the NYSE has  a listing of the non-US companies and one may select different industry sectors at : http://www.nyse.com/about/listed/lc_ny_industry_1.html?ListedComp=NONUS.  The companies’ hyperlinks include a tab for SEC filings, as well as the companies’ homepages, which would have links to the filings.  (Canadian companies may file a 40-F, rather than a 20-F).

The other exchanges could be searched for other listed companies.

Audit Analytics offers a choice to search for US, Canadian and foreign companies that could be used to identify the companies and the oil and gas industry may be divided into those involved in wells and drilling, extraction, and support activities.  There would be links to the filings available.

Edgar Online I-Metrix enables one to search by industry, SEC form number, and by listed exchange.  (The initial inquirer didn’t have access to those databases.)

Some information I learned at the SLA conference

Like Louise, I attended the SLA conference in D.C. two weeks ago.

Harry, Ryan and I did a poster session on Lessons Learned relating to  a workshop we arranged  and conducted for Prof. Cherny’s auditing class last fall relating to lessons learned from one of nine audit failures.  This poster session, organized for the first time at the conference, by librarian Karen McDonald, was very well received and the B& F division plans to make it an annual event.  The different presentations, dealing with information literacy and business information, are available at http://units.sla.org/division/dbf/conferences/2009postersession.html.

I moderated a session on Tuesday morning in which Nell Minow, the co-founder of The Corporate Library, spoke on corporate governance issues, particularly executive compensation.  These contracts are required to be filed with the SEC.  Among her comments were that one should check the media releases about the contracts against the actual filings, which may be made several weeks following the media releases.  The session was well received by those who attended.  Ms. Minow had testified before a congressional committee  on executive compensation the week prior to the conference.

Some news from some vendors:

CCH will soon offer a new format to their web based resources, IntelliConnect.  One will be able to do a federated search of all subscribed CCH products.  Initially, this change will not include the CCH Accounting Research Manager, which will be incorporated into the new scheme in few months.  The change will take place before the fall semester begins.  I will keep you posted.  I think unless students select specific titles or laws or codes, that the results retrieved may be very overwhelming.  However, the results are separated into categories…such as regulations, case law, explanations, etc.

Audit Analytics was a first time vendor at the SLA conference.  Baruch College is one of the largest academic users of this product.  They recently added SEC comment letters to their service for an additional $4,000 a year.

A demonstration of Advertising Database was very interesting as this product focuses on brands and where they are advertised, with ad spending data and titles, email addresses and direct phone numbers for brand and ad agency decision makers.  Advertising Database is located in NYC.  I will pass the information on to Lisa.

Elsevier is offering a reaxys for chemists.  Information about this product is available at http://www.info.reaxys.com/about_overview.  In a vendor demonstration of this product, a chemist could find links to reactions of various chemicals, vendors for the chemicals, and links to research via Scopus that mentions the chemicals, all within reaxys.  I will confess to knowing very little about chemistry but this demonstration was impressive.

A number of vendors expressed thanks for business with Baruch and with CUNY.

Other information:

On Thursday morning, a “tour day”, I visited the National Archives downtown. I had not visited since a remodeling was completed several years ago.  The National Archives is 75 years old this year.  The major documents–the Constitution, Bill of Rights, etc., have been reincased.  They have very interesting exhibits on what the National Archives hold in the entry level to the rotunda where the documents are on display.   (Since you can’t take luggage into the National Archives, it is good to know that you can check luggage only at the 4th St. entrance to the National Gallery of Art, where your luggage will also be x-rayed. This entrance is not far from the Archives.)

One of the special exhibits at the National Gallery of Art is the still lives of the Spanish painter Luis Melendez.  I learned from a guide that he was one of the first painters to show chocolate in his paintings.  At the time, according to the guide,  the English thought ending a meal with sweets was not acceptable and referred to such a practice as being “very French,” an insult to the Spanish. Thankfully, ideas have changed. The National Gallery also has an exhibit of Judith Leyster’s paintings, http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/leysterinfo.shtm.  She was born 400 years ago in the Netherlands.