Benefits of Membership in the Auditing Section of the American Accounting Association

If you are not currently a member of the Auditing Section, the Section’s Executive Committee, on behalf of our over 1,500 members from throughout the world, extends a warm invitation for you to join us in our mission to improve the theory and the practice of auditing.

There are many benefits to membership in the Auditing Section of the American Accounting Association (AAA). Through the Section’s committee structure, program sponsorship, and publications, members are kept informed and provided with many opportunities to become involved. A primary benefit of Section membership is the opportunity to interact with a diverse group of scholars on topics of mutual interest – the teaching, research, and practice of auditing. Membership in the Section can lead to collaborations and friendships, many of which last a lifetime. Section members also benefit from publications, meetings, awards and recognition, and the opportunity to influence academic thinking and field practice.

The Auditing Section has a continuing impact on auditing practice. In addition to the important and continuing effects of research and teaching, the work of the Section’s Auditing Standards Committee (ASC) makes an immediate and direct contribution to practice. The ASC’s charge is to maintain an active dialogue with auditing standards setters. The ASC provides comments on proposed auditing standards to standard setting bodies. Standard setters frequently request the ASC to provide an overview of the research findings on a topic of current interest. For example, the ASC provided a thorough review of fraud-related research to the Auditing Standards Board’s (ASB) Fraud Task Force. The ASB found the review useful in developing SAS No. 99, the recently issued fraud-related Statement on Auditing Standards.

Auditing Section members receive two publications, the Section’s research journal, Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory (AJPT), and the Section’s newsletter, The Auditor’s Report. In addition, our members often receive publications from other organizations. For example, at our 2003 Midyear Conference the Institute of Internal Auditors distributed its recent publication, Research Opportunities in Internal Auditing.

The Section’s publishes AJPT twice a year. It is generally considered the premier journal dedicated to auditing research in the world. Much of the highest-quality auditing research is published in AJPT. For example, a recent ranking of journal quality placed AJPT eighth among all accounting journals, and first among journals devoted solely to publishing auditing research (Hasselback, Reinstein, and Schwan, Advances in Accounting, 2002). Faculty interested in performing research and incorporating research findings into the classroom definitely benefit from reading AJPT.

The Section’s newsletter, The Auditors’ Report, is published electronically three times a year. In addition to announcements of general interest to the Section’s membership, the newsletter’s continuing columns address current research, education, and practice issues important to our membership. One standing feature is the "Have You Seen . . . ?" column which presents abstracts of recently published auditing research drawn from numerous academic journals. The newsletter has recently added a similar teaching oriented column titled, "Have You Seen These Instructional Resources?" This column will be of interest to members wanting to add to their tools for classroom use. Furthermore, all individuals with an interest in audit practice benefit from the "ASB Update" column. Finally, the newsletter frequently publishes brief articles on a wide range of research, teaching, and practice issues submitted by members.

The Section sponsors a two-day annual Midyear Conference (MYC) each January, usually in a warm weather location. The MYC typically attracts over 200 participants, and is consistently viewed by members as one of the most beneficial and enjoyable academic conferences during the year. In addition to high-profile plenary speakers, the MYC consists of panel sessions, typically focused on practice- or education-related issues, and numerous sessions highlighting the latest research. A doctoral consortium occurs in conjunction with the MYC, in which students at all stages of their doctoral programs are encouraged to participate.

Due to the generous support of the KPMG Foundation, the MYC and doctoral consortium are attractively priced.

Auditing Section members also participate in the American Accounting Association (AAA) Annual Meeting. The Section manages the submission and evaluation of auditing-related papers intended for the AAA Annual Meeting. Historically, the Section is well represented on the annual meeting program. The Section’s luncheon at the AAA Annual Meeting has attracted some noteworthy luncheon speakers. For example, the 2002 luncheon speaker was Sherron Watkins, Enron’s whistleblower and one of Time Magazine’s Persons of the Year for 2002. The 2001 luncheon speaker was Connie McDaniel, Coca-Cola’s corporate controller.

The Auditing Section also cooperates with the AAA Regional Meeting planners to manage the submission and evaluation of auditing-related research papers intended for Regional Meetings. Sessions at the regional meetings are more likely to focus on education- and practice-related issues, although research related papers are also encouraged. The Section also facilitates prominent speakers at regional meetings. Most recently, Walter Schuetze, a former senior KPMG audit partner and former Chief Accountant of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Chief Accountant of the SEC’s Enforcement Division, spoke at the 2003 Southwest Regional Meeting.

The Section sponsors five awards for its members:

The Auditing Section has over 18 committees, with a variety of functions. Serving on one of the Section’s committees provides an excellent way for members to interact with other members with similar interests and to make a difference. More information on the Section’s committee structure and its other activities is available on the Section’s website.

Let us reiterate our invitation to become a member of the Auditing Section. You can join the over 1,500 members from throughout the world for only $35 per year (for AAA members).  Please select the appropriate application form:

          American Accounting Association members

          Not currently a member of the American Accounting Association