- Professor
- Associate Professor
- Arel, Barbara Ph.D.
- Bonifield, Carolyn M Ph.D.
- Cats-Baril, William L. Ph.D.
- Dempsey, Stephen J. Ph.D.
- Hughes, Susan B. Ph.D.
- Jones, David A. Ph.D.
- Lucas, Marilyn T. Ph.D.
- Novak, David Ph.D.
- Parke, E. Lauck Ph.D.
- Tomas III, Michael J. Ph.D.
- Vanden Bergh, Richard G. Ph.D.
- Zhang, Chun Ph.D.
- Assistant Professor
- Lecturer/Sr Lecturer
- Lecturer (Part Time)
- Faculty Emeritus
- Averyt, William F. Ph.D.
- Battelle, Peter E. M.B.A.
- Brandenburg, Richard G. Ph.D.
- Gatti, James F. Ph.D.
- Gurdon, Michael A. Ph.D.
- Jesse, Richard R. Ph.D.
- Kraushaar, James M. Ph.D.
- Laber, Gene Ph.D.
- Savitt, Ronald Ph.D.
- Severance, Malcolm Ph.D.
- Shirland, Larry E. Ph.D.
- Tashman, Len J. Ph.D.
Cathy A. Beaudoin, Ph.D. Assistant Professor
Contact Information
Office: 317 Kalkin
Phone: (802) 656-0313
E-Mail: Cathy.Beaudoin@uvm.edu
Office Hours: MW, 9:30-10:45am, or by appointment or by appointment
Dr. Beaudoin is an Assistant Professor at The University of Vermont School of Business. She holds degrees from California State Polytechnic University (B.S.), Columbia University (MBA), and Drexel University (Ph.D.).
Cathy has extensive accounting work experience, both in public accounting and industry. She has worked in the tax department at KPMG Peat Marwick, in various accounting and reporting positions in the financial services industry including a Fortune 100 company, and was also the Vice President of Finance of a large, publicly-traded company.
Cathy's research interests include examining the decision making process in accounting and financial reporting contexts. This includes examining various factors that influence financial executives' accounting and financial reporting choices as well as examining how accounting and financial reporting factors influence managers' operating decisions.
Cathy was raised in Enfield, Connecticut. She has lived in many areas of the United States including Los Angeles, New York City, Tampa, Philadelphia, and now Vermont. Cathy likes to participate in sporting activities and currently competes in triathlons. She is also an avid reader of both fiction and nonfiction works, listens to a wide range of podcasts, and is continually looking for new music to enjoy.
Publication History
Journal Article, Academic Journal
- Beaudoin, C. A.; Hughes, S. B. - (Forthcoming) "APT, Inc. An Application of Fair Value" (Refereed)
- Issues in Accounting Education
- 2013
[Show/Hide Abstract]
Abstract: This case involves an asset impairment assessment under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The case is based on an actual apartment complex located on land leased from a US university. The complex is owned by a subsidiary of a Canadian company, thereby necessitating the application of IFRS. Both International Accounting Standard 36 and IFRS 13 must be consulted to determine whether or not an impairment loss must be recognized. Unlike most impairment examples included in textbooks, students are not provided with either fair value or value in use information. Rather they must estimate the higher of the fair value or value in use based upon information provided in the case. Thus, students are required to apply higher order learning skills as they grapple with numerous decisions, e.g., discount rates, cash flow projections, relevant comparable properties and their recent selling prices, and possible cost information. Master of Accountancy and MBA students who used the case report it improves their understanding of fair value techniques. Overall, students reported they found the case a valuable learning experience and that the case increased the extent they thought about the complexities of fair value issues in financial reporting.
- Hughes, S. B.; Beaudoin, C. A.; Boedeker, R. R. - "Good Intentions at Good Grains, Inc." (Refereed)
- Issues in Accounting Education
- 2013 - v. 28, no. 1, pp. 115-129
- Beaudoin, C. A.; Dang, L.; Fang, Q.; Tsakumis, G. - "The Agency Problem and the Moderating Role of Culturally-Based Management Style on Chinese Managers' Discretionary Accruals" (Refereed)
- Journal of International Accounting, Auditing, and Taxation
- 2012 - v. 21, pp. 145-155
[Show/Hide Abstract]
Abstract: Upon completion of overseas acquisitions, Western firms typically hire Chinese locals or expatriates to run their Chinese operations. This is an important consideration because a Western executive's managerial style may impact Chinese employee behavior differently than a Chinese executive's managerial style. Utilizing an experiment with Chinese managers as participants, we examine the effect of the agency problem (when both an incentive and opportunity to act in line with one's self-interest are present) on Chinese managers' discretionary accrual decisions, as well as the role that their executives' culturally-based management style (Eastern versus Western) plays in mitigating their propensity to manage earnings. We find that Chinese managers tend to override corporate concerns and recommend higher discretionary expense accruals in an effort to maximize their two-year bonus potential when the agency problem is present. Conversely, they tend to recommend lower discretionary expense accrual figures to help achieve corporate goals when the agency problem is not present. Interestingly, we also find that an executive's culturally-based management style moderates the impact of the agency problem in that Chinese managers' willingness to manage earnings across agency problem conditions is dampened more in the presence of an Eastern (Chinese) executive than in the presence of a Western (U.S.) executive.
