August Newsletter

AFAANZ Board Update: Farewells, Welcomes, and New Portfolios

As of 1 August, we farewelled the immediate past President (New Zealand) Nives Botica Redmayne and valued member of the AFAANZ Board, Sumit Lodhia.

Nives has been an AFAANZ Board director from 2022-2024 and served as the New Zealand President from 2024-2026. While on the AFAANZ Board Nives has also worked and contributed to the Education and SIGs portfolios. She has been a dedicated and hard-working director and a President who led with great integrity and leadership. We thank Nives for all of her efforts in building a stronger AFAANZ.

Sumit, who stepped down after an exceptional eight years of service, brought energy and dedication to every portfolio he held - including Conference, Doctoral Symposium and Special Interest Groups (SIGs). We are grateful for Sumit's commitment, leadership, and generosity in supporting the accounting and finance academic community during his time on the board.

Both Nives and Sumit's dedication and service will have a lasting impact on our community, and we are deeply appreciative of the time, energy, and expertise they have contributed. We extend our heartfelt thanks to Nives and Sumit for their outstanding service to AFAANZ.

We are delighted to announce the appointment of Associate Professor Meredith Tharapos and Associate Professor Muhammad Nadeem to the AFAANZ Board, commencing 1 August 2026.

Both Meredith and Nadeem bring a wealth of experience, leadership, and dedication to the accounting and finance academic community, and we look forward to the contributions they will make in helping shape the future of AFAANZ.

With these changes, the updated portfolio responsibilities of the AFAANZ Board members are as follows:

Co-Presidents: Julie Harrison and Yaowen Shan
Treasurer and Research: Michaela Rankin
Education: Meredith Tharapos
Conference: George Wu and Muhammad Nadeem
Doctoral Symposium: Lily Chen & Martin Bugeja
AFDEN & Mentoring: Martin Bugeja
SIGs, Member Services and Social Media Strategies: Nicola Beatson

We look forward to another productive year ahead and thank all Board members—past and present—for their continued contributions to our academic community.

Thank You for Connecting with CPA Australia at AFAANZ 2026

As a proud Platinum Sponsor of the 2026 AFAANZ Conference, CPA Australia was pleased to connect with academics, researchers and industry leaders from across the region to explore the future of accounting education and the profession. A highlight of the conference was CPA Australia's plenary session, Educating Accountants for an AI-Native World: Bridging Research, Curriculum and Practice, presented by Dr Asheley Jones, Chief Learning and Innovation Officer. The session reinforced the importance of collaboration between academia and industry to prepare graduates for a rapidly evolving profession.

Strengthening the Academic Community

Throughout the conference, our team had the opportunity to connect with delegates and discuss initiatives designed to support accounting academics and students. These included:

The CPA Australia Academic Pathway, which recognises the expertise and contribution of academics to the profession.
Opportunities to engage with CPA Australia's Global Academic Community and other valuable resources.
Resources and s u pport available to help prepare students for successful careers in accounting and finance.
The CPA Australia Global Research Perspectives Program, which supports impactful accounting and finance research through grant funding and international collaboration opportunities.

Thank You

Thank you to AFAANZ, the conference organising committee, presenters and delegates for another successful event. We also thank everyone who visited the CPA Australia stand and connected with our team. We look forward to continuing our partnership with AFAANZ and supporting the academic community through ongoing collaboration and engagement.

2026 ASEAN Academic Forum

CPA Australia is pleased to announce registrations are now open for the 2026 ASEAN Academic Forum.

This year's theme, Shaping Accounting and Finance Academic Futures in ASEAN, will bring together academics, industry experts and emerging researchers from across the region. The program will feature keynote presentations, panel discussions and research paper presentations exploring current issues in accounting, finance, sustainability, technology, AI, governance and digital transformation.

As a complimentary online event, the forum provides a valuable opportunity to connect with peers and explore emerging research and trends shaping the future of the profession.

To register your attendance, click on this link
To view the detailed program, click on this link
For more information, please contact Adam Suess adam.suess@cpaaustralia.com.au

Special Interest Group Update: Introducing AIDA

The AFAANZ Data Analytics Special Interest Group is evolving to reflect the growing impact of artificial intelligence on accounting and finance. We are pleased to announce that the SIG will now be known as the Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics (AIDA) Special Interest Group.

To celebrate the launch of AIDA and help shape its future direction, we invite all AFAANZ members to join an online ideation and feedback session. This is an opportunity to share your thoughts on the topics, activities, research collaboration opportunities, professional development initiatives, and networking experiences you would like to see delivered through the newly named SIG.

AIDA SIG Ideation & Feedback Session

Friday 4 September 2026
2:00pm to 3:00pm (AEST)
Online via Zoom – Register HERE

Whether your interests lie in AI, data analytics, or their growing intersection with accounting and finance, we encourage you to be part of the conversation and help shape the future of the AIDA community. We look forward to hearing your ideas.

