On the afternoon of November 28, 2019, Zhang Xihui, Professor of Accounting at Drexel University KPMG, was invited by our school to give an academic report titled "Some Research Directions in Managerial Accounting & Auditing" at Y320, Yifu Building, Yanshan Campus. The lecture was hosted by Wang Aiguo, Dean of the School of Accounting. Some teachers of the School of Accounting, as well as some masters and doctoral students of the 2018 and 2019 levels listened to the lecture. Professor Zhang Xihui has taught at the University of Texas at Dallas and National Chengchi University, and has high academic attainments in the field of auditing and management accounting.

Professor Zhang first introduced the differences between assistant professors and associate professors in terms of research purposes, research topics, types of journals published, and energy allocation. Then Professor Zhang took management accounting as an example to explain to us the discrepancy between mainstream accounting research and actual practice. In terms of academic research methods, Professor Zhang demonstrated four research methods, and pointed out that empirical research occupies a mainstream position in both academic fields and practice. In terms of valuable research, Professor Zhang pointed out that when cognition and practice are different, Academic research is valuable.

Later, Professor Zhang explained some research directions about future management accounting and auditing. In the field of management accounting, there may be the following research directions: whether customer profitability analysis affects customer relationship management practices, the impact of new management systems on performance, performance compensation and benchmarks, etc. In the field of auditing, there may be the following research directions: audit quality, audit fees, audit independence, earnings management and corporate governance, etc. Professor Zhang reminded students to pay special attention to causal research, variable selection, external validity, and statistical validity.

At the end of the lecture, Professor Zhang enthusiastically answered questions for students and teachers. The successful holding of this lecture broadened the horizons of graduate students and allowed students to raise their understanding of management accounting and auditing to a new level.