2010 News Archive
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AACSB Accreditation in Accounting
22 December 2010
The Faculty’s degree programmes are accredited by AACSB in both Business and Accounting.
AACSB International - the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business - was founded in 1916 and is the largest global accrediting body for business schools that offer undergraduate, master’s and doctoral degrees in business and accounting.
To realize accounting accreditation, the School had to satisfy not only the 21 AACSB quality standards for Business but also an additional set of 15 standards that are specific to the discipline and profession of Accounting.
The Faculty is the first in New Zealand to have obtained accreditation from AACSB in both Business and Accounting and less than 1% of business schools worldwide hold this distinguished hallmark of excellence.
New book profiles accounting pioneers in education
12 November 2010
One of Victoria’s accounting academics has recently published a co-authored book on accounting education and the profession in New Zealand.
Accounting Education and the Profession in New Zealand: Profiles of the Pioneering Academics and the Early University Accounting Departments 1900-1970, published by the NZ Institute of Chartered Accountants, records the activities of an extraordinary group of accountants who were the pioneers of the education for accountants in New Zealand.
The authors are Emeritus Professor Don Trow from the School of Accounting and Commercial Law, and Professor Stephen Zeff from Rice University Texas, a regular visitor to Victoria University in recent years.
“The book has been of much interest to the older members of the profession who remember the teachers from the 1950s and the appointment of the first professors in the early 1960s,” says Emeritus Professor Trow.
The Institute of Chartered Accountants is providing a free copy of the book to all current teachers of accounting at tertiary level in New Zealand. Copies are available from the School of Accounting and Commercial Law.
Marsden-funded research to challenge traditional accounting
26 October 2010
A three-year Marsden-funded project led by School of Accounting and Commercial Law Professor Judy Brown aims to challenge accounting’s traditional business focus.
The research project ‘Dialogic Accounting: The Challenge of Taking Multiple Perspectives Seriously’, recently awarded $685,000 in Marsden funding, seeks to help open traditional accounting to critical scrutiny and provide alternatives that recognise the needs of various stakeholder communities.
“Accounting has traditionally focused on meeting the information needs of financial markets and maximising shareholder wealth,” says Professor Brown.
“It has downplayed or ignored many issues of concern in contemporary society, including questions about corporate accountability, sustainability and social justice.”
The project aims to foster new ‘dialogic’ forms of accounting that enable groups such as environmentalists, ethical investors, unions and indigenous communities to co-develop accountings that take account of their own political and value standpoints.
The research will build on Professor Brown’s published work on ‘democratising accounting’.
“We will be drawing on ideas and findings from contemporary political theory and a number of other disciplines to inform our research. Researchers and practitioners in various fields are increasingly recognising the need for more plural approaches in organisations and society, and this work offers valuable lessons for accounting,” says Professor Brown.
“We will also be seeking to develop new theory and practice by working with academics from various disciplines and potential beneficiaries of the research such as NGOs, activists, environmentalists, unions and Māori in a participatory learning and action research group.
“The broader aim of the research is to contribute to national and overseas initiatives on sustainability, corporate social responsibility, participatory development and governance at community, organisational and civil society levels. Multi-perspectival approaches to accounting have the potential to inform discussion and debate in all these areas.”
Professor Brown will work on the project with Professor Jesse Dillard, a leading international researcher in critical accounting and social and environmental accounting and two PhD researchers—Sendirella George and Farzana Tanima. Professor Trevor Hopper, one of the School of Accounting and Commercial Law’s Adjunct Professors and a ‘founding father’ of critical accounting, will also act as an advisor on the project. Several members of the School’s Philosophy, Ethics and Social Theory and Social and Environmental Accounting research interest groups are also working on closely related projects and will participate in the action research group.
The Marsden Fund is regarded as a hallmark of research excellence and supports innovative and ambitious projects at the international cutting edge of their disciplines. The fund is administered by the Royal Society of New Zealand on behalf of the government.
Professor Brown's grant is one of nine standard grants awarded to Victoria academics across the Faculties of Science, Humanities and Social Sciences, Architecture and Design, Commerce and Administration, Education, and Engineering this year, and one of seven awarded by the Social Sciences panel for the whole of New Zealand.
New Head of the School of Accounting and Commercial Law
29 April 2010
Professor Ian Eggleton has returned to Victoria University as the new Head of the School of Accounting and Commercial Law.
