Internal Accounting Hiring and Operational Efficiency: Evidence from the Implementation of ASC 842
研究了ASC 842租赁会计准则实施后，企业增加内部会计招聘如何提升租赁管理效率，发现招聘能改善财务报告质量并带来运营效率提升，尤其对成本节约机会大的企业效果更明显。
ABSTRACT ASC 842 requires firms to collect and analyze lease contracts for accounting classification, measurement, and recognition purposes. Leveraging the implementation of ASC 842, I examine firms’ internal accounting hiring and its impact on the efficiency of lease management. I find that the standard prompts lease-intensive firms to significantly increase their internal accounting hiring, which enhances lease-related financial reporting quality. Moreover, firms that increased accounting hiring achieve greater efficiency in managing leases than those that implemented the standard without such hiring. This efficiency gain is incremental to improvements from concurrent information system upgrades and is more pronounced in firms with greater cost-saving opportunities and those that hire more experienced accountants. These results highlight that the benefits of internal accounting hiring extend beyond financial reporting, improving firms’ operational decisions.