Jean C. Bedard

Professor Emerita

Jean C. Bedard is Professor Emerita of Accounting at Bentley University, where she previously held the Timothy B. Harbert Professorship in Accountancy. She earned her PhD in Accounting from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and holds degrees from Brown University and the University of Cincinnati. Her research focuses on audit quality, auditor judgment and decision-making, audit firm portfolio risk management, and corporate governance. She has published extensively in leading journals including The Accounting Review, Journal of Accounting Research, Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory, Contemporary Accounting Research, and Management Science.Jean’s work addresses critical issues such as auditors’ risk assessments, engagement planning, pricing decisions, and responses to earnings manipulation and governance risk. She has also contributed to research on internal control quality under Sarbanes–Oxley, enterprise risk management, and auditing challenging fair value measurements. Her recent projects include studies on audit firm culture and its impact on audit quality and ethical judgment.In addition to her research, Jean has served as Vice President–Publications of the American Accounting Association and as President of its Auditing Section. She has chaired major committees, including the Deloitte Wildman Award Committee, and acted as Research Coordinator for the Accounting, Behavior and Organizations Section. Her teaching spans undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral levels, with a focus on auditing and financial reporting. Before her academic career, Jean worked in public accounting and public health management, bringing practical insights to her scholarly work.

Auditor reliance on internal controls: challenges, insights, and the future of data analytics
Auditors have long grappled with how much they can trust a client’s internal control system. Strong internal controls can make audits more efficient, but what defines “high quality” controls remains unclear and many companies still fall short. Research shows that internal control quality depends heavily on firm-specific factors like size, complexity, governance, and risk profile. While robust controls improve financial reporting, reduce operational risk, and even lower audit fees, a significant number of firms continue to exhibit material weaknesses, raising concerns about audit reliability.
For auditors, evaluating internal controls is now a mandatory part of the process under standards like Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404 and ISA 315. Yet, this evaluation is challenging: controls vary widely across organizations, and clear guidelines are lacking. Auditor independence and a deep understanding of the client’s operations are critical, but experience alone doesn’t guarantee better assessments. Looking ahead, technology promises to reshape this landscape. Data analytics and AI can help auditors test entire populations of transactions, flag anomalies, and reduce reliance on client controls. Continuous auditing and machine learning may soon make audits faster, more comprehensive, and less dependent on traditional control systems, though these benefits will mostly apply to large-scale clients. In short, internal controls remain central to audit quality, but their evaluation is complex and context-driven. As technology advances auditors must adapt and balancing traditional judgment with innovative tools to ensure trust and transparency in financial reporting.
Read PDF
More Info
Audit Firm Culture: Recent Developments and Trends in the Literature
This paper synthesizes research on audit firm culture (AFC) over the past decade, reviewing recent developments in research on factors instilling culture in audit firms, and how culture influences audit quality and auditors’ work attitudes. We develop and apply a three-phase model based on prior research and  professional  guidance  (IAASB,  2014),  which  maps  cultural  embedding  mechanisms  (EMs,  visible manifestations and organizational conditions to establish culture), perceptions of existing culture, and consequences of culture. Our synthesis shows that the culture of an audit firm is most oriented toward quality if leadership emphasizes professionalism over commercialism, promotes ethical judgments, and facilitates learning  through  systems,  integration  of  specialists,  and  interpersonal  interactions  among  auditors. The research cited shows strong influence on AFC of tone at the top set by leadership, as well as incentives in performance/reward systems. Studies we review generally imply continued concern for the influence of commercialism on AFC, but future research should investigate whether recent forces (i.e. pressure from regulators and efforts by the firms) have caused a cultural shift toward professionalism. We close by suggesting opportunities for future research that can strengthen understanding how AFC can be better managed by firms.
Read PDF
More Info
No related podcasts.
No related news.

Filter projects: 

Project Lead
Theme Filter
University Filter
1 - 10 of 51 projects