Dr Sorin Daniliuc, Convenor

MYOB is excited to share its Accounting Industry Monitor 2026

The accounting industry is at an inflection point. The firms pulling ahead aren't just running leaner, they're thinking differently about what an accounting practice actually is.

Our research reveals key shifts defining where the industry is heading:

Technology is both the biggest enabler and the biggest source of friction
Client expectations have been permanently reset toward real-time, proactive service
Talent shortages are driving investment in role design, not just recruitment
Compliance burden remains the structural barrier holding practices back

Download the full report HERE

Join our expert session exploring strategies to scale high-impact oral assessments in large cohorts.

Date and Time: 12pm -1pm AEST, 11 September 2026

Presenters: Amanda White, Judith Cambridge, Suresh Sood

Congratulations to team Authentic Assessment by AccountingPod for making HolonIQ’s annual list of the 50 most promising EdTech startups from Australia & New Zealand.

The Australia & New Zealand EdTech 50 is focused on identifying fast growing and innovative learning, teaching and up-skilling startups from Australia & New Zealand.

Read more HERE

Dr Mary Low, Associate Professor in Accounting at the Waikato Management School, was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) in the 2026 King's Birthday Honours.

Mary was recognized for her outstanding services to accountancy education.

The best finance lessons often come from the stories making headlines.

Ideas in Finance is a blog by Dr. Peter Phillips, author of Financial Institutions, Instruments and Markets (9th Edition), connecting finance theory with today's market events, behavioural insights, and industry trends.

While the blog complements the textbook, it's also a valuable resource for educators looking to bring current events into the classroom and help students connect financial concepts to the real world.

Latest blog: Sulphur has just hit a record high of ~$1,000 a liquid tonne

Most people watch the oil price. But the bigger story is what happens after a barrel of oil is refined. Discover how oil underpins everything from paracetamol and cosmetics to fertilisers, plastics, and asphalt—and why record sulphur prices are sending important signals about the global economy.

Read the latest blog and explore the full Ideas in Finance series:
www.mheducation.com.au/blog-1/tag/Ideas-in-Finance

AFAANZ Doctoral Education Network (AFDEN)

Python Coding for Accounting and Finance Research

presented by Dr Leonard Leye Li

Overview

This course is designed to equip doctoral students and early career researchers in accounting and finance with foundational and practical skills in Python programming, tailored specifically for empirical research. I will cover core programming concepts, data manipulation techniques, data collection from databases and the web, natural language processing techniques, and modern statistical and machine-learning methods using Python. Through hands-on assignments and coding exercises, students will learn how to efficiently collect and clean data, perform statistical testing, build predictive models, and visualize results. The goal is not only to become competent in coding but also to use Python as a tool to enhance the quality and efficiency of academic research.

A distinctive feature of this workshop is that almost every module and session is built around understanding or replicating a published study from a top journal, such as Sloan's (1996, The Accounting Review) accrual anomaly, Kim et al.'s (2016 Journal of Accounting and Economics) option volatility smirk, Obaid and Pukthuanthong's (2022 Journal of Financial Economics) image sentiment, Chen et al.'s (2022, Journal of Accounting Research) earnings forecasting, de Kok's (2025 Management Science) detection of "non-answers" in earnings call, among many others. Emphasis will be placed on applications to real-world accounting and finance data, such as databases in WRDS, SEC filings, and textual data (e.g., 10-Ks and earnings-call transcripts). Thus, the Python skills you learn are grounded in the same empirical research you'll be expected to produce.

The outline below in my GitHub repository provides a detailed description of the material that is covered in the course. The course consists of two 2-hour online modules, which introduce the Python fundamentals for research (Module 1) and the pandas package for handling and analysing data (Module 2), followed by a two-day in-person workshop: Day 1 covers data collection from WRDS, web scraping, and LLM/generative-AI APIs (Modules 3), together with natural language processing and textual analysis (Modules 4), and Day 2 covers modern machine-learning methods for accounting and finance research, including classification, prediction and explainable AI (Module 5).

Modules 1-2: Friday 28 August 2026, four hours, online, 10:00 - 12:00 and 13:00 - 15:00

Modules 3-5: Thursday 3 September 2026, 10:00 - 12:00 and 13:00 - 15:00, and Friday 4 September 2026 10:00 - 12:00 and 13:00 - 15:00 in person (Room TBC at UNSW Sydney)

Course outline is available HERE . Participants must be AFAANZ Individual Members.

This course will be limited to 20 attendees - to register your interest, click HERE .

Hosted by Monash Business School’s Department of Accounting, Monforma is a biennial conference that facilitates the free exchange of ideas amongst academics and promotes and initiates research opportunities in management accounting.

