1 |
Previous | 1 of 24 | Next |
|
This page
All
Subset
|
The Accounting Historians Journal
Vol. 24, No. 1
June 1997
James J. Tucker, III
WIDENER UNIVERSITY
and
Frank C. Lordi
WIDENER UNIVERSITY
EARLY EFFORTS OF THE U.S. PUBLIC
ACCOUNTING PROFESSION
TO INVESTIGATE THE USE OF
STATISTICAL SAMPLING
INITIAL AICPA RESEARCH EFFORTS, LEGAL REVIEWS,
AND FIRM SPECIFIC EXPERIMENTATION
Abstract: The study suggests that the AICPA's efforts to investigate
the use of statistical sampling appear to have been catalyzed by the
confluence of the growing dissatisfaction with the traditional approach
to sampling and the widespread recognition of the benefits
of statistical sampling which were being realized in other professions
and in industry. The fact that large corporations had begun to
use statistical sampling in accounting and auditing lent additional
urgency to the need to address the issue. In addition, some doubted
the tenability of traditional sampling if challenged in court by a
statistician.
The study also examines the research efforts of the AICPA
which include case studies, legal opinions, a review of the mathematical
underpinning of statistical sampling, and the initiation of
an interdisciplinary collaborative effort with the American Statistical
Association. The research suggests that from the very beginning,
the AICPA was most cognizant of the legal implications of statistical
sampling and that the legal opinions obtained played a key role in
the profession's eventual acceptance of this new technology. The
study also indicates that the AICPA's research led it to reexamine
basic auditing concepts and challenge existing standards.
The national CPA firms shared information regarding their individual
in-house experimentation with statistical sampling which
suggests that a spirit of collegial cooperation existed rather than
competition-related secrecy. Lastly, the research demonstrates the
importance of individual leadership in the profession's efforts to
adopt new technology; here, the study provides a glimpse of two
Accounting Hall of Fame members, Robert M. Trueblood and Oscar
Gellein, and the first recipient of the Distinguished Service in Auditing
Award, Kenneth W. Stringer, making one of their many profes-
Submitted June 1996
Accepted December 1996
