The School of Accounting is a centre of excellence in accounting research in Australia and internationally. Our expertise and strength in research is based on applying intellectual rigour and various empirical techniques to investigate and understand accounting issues.
Academics in the School of Accounting are actively engaged in research in financial accounting, management accounting and auditing, and regularly publish their work in both local and international journals.
Both staff and research students in the School engage in a wide range of topics, including:
- Cognitive processes in accounting and auditing judgment tasks
- Issues associated with audit industry specialisation
- Management controls in new organisational forms
- Business performance management systems
- Costly contracts and accounting policy choice
- Accounting regulation in both local and international environments
- Professionalisation processes in accounting, and accounting history
Members of the School also play an active role in other research activities, including editorial board memberships, presenting their work at conferences and seminars, and involvement in academic research bodies, including the Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand.
School research is supported by research grants from the Australian Research Council and other external funding bodies.
In 2012 the ERA (Excellence in Research Australia) National Report was awarded to the School with a maximum score of five in the categories of Accounting, Auditing and Accountability. UNSW School of Accounting is one of only three Australian schools to be awarded a Level 5.
A benchmarking exercise undertaken in 2007 by Australian journal, Accounting and Finance, resulted in the School of Accounting being recognised as the leading research school internationally from the period 1998 to 2005.
A similar exercise undertaken by the prestigious Journal of Accounting Review placed the School as the top publishing Accounting School internationally - that journal for the period up to 2009.