Accounting - Costello

Given today’s short attention spans, how much could it really hurt a business to get caught attempting to manipulate their reputation on a platform like Yelp? George Mason University accounting professor Yi Cao has done the math, and it isn’t pretty for businesses willing to cross ethical lines.

What is the role of professional judgment and oversight in AI-assisted audits? How is private equity investment altering the management and strategic direction of accounting firms? Can regulators close the tax gap for cryptocurrencies and borderless digital assets and ensure enforcement? The 2026 Accounting Horizons Conference, hosted by the Costello College of Business at George Mason University, provided a platform to examine answers to questions shaping the accounting industry’s future.

When crowdfunding platform Kickstarter started allowing creators to put environmental pledges front and center, George Mason University accounting professor Yi Cao saw a unique opportunity. His co-authored research shows how “going green” turned out to be an impactful business choice with financial, operational and, yes, environmental implications for entrepreneurs and customers.

In his award-winning dissertation, now a published paper, George Mason University accounting professor Steven Maex reveals that privacy laws such as the European Union’s GDPR can spur firms to improve how they manage one of their most valuable assets: their data.

The SEC’s communications with equity issuers are a potential treasure trove for info-hungry investors, according to research by accounting professor David Koo. But they are not always getting into the public eye early enough to make a difference.

Co-owned companies are more likely to use the same audit firm. This has positive implications for institutional investors and the market as a whole, according to Young Hoon Kim, assistant professor of accounting at Costello.

Bridging the information gap between HQ and the local level is one of the main challenges for consolidated companies. In a forthcoming paper in Management Science, Barbara Su, assistant professor of accounting at Costello, explores how multi-bank holding companies rely on internal accounting information as a complement to financial performance, to help them make intramural investment decisions.

A George Mason University accounting professor explains how information on the behavior of companies that have been under SEC investigation reveals a variety of changes and opens the way for a step forward in accounting research.

Managers’ attempts to distract investors from bad news have serious implications for market efficiency.

Taxing “book” income may result in worse information for shareholders and creditors.