Editorial

Citation

Evans, S. (2014), "Editorial", Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Vol. 27 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/AAAJ-11-2013-1537

Editorial

Article Type: Literature and insights From: Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Volume 27, Issue 1

Hot on the audit trail

Catalogues that frequently poke out of my letterbox, despite its no advertising sticker, often promote an array of electronic gadgets. According to this glossy literature, I can apparently monitor the outside of my house with CCTV cameras at quite reasonable prices. Alternatively, and for even more reasonable prices, I could buy dummy cameras to create the impression that I am recording every movement in their vicinity. Sadly, a real recording would probably only show the cats’ meanderings and the occasional arrival of the postman or suffering piece-rate walker who is delivering more brochures that I do not want.

I noticed in my neighbourhood during the last few years that kids on BMX bicycles had graduated to mounting portable cameras on their helmets so they could replay their daring manoeuvres to each other after descending the steep hills hereabouts, and maybe also then post highlights on Youtube. I imagine that they were working long hours at the local fast food joint to afford such luxury items, but now I see that they their prices have plummeted to something like that of a few hamburgers. Motorcycle racers have been doing the same thing for some time too. I like to think of this era as stage 1.

Stage 2 is a bit uglier. I wondered why it took so long for the ordinary car driver to place these things on their dashboards for the daily commute. Advertisements tout the virtues of recording the view ahead of you as you cheerfully roll towards your place of employment, with exhortations like, “Make sure that you have a vision file ready in case of an accident!” This is excellent stuff, provided that the vision shows that you were not in the wrong because you can then show the file to your insurer’s lawyer. The day of the crashcam has truly arrived.

For the moment though, let’s put aside home security and road rage, and forget thrills and spills (and litigation, more or less); I think we are ready for stage 3.

The next phase is something close to the hearts of management accountants: the audit trail. Just imagine the heartache and conjecture that could be saved if only all staff were compelled to wear crashcams every minute of their working lives. A constant log of action and interaction suitably coded for automated classification could usher in all sorts of benefits. What better way to settle disputes over workplace harassment, or to see what customer service is really like, or when someone is extending their rest break without authorisation? Mandatory personal workcams could solve the problem of who is raiding the stationery cupboard, and who is not paying for milk in the staff room too.

Some people may regard it as a bit intrusive, I know, but only those who have something to hide should have anything to fear, right? And why not tie its use to an employee of the month award? It could only do us all a heap of good.

I am going off to write a conference paper now. You can watch Youtube for edited highlights of me doing that or see me live via my crashcam feed. After that, I will just be moping about the house, with my camera running in case something exciting should happen. Then again, why not wait out the front to record the arrival of more brochures?

In this issue, Athar Murtuza presents us with an unsettling analysis of an investigation into an inventory problem. I can understand why this report was written in the final hours of his contract rather than earlier. Your own creative contributions can be submitted via ScholarOne (see below), and your e-mail correspondence is always welcome, of course, at: mailto:steve.evans@flinders.edu.au

Acknowledgements

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal (AAAJ) welcomes submissions of both research papers and creative writing. Creative writing in the form of poetry and short prose pieces is edited for the Literature and Insights Section only and does not undergo the refereeing procedures required for all research papers published in the main body of AAAJ. Author guidelines for contributions to this section of the journal can be found at: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/products/journals/author_guidelines.htm?id=aaaj

Steve Evans
Literary Editor