The Accounting subject group

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Accounting for better business and society 

The Accounting group at Cambridge Judge focuses on the creation, dissemination, attestation, interpretation, use, and governance of financial and environmental, social, and governance information. We explore how business managers utilise information to make strategic decisions and how public companies report financial and non-financial information to key stakeholders. The Accounting group studies accounting as a public policy matter that is crucial for society as well as business.

Accounting concept.

Key research and teaching areas

Our key research and teaching areas include:

  • Financial reporting standard setting 
  • International financial reporting 
  • Strategic management decisions 
  • Performance management 
  • Target setting 
  • Management control 
  • Corporate and university governance 
  • Executive compensation and incentives 
  • Insider trading 
  • Audit and earnings quality 
  • Sell side analysts 
  • Early-stage entity accounting 
  • Accounting for financial institutions 
  • Environmental, societal, and governance reporting 
  • Fair value accounting 
  • Disinformation 

Research centres

Group members have leading roles in the following research centres: 

Teaching

Faculty members of the Accounting subject group teach on the Cambridge Executive Master of Accounting (MAcc), as well other masters and executive education programmes.

Members

Meet our members including faculty, research and teaching staff, PhD students, and honorary appointees.

View faculty

View research and teaching staff

View honorary appointments

Subject group head

Alan Jagolinzer

Professor of Financial Accounting

PhD (Pennsylvania State University)

Publishing output

Editorial boards

Accounting group faculty have served on the Editorial Boards of many prestigious journals including:

  • The Accounting Review 
  • Contemporary Accounting Research 
  • Journal of International Accounting Research 
  • Accounting Horizons 
  • Journal of Management Accounting Research 
  • Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics 
  • Journal of Financial Reporting

Peer reviews

Our faculty have also served as peer reviewers for studies submitted to: 

  • Review of Financial Studies
  • Journal of Financial Economics
  • Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis
  • Journal of Accounting Research
  • The Accounting Review
  • Journal of Finance
  • Journal of Accounting and Economics
  • The Financial Review
  • Management Science
  • Review of Accounting Studies
  • Managerial Finance
  • Contemporary Accounting Research
  • Journal of Accounting, Auditing, and Finance
  • European Accounting Review
  • Foundations and Trends in Accounting
  • Accounting, Organizations and Society
  • Journal of Business Ethics
  • Journal of Empirical Legal Studies
  • Journal of Accounting and Public Policy
  • Accounting and Business Research
  • and annual and sub-association meetings for the American Accounting Association.

Selected publications

  • Henderson, M.T., Jagolinzer, A.D. and Muller III, K.A. (2015) “Offensive disclosure: how voluntary disclosure can increase returns from insider trading.” Georgetown Law Journal, 103(5): 1275-1306
  • Armstrong, C.S., Blouin, J.L., Jagolinzer, A.D. and Larcker, D.F. (2015) “Corporate governance, incentives, and tax avoidance.” Journal of Accounting and Economics, 60(1): 1-17 (DOI: 10.1016/j.jacceco.2015.02.003)

Industry and policy engagement

Accounting group faculty work with a wide-spectrum of businesses and agencies, including the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), the UK Endorsement Board (UKEB), Audit, Reporting and Governance Authority (ARGA), and the Accounting Standards Board (ASB). 

Recent engagement examples include:

  • Professors Alan Jagolinzer and Rafael Rogo, and Dr Jenny Chu contributed through the Executive Master of Accounting and Centre for Financial Reporting and Accountability to the organisation of yearly conferences engaging multiple practitioners. Topics of recent conferences include “Global Climate-related Financial Reporting”, which helped catalyse the development of the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), and the Cambridge Disinformation Summit. 
  • Researchers from the Accounting group collaborated with the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership and the British Antarctic Survey on environmental accounting. 
  • Former Academic Director of the Wo+Men’s Leadership Centre, Dr Jenny Chu, won a research contract to conduct diversity and inclusion research in the investment management industry, sponsored by Invesco. 
  • Dr Marion Boisseau-Sierra is in conversation with the UK Statistics Authority to discuss building a data quality index.

History

Accounting studies at the University of Cambridge date back to the 1930s. Sir Richard Stone, first Professor in Accounting, is the accounting field’s only researcher to have been awarded a Nobel Prize.  

