The staff at the Department is involved in research in areas such as: Financial accounting, management accounting, non-business accounting, auditing and law. In addition, the history of business administration is an important research topic at the Department. The applied research done by the Department's staff is often channeled through the Foundation for Research in Economics and Business Administration (SNF).

For many decades the Department has been involved in the development of good financial reporting in Norway. This activity has taken place through teaching, writing textbooks, committee work, expert advice to the government - all based on theoretical as well as more applied research projects. Since the Department is offering the leading graduate program in auditing in Norway, the effect of these activities has direct consequences for the development of Norwegian accounting and auditing practice. This effect is further stressed by the Department's close contact with the accounting profession and its representation in the Norwegian Accounting Standards Board (NRS).

It is an issue of great importance to combine the international development within the field of accounting to the culture and business structures in Norway. This piece of balancing work is more than a translation function of international accounting standards. An important task during the most recent years has been to adjust the Norwegian accounting law to EU directives and the development in international standard-setting. Here, the Department's staff is extensively engaged. The Department will continue to do research in the field of standard-setting and development of good accounting practice in Norway.

Staff members have contributed internationally in several areas of financial accounting research, for instance the understanding of the usefulness of accounting information when principals control agents (stewardship accounting). In recent years the research in financial accounting and financial statement analysis has focused on topics such as

From the traditional cost accounting with managerial applications primarily in the manufacturing area, management accounting has been extended in both richness and applications. "New" areas such as balanced scorecard, activity based costing, total quality management, and just in time, have added to the dimensions of management accounting. Also, one is to a much greater extent aware of the possible behavioral consequences of management reports and the applications of such reports. The research methods and principles of management accounting are also increasingly being applied in the government sector, such as hospitals and the municipal school system. In 2000, the research in management accounting has focused on such topics as

Together with politicians and practitioners from the City of Bergen, a research group at the Department designed and implemented in 1984 the first annual report for a local government in Norway. The research group also participated in the preparation of the three succeeding annual reports. Later, an increasing number of Norwegian local governments have followed the City of Bergen and have started to prepare annual reports. A number of research reports where published as a result of the "Bergen Project", including four doctoral theses and a number of articles published internationally. In 2000, research in non-business accounting has focused on cameral accounting, which is a particular accounting model developed for governmental organizations. Cameral accounting was originally developed in Austria and Germany, and it has influenced governmental accounting in many other countries, including Norway.

The collaborative process of auditing research, practice and education is a joint and interdependent effort to address the challenges and needs of students, the accounting profession and the general public. Thus, the staff at the Department seeks to produce high quality auditing research, to interact with the auditing profession and to perform a high quality education of auditors. In recent years the research has focused on areas such as

The research effort has resulted in a number of publications, international and national, in research as well as professional journals. The auditing program has benefited from the research, as it has also been used to develop classroom case materials that provide students with rich and realistic experiences in applying their knowledge. Besides giving speeches and presentation to professional audiences, the staff at the Department participates actively in the Norwegian Auditing Standards Committee and the Assurance Committee of the Norwegian Institute of Public Accountants.

In addition to contributing in academic law journals, members of the Department have traditionally done much work making text books for the law courses offered in the School's various programs - and hence contributed to the understanding of the Norwegian Law. An important task during the most recent years, has been to adjust Norwegian accounting law to EU directives and development in international standard-setting. In this work, the Department's staff has been extensively engaged. In 2000, work has been done in updating the textbooks in tax law and law for economists.