Ashley Austin
Assistant Professor of Accounting
Profile
Ashley A. Austin, Ph.D., CPA, is an Assistant Professor at the Robins School of Business. Her research interests involve using experimental methods to understand and improve auditors' judgments and decision making, with a focus on how to motivate auditors to exercise professional skepticism and be alert to fraud throughout the audit. Her current research projects have received an Access to Auditors Award from the Center for Audit Quality (CAQ) and the Auditing Section of the American Accounting Association (AAA), as well as grants from the Institute for Fraud Prevention (IFP) and KPMG. Ashley attended the University of Virginia where she received a B.S. in Commerce with a concentration in accounting, and an M.S. in Accounting. After obtaining her master?s degree, she became a licensed CPA and worked for KPMG in the Richmond, VA office as an associate and then senior associate in the audit practice. When making the switch from practice to academia, she was honored to be recognized as an Accounting Doctoral Scholar by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). In 2016 she graduated from the University of Georgia with her Ph.D. in Accounting.
Grants and Fellowships
Institute of Fraud Prevention (IFP) Research Grant 2015, 2013
KPMG Research Grant 2014
CAQ/AAA Access to Audit Personnel 2013
Awards
Dr. Linda S. Bamber Graduate Scholarship 2015, 2014
AICPA Foundation Accounting Doctoral Scholar 2011 - 2015
Professional Experience
Audit Associate and Senior Audit Associate, KPMG (2008-2011)
Certifications
Certified Public Accountant
Publications
Articles
Austin, A. A., J. S. Hammersley, and M. A. Ricci. 2020. Improving auditors' consideration of evidence contradicting management's estimate assumptions. Contemporary Accounting Research 37 (2): 696-716.
Chapters
"Fraud and Auditors' Responsibility" with Tina D. Carpenter, 2014. Routledge Companion to Auditing. Edited by: David Hay, W. Robert Knechel, and Marleen Willekens. New York, New York. Routledge Publishers.