Accounting in Cambridge has always been seen as a social good, we believe that constructing sound accounting standards and advocating for proper financial rules and compliance is a public policy initiative, not simply a matter of business and finance. This vision of accounting is deeply rooted in the Accounting group’s history.

Research currently done within the Accounting group and its associated Centre for Financial Reporting & Accountability (CFRA) examines accounting issues in a wide diversity of entities ranging from publicly traded companies to universities and governments.

Recently published studies explore such topics as insider trading and political connections, accounting for European Union pension obligations, the effectiveness of university education for auditors, and how excessively volatile analyst forecasts influence investment performance.

After the war, the new international economic order set up at Bretton Woods with the help of John Maynard Keynes (Richard Stone’s former Professor in Cambridge) required comparable national accounts. Working on this project, Sir Richard Stone conceived balanced accounts and developed them into an economic accounting system to track economic activities. He then championed their adoption worldwide as his work served for the reference for the establishment of the UN System of National Accounts. Sir Richard Stone is sometimes known as the “father of national income accounting”, a contribution that led to him winning the 1984 Nobel Prize in Economics.

Accounting studies in Cambridge were later extended beyond the study of nations to also include the study of corporations. Professors Geoff Whittington and Geoff Meeks – respectively second and third Professors of Accounting in Cambridge – developed the study of accounting at for-profit and publicly traded organisations, notably by building and using the Cambridge databank of companies’ financial accounts.

They also actively engaged with standard setters and practitioners. Whittington, who had Stone as a PhD examiner, was a Member of the pioneering UK Accounting Standards Board from 1990 and then a founder Member of the International Accounting Standards Board in 2001. His contribution to the formulation of accounting standards led him to be honoured (CBE) by the Queen.

As for Meeks, he extended Stone’s work, incorporating accounts and models for individual companies in Stone’s national income framework and projections and worked on measuring company performance, especially around M&A and ahead of bankruptcy.

Research currently done within the Accounting group and its associated Centre for Financial Reporting & Accountability (CFRA) examines accounting issues in a wide diversity of entities ranging from publicly traded companies to universities and governments.

Recently published studies explore such topics as insider trading and political connections, accounting for European Union pension obligations, the effectiveness of university education for auditors, and how excessively volatile analyst forecasts influence investment performance.

Sir Richard Stone.
Sir Richard Stone, first Professor in Accounting (© Faculty of Economics)

For more information regarding the History of Accounting Research in Cambridge, please refer to the paper written in 2017 by Professor Geoff Meeks.

"Theories Came and Went, Good Data Endured: Accounting at Cambridge”

Podcasts

Business information risks and responsibilities

Episode 2 (Michaelmas term 2023)

This second episode looks at business information risks and responsibilities: the threats that arise from different types of information and how companies can prevent or handle them. A potential threat companies face arises from accounting information if this information is mis-represented, as has been the case in numerous accounting fraud cases such as the recent scandals around the German payment processor Wirecard, or the UK bakery chain Patisserie Valerie. Potential threats also arise from disinformation and, in particular, disinformation campaigns that target companies’ reputation or market position.

Episode presented by Dr Sarah Kroechert, Assistant Professor in Accounting at Cambridge Judge Business School.

With guest speaker Alan Jagolinzer, Professor of Financial Accounting at Cambridge Judge Business School, and Cambridge MBA students Kristen Chang, Eli Auerbach, Zach Marks and Calvin Liew.

Environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting

Episode 1 (Michaelmas term 2022)

This episode looks at environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting: issues that matter to business operations, and how companies report about them. Of interest are not just issues that affect how companies operate, but also issues that arise, in part, because of companies’ operations. One of those issues was highlighted by the COP27 summit that took place in Egypt while the episode was being recorded: business operations worldwide contribute significantly to the still too-high level of greenhouse gas emissions and thus to climate change.

Episode presented by Dr Sarah Kroechert, Assistant Professor in Accounting at Cambridge Judge Business School.

With guest speaker Ethan Rouen, Assistant Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, and Cambridge MBA students Mario Parussini, Matilde Luce, Paul Zahary and Priya Saikumar.

