The committee is pleased to announce that Professor Alan J. Richardson is the 2019 recipient of the George Baxter Award for Outstanding Contributions to the CAAA.

Professor Richardson has been a dedicated contributor to the Association, supporting the CAAA throughout his career, starting in 1985. Alan is a life member of the CAAA since 2004. He served on the Board of Directors on two occasions (1997-2001 and 2013-2016) and was president of the CAAA in 2015. Alan received the L.S. Rosen Outstanding Accounting Educator Award in 2010 for his excellence in teaching, publication and education innovations.

Listing Alan’s impressive contribution to the CAAA is not an easy task. Alan has chaired many CAAA committees, the Canadian Accounting Hall of Fame task force, Nominations Committee (2015-2016), Haim Falk award Committee (1998), Rosen Award Committee (2011), and the CAAA Annual Conference (1991 and 1992). Alan also served on many other CAAA committees - the Executive Committee (2013-2015), Human Resources Committee (2013-2015), CAAA/CGA Liaison Committee (1991-1994), Editor-in-Chief Selection Committees (Canadian Accounting Perspectives 2004 and Contemporary Accounting Research 2012/2013), and Executive Director Search Committee (2014). He acted as a Contemporary Accounting Research ad hoc reviewer (1987-1992), is an editorial board member since 1992, and is currently a CAR Consulting Editor.

The year when Alan was president-elect was challenging, as one of the board members comments: “The executive director left CAAA and a replacement was needed on short notice. Alan accepted this challenge and stepped into the role to ensure that the CAAA could continue to meet its obligations to provide members with its journals, other publications and conferences.” We are all in debt to Alan for this. A previous George Baxter Award recipient mentions: “I have known Alan for more than 30 years, during which I have been very aware of and impressed by his continuous, invaluable contribution to the Canadian Academic Accounting Association in various capacities over such an extended period.”

Another of Alan’s major contributions to the CAAA was being the founding Editor of Canadian Accounting Perspectives (now Accounting Perspectives) (2001-2004). Alan is a strong supporter of the CAAA journals; he has published 8 articles in Accounting Perspectives, and 4 in Contemporary Accounting Research.

The Award Committee unanimously determined that Professor Alan Richardson more than meets the criteria of exemplary contributions to the CAAA over a sustained period of time to deserve the 2019 George Baxter Award.

The 2019 L.S. Rosen Award Committee is pleased to recognize James Barnett from the University of Waterloo as the recipient of the 2019 L.S. Rosen Outstanding Educator Award.  The L.S. Rosen award is the CAAA's foremost award for recognizing an educator whose body of work and contribution to accounting education in Canada exemplifies excellence.  Jim is an extremely deserving recipient.  Throughout his 29-year teaching career Jim has consistently made significant and sustained contributions that have improved accounting education in Canada.  Jim has had a significant impact on undergraduate and graduate tax education through his excellent and award-winning teaching at the University of Waterloo. His impact has extended far beyond the classrooms at Waterloo through the work he has done over 15 years as a co-author of the textbook, Introduction to Federal Income Taxation in Canada.  Generations of Canadian accountant students have learned from and relied upon this invaluable resource.

Jim’s commitment to graduate level education in taxation is demonstrated in his efforts to initiate and develop Waterloo’s Master of Taxation program and serve as the program’s first director. A program that innovatively weaves contributions from academics and practitioners to provide excellence in higher level education and remains a pinnacle program for graduate level tax across the country.  Jim’s extensive service to accounting education within the profession led to him being recognized with an FCPA.  His contributions to taxation education also extend to professional education and Jim has made significant contributions to CPA Canada’s In-Depth Tax Program. Recently Jim chaired CPA Canada’s Taxation Competency Map Committee overseeing the revision of tax education for the profession. Work that will continue to shape taxation education for years to come.

Jim’s accomplishments are many but, perhaps most impressive, is that despite his work leading countless committees and programs,  Jim’s students made it clear that his concern for and attention to  their interests and educational needs remained first and foremost throughout his career. One former student noted that Jim’s trademark phrase when answering students’ hypothetical tax questions was “it depends”. They explained how this challenged them to think critically, and how his lectures sparked interest and inspired students. There is no “it depends” when considering Jim for this award – he is truly an outstanding educator and wonderful role model.

The award committee – comprising Devan Mescall, Phyo Hlaing, and Chris Burnley – recognizes Jim’s exceptional contributions to Canadian accounting education and is pleased to recommend James Barnett for the 2019 L.S. Rosen Outstanding Educator Award.

