Accounting research


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Research information

The Accounting academic area has highly productive research faculty who also are outstanding educators. Accounting faculty hold editorships at and regularly publish in leading academic journals, including The Accounting Review and Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory, among many others.

KU Accounting faculty rank No. 1 globally in audit archival and all audit research contributions over the past six and 12 years, according to Brigham Young University’s 2021 index of accounting research. BYU’s accounting research rankings also place our Accounting faculty at No. 9 over the past 12 years and No. 13 over the past six years for their contributions in all archival research.

The area's mission contains three dimensions:

  • To provide high-quality programs that prepare students for professional careers in accounting or for successful graduate study;
  • To enable faculty to conduct exceptional research that contributes to the field of accounting, and to share the results of that research with academic and professional communities;
  • To provide service to the academic and professional communities at the University of Kansas, in the state of Kansas, and at the regional and national levels.

Every two years, the Accounting academic area hosts the Deloitte/KU Audit Symposium, a two-day conference that brings leaders from the public accounting industry, regulatory agencies such as the SEC, FASB and PCAOB, and university accounting scholars to discuss issues and present research relevant to the contemporary audit environment. The Deloitte/KU Audit Symposium has been held since 1972 and is widely recognized as one of the most prestigious and influential academic accounting conferences.

Area directors

Degree programs

Research topics

  • Auditing

  • Financial reporting & accounting

  • Regulation

  • Corporate taxation

  • Disclosure

  • Accounting information systems

In the Media

  • Exterior view of the White House

    Kansas Reflector

    Corporate executives offer rosier business forecasts if politically aligned

  • Illustration of person pointing to "audit" text

    Accounting Today

    Depositors blame bank failures on audit firms

Recent research & news

Rendering of a person wearing a suit pointing to the word "audit"

Study: Internal control audits improve operational efficiency for small firms

The November collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX serves as a lesson of what happens when a corporation avoids internal audits of its own financial operations. A scholarly article from Chan Li, C.A. Scupin Professor, examines how such audits often affect firms’ operational efficiency.
Rendering of White House with U.S. cash images overlaid

Partisan alignment of CEOs & US pres. increases biased optimism in corporate disclosures

Political partisanship can cause even the savviest of business leaders to bias their forecasts and reports, says Mehmet Kara, assistant professor of accounting. His new scholarly article examines how CEOs' views of White House leadership can influence corporate disclosure outcomes.
Exterior view of Capitol Federal Hall

Professor named senior editor of auditing journal

Mike Wilkins, Larry D. Horner/KPMG Professor, has been named senior editor of Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory.
Illustration of a spreadsheet with a magnifying glass and a calculator sitting on top

Depositors often blame audit firms for bank failure, study finds

An article by assistant professor Matthew Beck argues that depositors perceive bank failure as an audit failure, which reduces their assessment of auditor credibility. This leads to lower deposit growth at banks with the same auditor.

Area directors

Keith Jones
Keith Jones
Area Director, Accounting, Deloitte Professor
Alee Phillips
Alee S. Phillips
Master of Accounting Program Director, Assistant Area Director, Accounting, Lecturer

Accounting faculty

Josh Arpin
Josh Arpin
Lecturer
Matthew Beck
Matthew Beck
Assistant Professor
Mark Best
Mark Best
Lecturer
Scott Bronson
Scott N. Bronson
Associate Professor
Kelvie Crabb
Kelvie Crabb
Master of Accounting Program Associate Director, Lecturer
Mike Falk
Mike Falk
Lecturer
Rachel Green
Rachel A. Green
Master of Accounting Program Associate Director, Lecturer
Mehmet Kara
Mehmet Kara
Assistant Professor
Kurt Krogull
Kurt Krogull
Lecturer, Director, Jack Lockton Certificate in Insurance and Risk Management
Chan Li
Chan Li
C.A. Scupin Professor
Jeremy Lill
Jeremy Lill
Associate Professor
Nathan Lundstrom
Nathan Lundstrom
Assistant Professor
Adi Masli
Adi Masli
Professor, Koch Foundation Fellow
Lawrence Morriss Jr.
Lawrence D. Morriss Jr.
Professor of the Practice
Min Park
Min Park
Assistant Professor
Susan Scholz
Susan Scholz
Executive Associate Dean, Stanley P. Porter Professor
Lana Scroggins
Lana Scroggins
Assistant Teaching Professor
Kristin Stack
Kristin Stack
Assistant Professor
Eric Weisbrod
Eric Weisbrod
Assistant Professor
Scott Whisenant
Scott Whisenant
Associate Professor
Mike Wilkins
Mike Wilkins
Larry D. Horner/KPMG Professor, Doctoral Coordinator, Accounting
Amanda Winn
Amanda Winn
Assistant Professor