ABSTRACT This case examines the tax implications of working in multiple tax jurisdictions. Students are presented with a case that considers the allocation of taxable income for a player in the MLB based on state income tax laws. This allows students to gain a more complete understanding of the impact of state and local taxes on total individual tax burden. It also challenges students to think critically about tax planning strategies that can be implemented to minimize tax liabilities when dealing with multiple tax jurisdictions. Finally, the case provides an opportunity for an instructor to engage students in tax research at an appropriate level for the course. The case can be adapted to use in undergraduate and graduate courses for individual taxation, state and local taxation, or tax research. Student responses indicate that they find the case interesting and beneficial in improving their understanding of state tax issues.
This study evaluates the capabilities of ChatGPT models 3.5 and 4 to provide solutions to seven educational accounting cases. We find that ChatGPT's ability to provide accurate solutions varies depending on the type of case requirement, with better performance on tasks requiring elements that require explanation, application of rules, and ethical evaluation using a framework. However, ChatGPT performs relatively poorly on tasks that require financial statement creation, journal entries, or software use. Our study also finds that detection tools provided by ChatGPT's developer are ineffective in identifying text created by artificial intelligence text generators (AITG). These quantitative results, although limited in generalizability, illustrate the current "state of the art" and allow us to suggest ways in which instructors can structure assignments to reduce the effectiveness of AITGs in subverting the learning process and ways in which instructors can incorporate AITGs into assignment requirements to help students attain desired educational outcomes.
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.
Recent amendments to Auditing Standard (AS) 3101 require disclosure of the initial year of the auditor-client relationship in the audit report. As the standard was being discussed, auditors, clients, and some PCAOB members expressed reservations about the necessity of tenure disclosures and were particularly concerned about disclosing tenure in the audit report. Our purpose is to investigate whether the tenure disclosures mandated by AS 3101 are associated with changes in stakeholder behavior. We predict and find that after the implementation date, ratification votes against the auditor and the probability of subsequent auditor dismissal increase for long-tenured versus short-tenured auditors. Results from a path analysis further suggest that the relative increase in dismissal for long-tenured auditors appears to be influenced directly through tenure disclosures and indirectly through ratification voting. We also predict and find that negotiating power decreases for long-tenured auditors as evidenced by lower audit fees. Our results are comparable for companies that voluntarily disclosed and companies that did not disclose auditor tenure in their proxy statements prior to the AS 3101 amendment. Overall, our study suggests that mandatory disclosure of auditor tenure in the audit report significantly affects stakeholder behavior. The PCAOB should consider our findings carefully as they evaluate whether AS 3101 is achieving its intended purpose.
This case examines auditing implications of Bitcoin and blockchain, and is intended for either undergraduate or graduate auditing and assurance courses. Students are asked to engage in aspects of planning and risk assessment for the audit of an online retailer. The case provides an interesting setting in which to achieve the learning objectives of: (1) identifying risks of material misstatement, (2) linking risks of material misstatement to relevant financial statement assertions, (3) explaining changes in audit procedures for responding to risks, (4) understanding a financial statement auditor's use of service auditor reports, and (5) understanding management specialists and the role they play in an audit. The modular case can be used for in-class discussion or as an out-ofclass assignment and requires minimal advance preparation by the instructor. The case may be assigned in part or in its entirety. Student responses indicate the case is interesting and offers a positive learning experience.