Ian graduated from the Faculty of Commerce and Administration in 1970 with a BCAHons majoring in Accounting, and then studied at the University of Chicago where he completed both his MBA and PhD.
Ian was previously Head of the School of Accounting and Commercial Law from 1980 to1984.
Professor Bob Buckle, Dean & Pro-Vice Chancellor of the Faculty of Commerce and Administration said, “We are delighted to welcome Ian back into the Faculty. He is an outstanding academic, having held senior academic positions in Australia and New Zealand. Ian also brings a great deal of university and professional leadership experience to the School and the Faculty.”
Ian is immediate past-president of the Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand for the last decade has been Director of the Doctoral Colloquium, held in conjunction with the Association's annual conference. He has extensive consulting and training experience in the public sector and not-for-profit areas.
Five new Fellow Chartered Accountants honoured
1 February 2010
Five graduates from the School of Accounting and Commercial Law (SACL) at Victoria were made Fellow Chartered Accountants of the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants last year.
The School congratulates Brian Blake (Managing Director of DB Breweries Ltd), John Loughlin (Company Director and co-owner of Askerne Estate Winery Ltd), Neil Cherry (Chief Financial Officer of Wellington City Council), Roy Glass (Director of Auditing Policy at the Office of the Auditor-General) and Geoff Sewell (Chief Executive Officer Incognito Artists Ltd, London).
Dr Carolyn Cordery, Senior Lecturer and Chair of the SACL Alumni Relations Committee says, “We are delighted to see so many of our graduates being honoured in this way. These individuals provide role models for our students and graduates pursuing excellence in their chosen careers.”
Roy Glass is Director of Auditing Policy with the Office of the Auditor-General. Roy is a member of the International Panel of Experts of the International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions. Roy developed the audit methodology used by Audit New Zealand and has been a member of the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountant’s (NZICA)Professional Standards Board since 2005.
Neil Cherry is Wellington City Council's Chief Financial Officer. Neil is Chair of the Professional Standards Board, the arm of NZICA responsible for formulating and implementing professional and ethical standards applicable to all members. Neil also sits on Victoria University’s School of Accounting and Commercial Law and Centre for Accounting, Governance and Taxation Research Advisory Board.
Geoff Sewell is Chief Executive Officer and owner of Incognito Artists Ltd, a global entertainment company he started in 2000. He is also one of the creators of the international classical sensation Amici Forever. He is an internationally-renowned singer with multi-platinum selling number one albums and DVDs, owns his own record label Sewell Music and is a trustee of The Sewell Foundation, which was set up to help families with autism. He is also extensively involved with various charities in New Zealand and overseas.
John Loughlin is co-owner of Askerne Estate Winery Ltd and a company director. John was formerly chief executive and chief financial officer of meat marketer and processor Richmond Ltd. He is currently chair of ZESPRI Group Ltd, Allied Farmers Ltd, Allied Nationwide Finance Ltd and Tru-Test Corporation Ltd. He is a director of Metlifecare Ltd, Port of Napier Ltd, AgResearch Ltd, Kermadec Property Fund Ltd, Taupo Motorsport Park Ltd and Centralines Ltd. He is a former member of the New Zealand Markets Disciplinary Tribunal.
Brian Blake is the managing director of DB Breweries Ltd, a position he has held since 1993. He is the current Chief of the Board of Trustees of the Excelerator New Zealand Leadership Institute at Auckland University and Chair of the Brewers Association of Australasia. He was deputy chair and a member of the Board of Governors of the Diocesan School for Girls from 2000 to 2008.
Fellowships are awarded annually to members of the Institute who have made outstanding contributions to the accounting profession and/or service to the community.
Tax Working Group Report launch
20 January 2010
In its report released today, the Tax Working Group (TWG) recommends that the Government considers significant changes to make the tax system fairer and more effective.
"Put simply, the tax system is broken and needs to be fixed," Professor Bob Buckle, the Chair of the Group, said. "We've suggested a number of ways this can be done.
"We think there is a once-in a generation chance for New Zealand to get a world-class tax system , one that's set up to meet the challenges of the 21st century."
The TWG report "A Tax System for New Zealand's Future" says that retaining the current tax system is not an option.