Research seminars

Upcoming seminars

23
May

Shareholder Voting Requirements and Voluntary Disclosure in M&As

Join our Accounting seminar with Dr Tan Do, Bayes Business School.

Past seminars

2024

17
Jan

Prevention is Better than Cure: Forecasting Future Misreporting

Join our Accounting seminar with Professor Joanne Horton, Warwick Business School.

2022

Michaelmas term

15 November 2022 | 11:30-12:45, Castle Teaching Room, Cambridge Judge Business School

Human capital disclosures

Ethan Rouen, Assistant Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School

Lent term

22 March 2022 | 15:45-17:00, online

Do financial investment decisions affect individuals’ non-financial decisions?

Dr Sarah Kröchert, Lancaster University Management School, Lancaster University

23 March 2022 | 15:15-16:30, online

Mandatory reporting frequency, informed trading, and corporate myopia

Hwa Young Kim, Anderson School of Management, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)

25 March 2022 | 15:15-16:30, online

Disclosure distance and earnings announcement returns

Ryan Erhard, University of Southern California, Marshall School of Business, Los Angeles (USC)

Media coverage

Explore recent media coverage of research by members of the Accounting group: 

YouTube | 19 October 2022

Southbank Investment Research – Will fair value accounting boost crypto?

James Early talks with Alan Jagolinzer, Professor of Financial Accounting and Head of the Accounting Faculty Subject Group at Cambridge Judge Business School, about a new potential “fair value” rule, the state of play of crypto accounting, and whether it’s enough to drive crypto prices higher.

Financial Times | 20 July 2022

Mergers destroy value. Without reform, nothing will change

Geoff Meeks, Emeritus Professor of Financial Accounting at Cambridge Judge Business School, and J Gay Meeks, Senior Research Associate at the University of Cambridge Centre of Development Studies, write about mergers and acquisitions.

It’s an often-quoted statistic that roughly 70 per cent of mergers fail. Yet despite the weight of evidence, vast and ever-increasing sums are spent on mergers and acquisitions — around $5tn globally in 2021 — and on some measures the number of deals has seen a forty-fold increase in forty years, the article says.

The Wall Street Journal | 29 June 2022

CEO stock sales raise questions about insider trading

A study by Alan Jagolinzer, Professor of Financial Accountings at Cambridge Judge Business School, is mentioned in this analysis of preset trading plans by company insiders, showing that executives benefit when sales happen quickly after the plans’ adoption.

Bloomberg Tax | 31 May 2022

EY consulting split aims to free firm from ethics crackdown

Tighter ethics regulations are holding back the growth of Ernst & Young’s lucrative consulting business, a key reason firm leaders are considering whether to separate its global audit and advisory practices. The global accounting network is now discussing whether to spin off its global auditing business.

Bloomberg Tax | 25 March 2022

SEC climate plan leaves open path to use global green standards

Alan Jagolinzer, Professor of Financial Accounting and Director of the Centre for Financial Reporting & Accountability (CFRA) at Cambridge Judge Business School, said demand for more in-depth reporting standards will mount along with the risks of climate change, and with it the need for a separate entity to set those reporting standards.

Business Because | 15 January 2022

Five emerging jobs in the cannabis industry

A case study looking at accounting practices in the marijuana industry co-authored by Alan Jagolinzer, Professor of Financial Accounting at Cambridge Judge Business School, featured in Business Because article. The case study looked at accounting practices in the marijuana industry, and was co-authored with cannabis investor White Sheep Corp.

Financial Times | 14 June 2021

Adaptable managers help companies pull trough

A study on UK companies’ survival rate co-authored by Geoff Meeks and Geoffrey Whittington featured in the Financial Times. The study, inspired by natural selection theory, finds that only 19 of 1,513 UK companies (1.26%) survived over the biblical “threescore years and ten” (70 years) from the postwar Companies Act in 1948 which made consolidated accounts mandatory.

Responsible Investor | 12 April 2021

Why accounting really matters for climate change, and what you need to know about it

David Pitt-Watson, Research Fellow at Cambridge Judge Business School, writes about a new accounting approach which is compatible with climate sustainability. “Investors have been clear that they want the companies they own to commit to a business model which is compatible with climate sustainability,” he writes. “The acid test of that commitment is shown in the company accounts, and in how they calculate their profitability. We have the opportunity to insist that that is done in a way which is consistent with the Paris Agreement.”

