Carolyn Cordery
Adjunct Professor
School of Accounting and Commercial Law
Research Interests
Carolyn's research focuses on not-for-profit organisations' accounting and accountability. She is particularly interested in how these organisations are regulated as well as the impact of their resourcing (by donors/philanthropists, grants, contracts, volunteers, etc.) and the resource constraints that cause many of these organisations to be financially vulnerable. Much of her work is based on international comparisons.
Carolyn also researches public sector audit as a means of accountability. Her Routledge book (with Professor David Hay) on the structures, opportunities and challenges of Supreme Audit Institutions was published in late 2020.
Membership of Professional Bodies
Professionally, Carolyn is a Fellow of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand. She is also a Fellow of CPA Australia.
Biography
Carolyn is Chair of the New Zealand Accounting Standards Board (NZASB), a member of the Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB) and the Practitioner Advisory Group of the IFR4NPO project (International Financial Reporting for Non Profit Organisations).
She has undertaken a number of commissioned research projects, and published work in relevant international journals such as: Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, Accounting History, Financial Accountability and Management, Accounting & Finance, Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Public Management Review and Public Money and Management. Her paper ‘Accounting History and Religion: a review of studies and a research agenda’ (Accounting History, 20(4) pp 430-463) won the 2015 Robert W. Gibson Manuscript Award. Her teaching areas include accounting information systems, financial reporting research methods.
Professional/editorial offices
Carolyn is Joint Editor of Accounting History and Associate Editor of British Accounting Review and Meditari Accountancy Research. She is also on the editorial board of Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal.
Selected publications
Peer-reviewed Journal Articles
| 2024 | Rana, T. & Cordery, C. ‘Experimenting with digitisation for performance and risk management in an NGO – the role of disability ‘marketplace’ reform for accountability to beneficiaries’, British Accounting Review, 56(1), Article# 101176 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0890838923000033?dgcid=coauthor | |
| Cordery, CJ. & Hay, D. ‘Public sector audit: New Public Management influences and eco-system driven reforms’ Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBAFM-07-2023-0124 | ||
Cordery, CJ. & Yates, DG. ‘Regulatory responses to build charity financial resilience: ‘Tow Truck’ or ‘Guardian Angel’?’ Financial Accountability & Management, (forthcoming).http://doi.org/10.1111/faam.12392 | ||
| 2023 | Cordery, CJ. ‘New development: IPSAS-lite—Some reflections and a call for research’. Public Money & Management, 43(7), 704-708. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540962.2023.2220543 | |
| Cordery, CJ, Manochin, MM. & Arora, B. ‘Taking it up a level: public sector audit and the social responsibility to ‘leave no-one behind’. Financial Accountability & Management, 39(2), 304-326, https://doi.org/10.1111/faam.12354 | ||
Grossi, G, Steccolini, I, Adhikari, P, Brown, J, Christensen, M, Cordery, C, Ferry, L, Lassou, P, McDonald III, B, Raudla, R, Sicilia, M, & Vinnari, E. ‘The future of public sector accounting research. A polyphonic debate’, Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management, 20(1), 1-37. https://doi.org/10.1108/QRAM-09-2022-0135 | ||
Cordery, CJ, De Loo, I & Letiche, H. ‘Introduction to Special Issue on Ethnographies of Accountability’ Accounting, Auditing, & Accountability Journal, 36(7/8),697-1706. https://doi.org/10.1108/AAAJ-07-2023-6546 | ||
Cordery, CJ, Goncharenko, G, Polzer, T, McConville, D, Belal, A. ‘NGOs’ performance, governance, and accountability in the era of digital transformation’, British Accounting Review, 55(5). https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0890838923000860 | ||
| Cordery, CJ, Lasse, N, Hay, D. ‘Audits of smaller entities’, International Journal of Auditing, 27(4), 151-152. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/ijau.12327?saml_referrer | ||
| 2022 | Cordery, CJ & Hay, D. ‘Public Sector Audit in Uncertain Times’, Financial Accountability & Management, 38(3), 426-446. | |
McConville, D. & Cordery, C. ‘Not-for-profit performance reporting: A reflection on methods, results and implications for practice and regulation’ VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 33, 1204-1210 | ||
Breen, O & Cordery, C ‘Cross-border tax and philanthropy: avoiding the icebergs in the sea of generosity’ Non Profit Policy Forum, 13(4), 273-305. | ||
2021 | Coronella, S., Antonelli, V., Cordery C. & Verona, R. ‘Fraud and Incompetence: Multiple failures in the Papal States’ Accounting History, 26(4), 552-584. | |
McConville, D., Henderson, E. & Cordery, C. ‘Professional jurisdiction building and the public interest: the accountancy profession and the UK charity sector’ Financial Accountability and Management, 37(3), 344-360. | ||