"The Group's strong view is that reform is necessary if New Zealand is to have a fair tax system that minimises the costs of raising taxes, reduces barriers to productivity and growth and positions it well for future challenges," Professor Buckle said.
The report identifies three critical concerns with the present system:
- Its structure is inappropriate: New Zealand relies heavily on the taxes most harmful to growth, particularly corporate and personal income taxes; there is a major hole in the tax base concerning the taxation of capital, and Working for Families creates very high effective marginal tax rates.
- It lacks coherence, integrity and fairness: differences in tax rates across entities provide opportunities to exploit the system, and the income tax burden is disproportionately borne by PAYE taxpayers since many with wealth can restructure their affairs to shelter income from taxes, or to enable people to receive social support.
- There are significant risks to its sustainability: international competition for capital and labour, especially from Australia, affect what we can do with tax rates; and demographic change will also affect the tax system. Also, if people think that the system is unfair, compliance will be affected.
Professor Buckle said that the Group recommended improvements involving a combination of changes to the tax bases (what is taxed) and tax mix (how much revenue each base provides), to tax rates, and by improving some of the supporting tax rules. The problems with the current system are such that a comprehensive package of reforms is required. Some reform options will result in more revenue being collected, others less. Overall, the result is likely to be revenue neutral, but the fairness, integrity and growth orientation of the system enhanced.
The key recommendations are:
- The company, top personal and trust tax rates should be aligned to improve integrity. At the very least the trustee rate, top personal tax rate and rates for savings vehicles need to be aligned
- The company tax rate needs to be competitive with other country's rates, particularly that in Australia. Balancing this factor against the integrity benefits of a fully aligned system will guide choices between an aligned and non-aligned system.
- The top personal tax rates should be reduced as part of an alignment strategy and to help growth. A reduction in personal tax rates across-the-board could be achieved as part of a package to compensate for any increase in GST.
- Increasing GST to 15% would have merit on efficiency grounds, but any increase in the GST rate would require compensation to those on lower incomes, and the current GST base should be maintained.
- Base-broadening is required to address some existing biases, to improve the system's efficiency and sustainability, and is necessary to maintain revenue levels if corporate and personal tax rates are reduced.
- The majority of the TWG support detailed consideration of taxing returns from capital invested in residential rental properties on the basis of a "risk-free rate of return" method.
- Most members of the TWG support the introduction of a low-rate land tax as a means of funding other tax rate reductions.
- The Group also suggests a number of targeted options for base-broadening should be considered for introduction relatively quickly. These include: removing the 20% depreciation loading on plant and equipment; removing tax depreciation on buildings if evidence shows they do not depreciate in value and; changing the thin capitalisation rules for foreign-owned companies.
- A comprehensive review of welfare policy and how it interacts with the tax system.
- Institutional arrangements to maintain the overall coherence and integrity of the tax system.
"An essential element of reform is choosing a taxation system that reduces uncertainty over future tax rates and tax bases and minimises vulnerability to interest group pressure and political temptation to change, as many of the current problems are to do with the overall coherence of the system," Professor Buckle said.
The Tax Working Group (TWG) was established by Victoria University's Centre for Accounting Governance and Taxation Research, in conjunction with the Treasury and Inland Revenue, in May 2009. While an independent Group, it was formed with the support of the Minister of Finance, Hon Bill English, and the Minister of Revenue, Hon Peter Dunne.
At its first meeting the Group agreed that it would keep six principles in mind as it looked at the future tax system: fairness; the impact on economic growth; system coherence; the integrity of the system; simplicity of compliance and administration; and fiscal cost.
The Tax Working Group was:
- Bob Buckle, Victoria University of Wellington (Group Chair)
- Rob Cameron, Cameron Partners
- Paul Dunne, KPMG
- Arthur Grimes, Motu Economic and Public Policy Research
- Rob McLeod, Ernst & Young
- Gareth Morgan, Gareth Morgan Investments Limited
- Mike Shaw, Deloitte
- Geof Nightingale, PricewaterhouseCoopers
- Casey Plunket, Chapman Tripp
- John Prebble, Victoria University of Wellington
- John Shewan, PricewaterhouseCoopers
- Mark Weldon, NZX Limited
- David White, Victoria University of Wellington
Summaries of the Group's deliberations and background papers have been posted on the Tax Working Group website. The full TWG report is also available on the website.