The Conversation | 19 January 2021

Annual reports should inform society – not only those with a financial interest

Alan Jagolinzer, Professor of Financial Accounting at Cambridge Judge Business School, writes on how accounting is a public policy initiative. “With many companies such as airlines and retailers struggling during the pandemic, there’s a lot of focus on their short-term financial health. This is all laid out in corporate annual reports and quarterly announcements, describing carnage in the usual clinical financial terminology,” Alan writes.

Stanford Business | 15 July 2020

Stimulus money might stimulate insider trading

A study co-authored by Alan Jagolinzer, Professor of Financial Accounting at Cambridge Judge Business School, found that “politically connected shareholders cashed in with suspiciously well-timed trades during the 2008 federal bailout.” The study examined trades made by officers and directors of nearly 500 financial institutions between 2005 and 2011.

Bloomberg | 1 July 2020

Wirecard exposes Big Four accounting lapses endure post-Enron

Dr Michael Willis, Director of the Master of Accounting programme at Cambridge Judge Business School, comments on the issue of the Big Four auditing firms. “A few months ago the threat of seismic government action seemed more credible but COVID-19 has put a pause to that for now,” Michael said, “I don’t think we’ll see a lot of regulatory change in the short run because of the COVID-19 volatility.”

Future-Proof | 28 October 2019

Addressing recruitment and retention woes

Alan Jagolinzer, Professor of Financial Accounting at Cambridge Judge Business School, discusses mental health issues with traditional US career recruitment in accounting and the need to foster and train creativity and disruption in the profession. “The accounting and finance profession needs to think about how we can tap into the creative energy of these kids,” Professor Jagolinzer said.

The New York Times | 14 October 2019

Epstein estate’s first legal bill in fight against accusers: $90,000

Alan Jagolinzer, Professor of Financial Accounting at Cambridge Judge Business School, comments on financial issues involved in a legal battle surrounding the estate of the late Jeffrey Epstein. Professor Jagolinzer said it raises “way too many questions” as it is “hard to understand how Financial Trust reported losses at a time when the stock market was rallying strongly after the 2008 financial crisis”.

Market Watch | 3 September 2019

Opinion: Cannabis stock investors should pay attention to this potential threat to share prices

A study looking at a cannabis accounting case by Alan Jagolinzer, Professor of Financial Accounting at Cambridge Judge Business School, is mentioned in the article. The case study looks at accounting practices in the marijuana industry, and was co-authored with cannabis investor White Sheep Corp. It was first taught at Cambridge Judge last year with an aim to guide students through the reporting process for the industry.

Accounting Web | 3 May 2019

Small practices continue to feel the recruitment crunch at Accountex

Dr Mike Willis, Senior Faculty in Management Practice at Cambridge Judge, gave a talk at the Accountex conference on accounting education and recruitment. “Firms do need a certain kind of person and I don’t think the universities are turning them out right now. One of the problems is that accountants tend to be risk-averse, when in reality the industry needs leaders who are comfortable with and embrace ambiguity and are able to lead through change.”

Market Watch | 11 February 2019

How marijuana companies can profit without selling pot

A case study co-authored by Alan Jagolinzer, Professor of Financial Accounting at Cambridge Judge, is featured in the article. The case study looks at accounting practices in the marijuana industry, and was co-authored with cannabis investor White Sheep Corp. The case was first taught at Cambridge Judge Business School last year with the aim to guide students through the reporting process for the industry.

Bloomberg | 22 January 2019

Buyers beware of marijuana stocks

A case study looking at accounting practices in the marijuana industry co-authored by Alan Jagolinzer, Professor of Financial Accounting at Cambridge Judge, is featured in Bloomberg. The case co-authored with cannabis investor White Sheep Corp. “explains what the financial professionals of tomorrow need to know about the cannabis industry.”

Accounting Insight News | 23 November 2018

Accountants: you don’t have the right skills

Dr Michael Willis, Director of the Master of Accounting programme at Cambridge Judge, writes about challenges that accountants face and what the future looks like for the industry. “The path to a career in professional accounting typically requires passing a series of rigorous exams and acquiring relevant work experience. This is a good thing! But there is a gap between this type of training and the skills required to lead a team, an organisation, and a profession through the uncertainty, ambiguity, and complexity that seems to be increasing.”