- Arel, B.; Beaudoin, C. A.; Cianci, A. - "The Impact of Ethical Leadership, the Internal Audit Function, and moral intensity on a financial reporting decision" (Refereed)
- Journal of Business Ethics
- 2012 - v. 109, no. 3, pp. 351-366
[Show/Hide Abstract]
Abstract: Two elements of corporate governance-the strength of ethical executive leadership and the internal audit function (IAF hereafter)-provide guidance to accounting managers making decisions involving uncertainty. We examine the joint effect of these two factors, manipulated at two levels (strong, weak), in an experiment in which accounting professionals decide whether to book a questionable journal entry (i.e., a journal entry for which a reasonable business case can be made but there is no supporting documentation). We find that ethical leadership and the IAF interact to determine the likelihood that accountants book the entry. Specifically, accountants are less likely to book a questionable journal entry when there is a weak ethical leader and a strong IAF compared to all other conditions. These results suggest that the IAF has a different impact on financial reporting decisions depending on the ethicalness of executive leadership and that a strong IAF may have certain consequences (such as decreasing the likelihood of booking an undocumented journal entry) when combined with weak ethical leadership. We also find that the interactive effect of ethical leadership and the IAF on an accountant's decision is fully mediated by his/her perception of the moral intensity of the issue. Thus, accountants, who perceive greater moral intensity associated with booking the entry, are less willing to do so.
- Beaudoin, C. A.; Chandar, N.; Werner, E. - "Good Disclosure Doesn't Cure Bad Accounting - or Does it? " (Refereed)
- Advances in Accounting
- 2011 - v. 27, no. 1, pp. 99-110
[Show/Hide Abstract]
Abstract: This paper investigates whether the newly required recognition of pension asset and liability amounts under SFAS 158 is incrementally value relevant relative to the same amounts which were previously only disclosed to both equity investor and credit rating agency decision makers. Our data span the year just before (2005) and just after (2006) the new pension accounting standard became effective. Based on tests of association in both the equity-value and credit-rating contexts, our findings indicate that the previously unrecognized pension amount is valued similarly whether it is recognized on the balance sheet or only disclosed in the footnotes. Specifically, we find that equity investors price the formerly disclosed pension liability while credit rating agencies do not, regardless of its presentation in the financial statements. Therefore, our results suggest that SFAS 158 has not changed the way market participants use pension-related financial statement information.
- Beaudoin, C. A.; Chandar, N.; Werner, E. W. - "Are Potential Effects of SFAS 158 Associated with Firms' Decisions to Freeze Their Defined Benefit Pension Plans?" (Refereed)
- Review of Accounting and Finance
- 2010 - v. 9, no. 4, pp. 424-451
[View publication]
[Show/Hide Abstract]
Abstract: This paper investigates whether the recent clustering of defined benefit (DB) pension plan freeze announcements is motivated at least in part by accounting concerns due to the pending adoption of SFAS 158. We examine freeze announcements during 2001-2006, a period which is marked by increasing sentiment for sweeping pension accounting reform starting with the passage of FRS 17 in the UK and culminating in the adoption of SFAS 158 in the U.S. Using logistic regression models, we compare 147 "freeze firms" with a matched sample of firms that did not announce a DB plan freeze. Our models control for other possible motivations behind the DB plan freeze decision, particularly (1) the potential response to stricter contribution requirements under the Pension Protection Act of 2006 and (2) managers' professed rationale of improving the firm's competitive position. We find strong support for our hypothesis that the potential SFAS 158 impact is significantly associated with firms' decisions to freeze their DB plans. Our study contributes to research on potential effects of accounting policy by examining its influence on real management actions and has consequences for a variety of stakeholders including investors, creditors, and, importantly, pension beneficiaries and workers as DB plans represent implicit contracts between firms and their employees.
- Agoglia, C. P.; Beaudoin, C. A.; Tsakumis, G. T. - "The Effect of Documentation Structure and Task-Specific Experience on Auditors' Ability to Identify Control Weaknesses" (Refereed)
- Behavioral Research in Accounting
- 2009 - v. 21, no. 1, pp. 17
[View publication]
[Show/Hide Abstract]
Abstract: The current regulatory environment, brought on by recent high-profile audit failures, expands the auditor's role in detecting fraud. For example, auditors must now provide an opinion on their client's internal controls, addressing their effectiveness at preventing or detecting fraud. While the structure of a documentation memo has been shown to affect overall assessments of fraud risk, prior research has not addressed its effect on auditors' ability to identify significant control weaknesses. In this study we investigate whether documentation structure can impact auditors' ability to identify the presence of significant control weaknesses and, more importantly, whether reviewer experience moderates this effect. Results indicate reviewed auditors (reviewees) who are required to document components of their fraud assessments (component documentation) provided more favorable (and lower quality) assessments of control weaknesses than those using either supporting or balanced documentation. Further, reviewer task specific experience moderated the effect of documentation structure on reviewers' identification of control weaknesses such that experienced reviewers compensated more for the effect of component documentation than reviewers with less experience. Thus, our results suggest that experienced reviewers are better able to overcome lower quality documentation than less experienced reviewers. These results provide support for new regulations emphasizing the role of experience during the control assessment process.