The committee is pleased to announce that Professor Yves Gendron has been selected as the 2019 recipient of the Haim Falk Award for Distinguished Contribution to Accounting Thought. The Haim Falk Award Committee received a comprehensive package in support of his nomination that included several letters from a range of junior and senior colleagues, including three former winners of this award and numerous editors of leading journals.

Professor Gendron has an impressive publication history that spans a variety of areas including the commercialization of the accounting profession, corporate governance, board functioning, and methods and epistemology in accounting research. The Award Committee was very impressed with the depth of Professor Gendron’s research contributions. Crucially, his research has given much needed visibility and rigour to qualitative research. Prof Gendron has published at a prolific rate with over 60 peer reviewed articles and 16 “top-tier” articles using the Financial Times 50 classification. In addition, his research has been impactful with his articles having almost 5000 google scholar citations, including 16 articles with over 100 citations. In addition to his own research, Professor Gendron has been a mentor for an entire generation of accounting scholars, either as a doctoral advisor or as an editor. His research has also had considerable impact on the practice of auditing.

Excerpts from these letters illustrate his important contributions to accounting thought:

“Professor Gendron contributed to the emergence of a thought-provoking literature aimed at documenting and theorizing the rise of commercialism in the field of public accounting. Whether through the analysis of the identity of former members of Arthur Andersen, the organizational context of professionalism, the erosion of accountancy’s jurisdictional boundaries, the making of client-acceptance decisions, or the colonization of the profession by marketing expertise; the empirical depth and variety underlying Professor Gendron’s work is remarkable.” Professor Steven Salterio and Professor Bertrand Malsch, Queens University.

“Yves Gendron has conducted innovative and path breaking work that emphasizes the power and politics of audit practice, and its intersection with governance. His commitment to analysis of the ethical and moral dilemmas inherent in the audit task is a major contribution to accounting scholarship”. David Cooper, Emeritus Professor, University of Alberta.

“He has published more than a dozen articles on the topic of auditing and the accounting profession in pinnacle accounting journals such as Accounting, Organizations and Society, Contemporary Accounting Research, and the Journal of Business Ethics. These articles, in my opinion, have pushed forward our understandings of auditing practice, especially with regards to the intersection among auditors, audit committees and management.” Professor Dean Neu, York University.

“I would be hard pressed to think of more than a handful of individuals who through the years have influenced the field of accounting in North America, Australia and Europe more than Yves has. In essence, Yves has inspired and trained a generation of academics to approach qualitative research with the same rigour as one would engage in any other approach to research. He leaves a legacy of innovative scholarship and superb mentorship that is developing a generation of scholars to conduct rigorous qualitative research.” Professor Jeffrey Cohen, Boston College.

The committee unanimously concluded that Yves Gendron is a highly deserving recipient of the 2019 Haim Falk Award for Distinguished Contribution to Accounting Thought.  

Teaching fundamental accounting concepts to business students not seeking a career in accounting has always posed a pedagogical challenge to educators. How do we interest the leaders of the future in reading and analysing financial statements, and how do we help them understand that accounting is the language of the business world? This project was conceived to interest students in accounting: an online game in which students use fun activities, on their own schedule, to develop their understanding. The central tenet remains unchanged: teach the business student to read and analyse financial statements and make them aware of the importance of accounting. The game maximises technological tools to make theoretical concepts enjoyable, and to harness the intrinsic motivation of students – and the predisposition of humans – to play.

This activity was developed to help students with their challenges in understanding the different concepts of cost accounting, including the difference between direct and indirect costs, overhead cost, and variance analysis. The main goal was to create a hands-on activity that simulates the production of a product and makes this experience memorable to students. The authors developed a game in which a team of students “build” a paper house, addressing three learning outcomes: determining the cost of products in a manufacturing/job cost environment under the traditional costing method; Preparing and using budgets; and preparing a relevant variance analysis for material and labor costs.

Accounting Challenge (ACE) is the first mobile‐gaming app for learning accounting, made freely available in iPhone/iPad and Android versions. It now has over 34,000 downloads, spanning 90 countries. ACE is used to support student learning in the introductory Financial Accounting and Management Accounting courses in the Bachelor of Accountancy and Bachelor of Business Management degree programs at Singapore Management University (SMU). ACE aims to enhance learning of accounting outside the classroom by engaging students to play and learn accounting on the go, anywhere, at any time. It combines mobile learning and game‐based learning to generate interest and motivation for digital‐native students.