Business Weekly | 28 August 2018

Accountants alerted to financial impact of eco issues

Accounting for rising sea levels and other uncertain effects of climate change present significant new challenges to companies and accountants, says Dr Michael Willis, Director of the Master of Accounting (MAcc) programme at Cambridge Judge Business School. “We can see the advantages in giving companies and investors time to adapt and develop how they report on climate risks and opportunities. But only if reporting is mandatory are we likely to see comprehensive and comparable climate risk disclosures.”

Poets and Quants | 18 May 2018

Business schools tap into cannabis sector

With marijuana being legalized in some US states, business schools are now looking into the market in order to stay ahead. Earlier this year, Cambridge Judge Business School and cannabis investor White Sheep Corp announced their collaboration on the first “seed-to-sale” accounting case study on the cannabis industry – “‘High’ Profits From Accounting For Cannabis Plant Inventory”. The study is co-authored by Alan Jagolinzer, Professor of Financial Accounting at Cambridge Judge, and the goal is to have students “develop an understanding of the complexities behind financial reporting in the sector as well as the level of discretion that management has in dictating these figures.”

MJ Business Daily | 9 February 2018

Study looks to untangle ‘fundamentally confusing’ cannabis financial statements

Cambridge Judge Business School and cannabis investor White Sheep Corp announced their collaboration on the first “seed-to-sale” accounting case study on the cannabis industry – “’High’ Profits From Accounting For Cannabis Plant Inventory”. The study is co-authored by Alan Jagolinzer, Professor of Financial Accounting at Cambridge Judge. The goal of the case study, first taught at Cambridge Judge on 29 January, is to have students “develop an understanding of the complexities behind financial reporting in the sector as well as the level of discretion that management has in dictating these figures.”

Quartz | 30 January 2018

Cambridge is teaching the world’s first business case study on weed

Cambridge Judge Business School and cannabis investor White Sheep Corp announced their collaboration on the first “seed-to-sale” accounting case study on the cannabis industry – “’High’ Profits From Accounting For Cannabis Plant Inventory”. The study is co-authored by Alan Jagolinzer, Professor of Financial Accounting at Cambridge Judge. The goal of the case study, first taught at Cambridge Judge on 29 January, is to have students “develop an understanding of the complexities behind financial reporting in the sector as well as the level of discretion that management has in dictating these figures.”

  • Financial Times: How to spot companies at risk of earnings manipulation | 6 September 2017
  • Cambridge Business Magazine: Theresa May won’t like this… | 1 September 2016
  • The Wall Street Journal: The morning risk report: CEO-employee pay ratio disclosure no panacea | 9 August 2016
  • Financial Times: UK disclosure rules tying CEO pay and performance not working | 27 June 2016
  • Cambridge Business Magazine: Gender diversity and executive roles | 1 May 2016
  • LexisNexis: Strategies to get women into senior roles – does any of it work? | 12 April 2016
  • The Wall Street Journal: Earnings season: Time to tweak Warren Buffett’s maxim | 11 April 2016
  • Reuters Breakingviews: Boardroom gender quotas have hidden value | 9 March 2016
  • City AM: International Women’s Day | 2016
  • Cambridge Business Magazine: Earnings manipulation unmasked | 1 February 2016
  • Reuters Breakingviews: Beat surrender | 10 December 2015
  • The Economist: How companies massage their profits to beat market forecasts | 8 December 2015
  • The Economist: Executive compensation: If you hire them, pay will come… | 21 November 2014
  • The Times: Hiring pay ‘experts’ brings rich rewards for chief executives | 17 November 2014
  • The Economist: If you hire them, pay will come | 11 November 2014
  • New York Times: Dealbook: More transparency, more pay for CEOs | 10 November 2014
  • The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance & Financial Regulation: New evidence on compensation consultants and CEO pay | 16 October 2014
  • Financial Times: Women working in financial education | 21 June 2012

Contact us

Get in touch with the subject group via our Administrator, Emily Brown:

[email protected]

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