Who Bears the Blame? The Critical Role of Chief Accounting Officers in Reporting Quality

Summary

This study examines whether financial reporting outcomes are affected by an executive’s role and exposure to workplace gender bias. It focuses on Chief Accounting Officers (CAOs), Chief Financial Officers (CFOs), and Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) at U.S. public companies and tests whether executives facing greater job-loss risk are more likely to avoid reporting failures. Using 16,337 firm-year observations from 2000–2016, the researchers analyze whether executive gender and the gender makeup of leadership teams are linked to nonreliance restatements, which signal material misstatements in previously issued financial statements.