（2004）Continuous Reporting and Continuous Assurance：Opportunities for Behavioral Accounting Research.pdfVIP

JOURNAL OF EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES IN ACCOUNTING Vol. 1 2004 pp. 91ñ102 COMMENTARY Continuous Reporting and Continuous Assurance: Opportunities for Behavioral Accounting Research James E. Hunton Bentley College Arnold M. Wright Boston College Sally Wright University of Massachusetts Boston ABSTRACT: The movement to more continuous reporting (CR) and continuous assur- ance (CA) of financial statements appears to be a matter of when and how such changes will take place, rather than if they will occur. Research evidence suggests that computing infrastructures and software applications have advanced to the point where it is now technically and economically feasible to begin preparing and disseminating financial statements on at least a monthly basis (Hunton, Wright, and Wright 2003), and someday it is likely that full or partial financial and nonfinancial disclosures will be processed and presented in real time. Additionally, information consumers are demanding, and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), and International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) are con- templating reporting and assurance changes of this nature. Thus, whether ìcontinuousî is defined in terms of monthly, daily, hourly, or real-time reporting, rapidly converging market factors indicate that in the foreseeable future firms will publish and auditors will assure financial information on a more frequent basis than th