PhD Programs in Accountancy and Business

You’ll explore both quantitative and qualitative methodology courses, and take a series of core seminars in Financial Accountancy, Auditing and Assurance, Managerial Control Systems, Judgment and Decision-Making. You’ll also take an Accountancy Workshop that considers special topics in accounting research, and a specialized course in experimental design that’s taught as an independent study.

Curriculum and course sequence subject to change.

Courses by Year

Year 1

Year 2

A selection of published collaborative research between Bentley Accountancy Faculty and PhD Students and Alumni:

• Andiola, L., and J. C. Bedard. 2018. Delivering the “tough message”: Moderators of subordinate auditors’ reactions to feedback. Forthcoming in Accounting, Organizations, and Society.
• Andiola, L., J. C. Bedard, and K. Westermann. 2018. It’s not my fault! Insights into auditors’ attributions and emotions following audit review. Forthcoming in Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory.
• Bierstaker, J., Downey, D., Rose, J. and J. Thibodeau. (2018). Effects of stories and checklist decision aids on knowledge structure devlopment and auditor judgment. Journal of Information Systems 32(2): 1-24.
• Burke, J., Hoitash, R., Hoitash, U. (2019). Auditor response to negative media coverage of client environmental, social, and governance practices. Accounting Horizon, 33(3), 1-23.
• Burke, J., Hoitash, R., Hoitash, U. (2019). The heterogeneity of board-level sustainability committees and corporate social performance. Journal of Business Ethics, 154 (4), 1161-1186.
• Burke, J., Hoitash, R., Hoitash, U. (2019). Audit partner identification and characteristics: Evidence from U.S. Form AP filings. Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory 38(3): 71-94.
• Burke, J., Hoitash, R., Hoitash, U. (2020). The use and characteristics of foreign component auditors in U.S. multinational audits: Insights from Form AP disclosures. Contemporary Accounting Research, forthcoming
• Cannon, N., and J. C. Bedard. 2017. Auditing challenging fair value measurements: Evidence from the field. The Accounting Review 92 (4): 81-114.
• Downey, D. H., and J. C. Bedard. 2018. Coordination and communication challenges in global group audits. Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory 37(2): 197-223.
• Durkin, M, Rose, J, Thibodeau, J. (2020). Can Simple Metaphors Be Used as Decision Aids to Promote Professional Skepticism?. Journal of Information Systems; 34 (1): 47-60
• Schnader, A, Kimberly D. Westernmann, Denise Hanes Downey, and Jay C. Thibodeau (2016). Training Teacher-Scholars: A Mentorship Program. Issues in Accounting Education: May 2016, Vol. 31, No. 2, pp. 171-190
• Schnader, A. L., Bedard, J.C., and Cannon, N. H. (2019). Auditor Reporting and Regulatory Sanctions in the Broker-Dealer Industry: From Self-Regulation to PCAOB Oversight. Contemporary Accounting Research, 36(4), 2554-2587.
• Thibodeau, J., Williams, T. and A. Witte. (2019).Point and click data: An assessment of editorial perceptions and recommendations for the peer-review process in the new data frontier. Journal of Information Systems 33(1): 129-144.
• Westermann, K., C. Earley and J.C. Bedard. 2015. Learning the “craft” of auditing: A dynamic view of auditors’ on-the-job learning. Contemporary Accounting Research 32 (3): 864-896.

Curriculum and course sequence subject to change.

Courses by Year

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3 & 4 Sample Timeline*

• Year 3:  Teaching assignment (normally one course per semester) & dissertation proposal submitted and defended and student transition to 'PhD Candidate' status
• Year 4:  Teaching assignment (normally one course per semester) & dissertation submitted and examined

*details vary based on a 4 or 5 year completion plan.

Note: At any point following the completion of course work, a student may choose to leave the program with a terminal Master's in Business Research degree. This degree is awarded instead of a PhD; students who continue on to complete their PhD do not receive a Master's degree.