Universitas Gadjah Mada
Faculty of Economics and Business

The third series of World Class Professor (WCP) Program 2020 was successfully held online on (30/10/2020) with the theme “Impactful Research: Informing Accounting and Auditing Standard Settings”. WCP Program 2020 was held with the aim that lecturers or researchers in Indonesia could improve their academic life, competence, as well as their contribution to the national development of science and technology.

The third WCP Program 2020 webinar is divided into two parts, international perspective session and an Indonesian perspective session. The international perspective session started the webinar. In this panel discussion session, Prof. Keryn Chalmers, President of IAAER and Dean of the Swinburne Business School, Swinburne University of Technology, served as moderator. As the first speaker, Prof. Ann Tarca, a member of the International Accounting Standards Boards (IASB) form the University of Western Australia, discussed the topics regarding the IASB and research opportunities. Prof. Tarca said that the IASB seeks consistent application of standards, which reflect economic fundamentals of the entity. In addition, the IASB is also required to undertake evidence-based standard settings that are collected from several sources such as stakeholders, consultative groups, and staff research. The IASB seeks evidence of the impact of implementing a particular standard on preparers, auditors, regulators, and the capital market.

The panel discussion session continued to discuss the role of academic research in the development of auditing which was delivered by Prof. Roger Simnett, a professor of accounting from the UNSW Sydney Business School and CEO of the Australian Auditing and Assurance Standards Boards. The topic discussed in this session covered the IAASB work program and how that has changed and transitioning to a new strategy, perspectives on research, trends in international research, and the IAASB’s response to Covid-19. According to Prof. Simnett, in choosing research topics, academics can take a look at what standard setters need because currently there is still little research that refers to auditing standards and regulations.

The last speaker in the international perspective session, Prof. Donna L. Street, an IAAER Director of Research and Education from Accounting University of Dayton, was presenting to continue the topic discussed by previous speakers but focusing more on IAAER’s contribution to research that informs standard setting. Prof. Street explained that various IAAER programs as a research support institution are useful for the preparation of auditing and accounting standards by international academics. This international perspective panel discussion ended with a Q&A session for the three speakers conducted by the moderator, Prof. Chalmers, who fired a few questions and also addressed questions that had been asked by the participants.

The next was the Indonesian perspective session presented by Dr. Singgih Wijayana, M.Sc., lecturer at the Faculty of Economics and Business UGM who also serves as a member of the DSAK IAI, as a moderator of the session. The second panel discussion session was attended by speakers from DSAK IAI members who are also academics. First of all, Dr. Elvia Rosantina Shauki, S.E., M.B.A. from the accounting department of Universitas Indonesia, started the session by discussing what the journals and standard setters are looking for. Dr. Elvia emphasized that findings need to be more critical and more than just confirming whether the reporting entity has applied the standard well or not. In addition, according to Dr. Elvia, a research needs to contribute to the debate and provide input to standard setters.

The event continued with presenting the second speaker of this panel discussion session, Dr. Ersa Tri Wahyuni, S.E., M.Acc., a lecturer in the accounting department of Universitas Padjadjaran. In her discussion, Dr. Ersa discusses what kind of research is needed by the Standard Council in Indonesia. According to her, there is a need for a closer and warmer discussion forum between the Standard Boards and academics in order to collaborate better. Lastly, Dr. Devi Sulistyo Kalanjati, S.E., M.Acc., M.Sc., a lecturer in the accounting department of Universitas Airlangga, was the third speaker for this session. Dr. Devi conveyed the framework for analyzing the various effects of accounting treatment, including on information and the capital market, on existing standards, The third WCP Program 2020 webinar event was ended by a second Q&A session with the three speakers at the discussion panel.

Reportage: Kirana Lalita Pristy/Sony Budiarso

Video: https://youtu.be/Kj27sBMyPas