Professor Stephen Zeff’s visit

Professor Stephen Zeff, the Herbert S Autrey Professor of Accounting from Rice University in Houston, Texas (USA), visited Melbourne to deliver a business lecture cosponsored by the Department of Accounting and Finance at Monash University, the University of Melbourne and RMIT University. The lecture, "Obstacles to global financial reporting; comparability and convergence" drew an audience from the accounting and finance professions as well as academia. Professor Zeff spoke about the differential business and financial cultures, accounting and auditing traditions and different regulatory cultures and how the clash of these cultures can impede comparability and convergence. He went on to question whether uniformity of method across countries will promote genuine or only superficial comparability.

During his time in Melbourne, Professor Zeff gave presentations and consulted with staff and students at the three universities. The program included a Seminar at Monash University, where Professor Zeff presented his paper entitled, "Endorsement, compliance and enforcement of IFRS: Public Sector v Private Sector tensions in Australia, North America and the EU".

An inductee of the Accounting Hall of Fame at Ohio State University, Professor Stephen Zeff was an Editor of The Accounting Review and past president of the American Accounting Association and a recipient of the AAA's International Accounting Educator Award. Professor Zeff is the author of many books and his most recent publication, "Financial Reporting and Global Capital Markets" was commissioned by the International Accounting Standards Board. A profile of Professor Stephen Zeff can be found athttp://www.ruf.rice.edu/~sazeff/