This signature event, to be held over 25–27 November in Melbourne, attracts management accounting academics from all major Australian universities, and from overseas. Its program allows participants to present and receive feedback on their work in a constructive environment, and benefit from diverse presentations which span multiple research paradigms and methods, as well as outstanding networking opportunities.

Paper submissions for Monforma2026 are now being accepted. Submission of full papers is highly encouraged. For more information or to make a submission please visit our website.

EVENT DETAILS

DATES
Wednesday 25 November - Friday 27 November 2026

LOCATIONS
25 November: Monash University Caulfield campus
26 & 27 November: The Skyroom, 30 Collins St, Melbourne

Monforma also provides PhD students and Early Career Researchers (ECR’s) an opportunity to present their early stage research at the PhD/ECR Colloquium, to be held on 25 November prior to the main conference.

For all conference related enquiries please contact the Monforma organising committee: monforma@monash.edu

2026 Massey Sustainable Finance Conference (MSFC2026)

You are warmly welcome to submit research papers for presentations at the 2026 Massey Sustainable Finance Conference that will take place between 07 and 08 December 2026 in Queenstown, New Zealand. All presentations are to be conducted in-person.

The 2026 Massey Sustainable Finance Conference (MSFC2026) will be held between 07 and 08 December 2026, in Queenstown, New Zealand. The Massey Sustainable Finance Cluster at School of Accountancy, Economics and Finance, Massey University aims to bring together academics, practitioners, and policymakers sharing their research findings and discussing current and challenging issues in the crossroad of Finance and Sustainability. The conference is also an ideal occasion for all scholars around the world to present their research, exchange research ideas and experiences, and develop research projects.

You can view all details HERE

IMPORTANT DATES

Submission deadline: 16th August 2026 (11.59pm EST)

Notification of review results: 31st August 2026

Registration deadline: 30th September 2026

Conference event: 07– 08 December 2026

SUBMISSION PLATFORM

Website: https://masseysfc2026.org

We are delighted to share that registrations are now open for the 25th Australasian Centre for Social and Environmental Accounting Research (A-CSEAR) Conference, which will be hosted by the School of Accounting, Governance and Regulation at the University of Sydney on 2 – 4 December 2026.

This year's conference marks the 25th anniversary of A-CSEAR and is centred around the theme:

Accounting and Accountability in Times of Polycrisis

We have an exciting program planned, including outstanding plenary speakers, thought-provoking panel sessions, and the Early Scholars' Colloquium. We would warmly encourage you to attend and join us for what promises to be a wonderful opportunity to engage with colleagues from across the social and environmental accounting community.

We would also be very grateful if you could encourage your PhD students and early career researchers to participate in the Early Scholars' Colloquium and attend the conference. The colloquium provides an excellent opportunity for emerging scholars to receive feedback on their work, build networks, and become part of the A-CSEAR community.

Key dates:

Paper submission deadline: 25 August 2026

Notification of acceptance: 29 September 2026

Registration closes: 6 November 2026

Please see the conference announcement below for further details. The official website for the conference is as follows: 25th Australasian Centre for Social and Environmental Accounting Research (A-CSEAR) Conference 2026 - 25th Anniversary A-CSEAR Conference and Early Scholars’ Colloquium 2026

Call for Papers

Rigorous Accounting Research that Matters Across Borders

The 2027 International Journal of Accounting (TIJA) Symposium will be held jointly with the University of Auckland in New Zealand.

The 2027 TIJA Symposium invites submissions on accounting topics in the broadest sense. The Symposium is open to research across all areas of accounting, auditing, governance, and related disciplines, and to all methodological approaches, provided they are executed to the highest scholarly standards. The 2027 TIJA Symposium theme, Rigorous Accounting Research that Matters Across Borders, reflects TIJA’s commitment to advancing knowledge on issues of societal significance. We particularly welcome work that deepens our understanding of important contemporary challenges facing organizations, markets, institutions, and society. As an international journal, The International Journal of Accounting welcomes contributions from scholars around the world and research that speaks to an international audience, irrespective of the geographical setting from which the evidence is drawn.

Papers submitted to the Symposium are submissions to the journal and will undergo a standard journal review process. Papers accepted for presentation at the Symposium are eligible for publication in regular issues of The International Journal of Accounting subject to satisfactory revisions and a positive review process. The Symposium will contribute to the cost of travel of one author per paper.

Deadline for paper submission: October 15th 2026. All details can be found HERE.

Calling all researchers and practitioners in financial planning!

The Financial Planning Research Journal (FPRJ) is inviting submissions for an exciting Special Issue on "Advancing Financial Resilience to achieve Financial Security and Well-Being Through Financial Planning"

This special issue because important because financial resilience has never been more important. In an environment of economic uncertainty, changing demographics and evolving client needs, high-quality research has a vital role to play in shaping better financial advice, public policy and professional practice.

We welcome submissions from researchers and practitioners across the globe that explore topics such as: