Financial Reporting and Corporate Governance

The aim of the book is to give non-accounting students a basic ability and confidence to read and use financial accounting reports and statements within their business or financial specialties. Many employees in business today are expected to be conversant with reported accounting information as part of their regular job responsibilities. However, they often have little formal training in using such information. For example, in most Western countries, corporate directors and senior executives are legally responsible for the content and quality of publicly reported accounting statements, yet typically have no accounting background or experience to help in the discharge of these responsibilities. The theme of the book is financial reporting as an essential and significant part of corporate governance. There is continuous pressure on companies from government and stakeholder groups to improve their governance and accountability structures and procedures. This book reveals how financial statements and related disclosures assist in good governance and accountability by providing relevant and reliable accounting signals of managerial performance.

Thomas A Lee is Professor Emeritus of Accountancy at the University of Alabama and currently holds Honorary Professorships at the Universities of Dundee, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and St Andrews.  Previous full-time professorships were held at the Universities of Liverpool and Edinburgh.  He has an MSc and DLitt from the University of Strathclyde and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland, the Institute of Taxation, the American Accounting Association, and the British Accounting Association. 

Professor Lee has published numerous teaching and research books, and research and professional papers and other contributions.  He is a member of several editorial boards of leading research journals, and has an international reputation in financial reporting, auditing, accounting history, and accounting professionalization.  He has won numerous awards for his published work and is frequently cited as one of the most published accounting researchers world-wide.  He received the British Accounting Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005 and is listed in publications such as Who’s Who in America and Who’s Who in the World.