Areas of Expertise

Judgment and decision-making in accounting with specific interests in audit quality, audit regulation, and professional skepticism

Academic Degrees

• PhD, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2014
• MPA, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, 2005
• BBA, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, 2004

Professional Experience

• Deloitte & Touche LLP, Audit Senior Consultant, September 2007 – May 2009
• Deloitte & Touche LLP, Audit Associate, September 2005 – August 2007
• Certified Public Accounting (CPA), State of Wisconsin 2005 (inactive status)

Awards, Honors & Certificates

• AAA Management Accounting Section 2023 Outstanding Paper Award for the paper titled, How Do Group Size and Group Relative Performance Information Affect Managerial Reporting? (with Tim Mallon, Geoff Sprinkle, and Dan Way).
• Recipient of the 2023 Teaching Innovation Award at the Kelley School of Business
• Recipient of a 2022 Trustee Teaching Award at the Kelley School of Business
• Recipient of the KPMG Academic Research Program Grant in 2021 for the research proposal, “How does audience breadth and the level of assurance on sustainability reporting affect investor and auditor judgments? Experimental evidence on the investor expectation gap” (with Jeffrey Hales, Tamara Lambert, and Rosh Sinha).
• AAA’s 2020 Deloitte Foundation Wildman Medal Award for the paper entitled, “An Investigation of Auditors’ Judgments When Companies Release Earnings Before Audit Completion” (with Patrick Hopkins and Joseph Schroeder).
• AAA Auditing Section 2018 Best Conference Paper Award for the paper entitled “An Investigation of Auditors’ Judgments when Companies Release Earnings before Audit Completion” (with Patrick Hopkins and Joseph Schroeder).
• Recipient of the Center for Audit Quality Research Advisory Board Grant in 2016 for the research proposal “Are Auditors’ Fair Value Judgments Adversely Affected by the Money Illusion?” (with Spencer Anderson, Leslie Hodder, and Patrick Hopkins).
• AJPT Best Paper Award in 2015 for the paper entitled “Audit Quality: Insights from the Academic Literature,” Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory. Awarded for the best paper published in AJPT in the most recent three calendar years.
• Recipient of the Center for Audit Quality Research Advisory Board Grant in 2015 for the research proposal “How Does the Timing of Companies’ Annual Earnings Releases Influence Auditors’ Judgments?” (with Patrick Hopkins and Joe Schroeder).

Selected Publications

• Bhaskar, L. S., Majors, T., and Vitalis, A. (2023). How Does Depletion Interact with Auditors' Skeptical Dispositions to Affect Auditors' Challenging of Managers in Negotiations? Contemporary Accounting Research, 40(4), 2288-2313.
• Bhaskar, L. (2020). How do risk-based inspections impact auditor behavior? Experimental evidence on the PCAOB's process. The Accounting Review, 95(4), 103–126.
• Bhaskar, L. S., Schroeder, J. H., and Shepardson, M. (2019). Integration of Internal Control and Financial Statement Audits: Are Two Audits Better than One? The Accounting Review, 94(2), 53-81.

  Abstract

  Abstract

  The quality of financial statement (FS) audits integrated with audits of internal controls over financial reporting (ICFR) depends upon the quality of ICFR information used in, and its integration into, FS audits. Recent research and PCAOB inspections find auditors underreport existing ICFR weaknesses and perform insufficient testing to address identified risks, suggesting integrated audits – in which substantial ICFR testing is required – may result in lower FS-audit quality than similar FS-only audits. We compare a 2007 – 2013 sample of small, U.S. public company firm-years receiving integrated audits (accelerated filers) to firm-years receiving FS-only audits (non-accelerated filers) and find integrated audits are associated with higher likelihood of material misstatements and discretionary accruals, consistent with lower FS audit quality. We also find evidence of (1) auditor judgment-based integration issues and (2) low-quality ICFR audits harming FS audit quality. Overall, results suggest an important potential consequence of integrated audits is lower FS audit quality.

• Bhaskar, L. S., Hopkins, P. E., and Schroeder, J. H. (2019). An Investigation of Auditors’ Judgments when Companies Release Earnings before Audit Completion. Journal of Accounting Research, 57(2), 355-390.

  Abstract

  Abstract

  The majority of U.S. public companies release annual earnings prior to the completion of audit fieldwork. We investigate this phenomenon in a controlled experiment with audit partners and senior managers. We find that releasing earnings before completion of the audit pressures auditors to adopt the goals of management, thereby reducing the likelihood of post‐announcement audit‐adjustment recommendations. We also examine the effect of audit committee strength in improving auditors’ judgments after annual earnings are released. When audit committees are actively involved in accounting issues and proactively communicating with auditors—characteristics currently lacking in most audit committees—the negative effects on auditors’ judgments are completely mitigated. Our study provides evidence on potential unintended consequences of early release of earnings and the importance of investing in high‐quality audit committees to mitigate adverse effects of client pressures on audit judgment and financial reporting quality.

• Bhaskar, L. S., Krishnan, G. V., and Yu, W. (2017). Debt Covenant Violations, Firm Financial Distress, and Auditor Actions. Contemporary Accounting Research, 34(1), 186-215.
• Knechel, W. R., Krishnan, G. V., Pevzner, M., Shefchik, L. B., and Velury, U. K. (2013). Audit Quality: Insights from the Academic Literature. Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory, 32(Supplement 1), 385-421.

Edited on August 1, 2024