Hay, D & Cordery C, ‘Evidence about the value of public sector audit to stakeholders’ Public Money and Management, 41(4), 304-314. | ||
Coronella, S., Antonelli, V., Cordery C. and Roberto Verona. ‘Accounting and governance in the final years of the Papal States: dual roles in the papacy of Pope Pius IX (1846-1870)’, British Accounting Review, 53(2), 1-17. | ||
| 2020 | Chatterjee, B., Cordery, C., de Loo, I. & Letiche, H, ‘The spectacle of research assessment systems: insights from New Zealand and the United Kingdom’ Accounting, Auditing, and Accountability Journal, 33(5), 1219-1246. | |
Pothipala, F., Keerasuntonpong, P. & Cordery, C. ‘Alleviating social and economic inequality? The role of Social Enterprises in Thailand’, Journal of Accounting & Organizational Change, 17(1), 50-70. | ||
Hay, D.C. & Cordery, C.J. ‘The future of auditing research in the public sector’, Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management, 323(2), 234-232. | ||
2019 | Cordery, C.J., Clarke, K.J. Sim, D. & Gilchrist, D ‘Volunteering Professionals: spillover and pro-bono work in accounting’ Third Sector Review, 25(2), 91-113. | |
Cordery, C.J., Crawford, L., Breen, O. & Morgan, G. ‘International practices, beliefs and values in not-for-profit financial reporting’ Accounting Forum, 43(1), 16-41. | ||
Cordery, C.J., Belal, A.R. & Thomson, I. ‘NGO Accounting and Accountability: Past, Present and Future’ Accounting Forum, 43(1), 1-15. | ||
Woon, P., Chatterjee, B. & Cordery, C.J. ‘Heritage Reporting by the Australian public sector: possibilities from the concepts of new public governance’ Accounting, Auditing, and Accountability Journal, 32(2), 612-631. | ||
Breen, O., Cordery, C.J., Crawford, L. & Morgan, G. ‘Should NPOs follow international standards for financial reporting? A multinational study of views’ Voluntas, 29(6), 1330-1346. | ||
Cordery, C.J. & Hay, D. ‘Supreme Audit Institutions and public value: demonstrating relevance’ Financial Accountability & Management, 35(2), 128-142. | ||
McPhail, K. & Cordery. C.J. ‘AAAJ Special Issue Retrospective - Theological perspectives on accounting: worldviews don’t change overnight.’ Accounting, Auditing, and Accountability Journal, Vol. 32 No. 8, 2330-2352. | ||
Cordery, C.J. ‘The State Relationship with Religion: an historical analysis of accounting and regulation as disciplinary procedures.’ Accounting History, 24(3), 356-382. | ||
Bui, B., Cordery, C.J. & Wang, A. ‘Risk management in local authorities: an application of Schatzki’s social site ontology’ British Accounting Review, 51(3), 299-315. | ||
Cordery, C. & Sim, D. ‘Regulatory reform: distinguishing between mutual-benefit and public-benefit entities’ Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management, 31(3), 431-450. | ||
2018 | Cordery, C.J. & Sim, D. ‘Dominant stakeholders, activity and accountability discharge in the CSO Sector’ Financial Accountability & Management, 34(1) 77-96. | |
Crawford, L., Morgan, G.G. & Cordery, C.J. ‘Accountability and Not-for-Profit organisations: Implications for developing international financial reporting standards.’ Financial Accountability & Management, 34(2) 181-205. | ||
Keerasuntonpong, P., Cordery, C. ‘How might normative and mimetic pressures improve local government service performance reporting?’ Accounting & Finance, 58(4), 1169-1200. | ||
Cordery, C.J. & Deguchi, M. ‘Charity Registration and Reporting: A cross-jurisdictional and theoretical analysis of regulatory impact’ Public Management Review, 29(9), 1332-1352. | ||
Hay, D. & Cordery, C.J. ‘The Value of Public Sector Auditing: Literature and History’ Journal of Accounting Literature. 40(June), 1-15. | ||
Cordery, C., Sim, D. & Baskerville, R. ‘Football Clubs: learning from resource dependency and club theories’ Third Sector Review, 24(1), 49-70. | ||
McConville, D. & Cordery, C.J. ‘Charity Performance Reporting, regulatory policy and standard-setting’ Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, 37(4), 300-314. | ||
2017 | Cordery, C.J., Smith, K.A. & Berger, H. ‘Future scenarios for the charity sector in 2045’ Public Money & Management, (Special Issue on the Future of Charities), 37(3), 189-196. Also reprinted in the CIPFA Fellows’ Digest 2017. | |
Mack, J., Morgan, G.G., Breen, O., Cordery, C. ‘Financial Reporting by Charities: A Matched Case Study Analysis from Four Countries’ Public Money & Management, (Special Issue on the Future of Charities), 37(3), 165-172. | ||
Cordery, C. J., Sim, D., & van Zijl, T. ‘Differentiated Regulation: the case of charities’ Accounting and Finance, 57(1), 131-164. | ||
Cordery, C.J. & Howell, B. ‘Ownership, Control, Agency and Residual Claims in Healthcare: Insights on cooperatives and non-profit organizations’ Annals of Public & Cooperative Economics, 88(3) 403-424. | ||
Peace, C., Mabin, V. & Cordery, C.J. ‘Due diligence: a panacea for health and safety risk governance?’ Policy and Practice in Health and Safety, 3996, 1-17. | ||
2016 | Cordery, C. J. & Davies, J. ‘Professionalism versus amateurism in grass-roots sport: associated funding needs’ Accounting History, 21(1) 98-123. (second most downloaded article in Accounting History in 2018) | |
Cordery, C. J., Fowler, C.J. & Morgan, G.G. ‘The development of incorporated structures for charities: a 100 year comparison of England and New Zealand’ Accounting History, 21(2/3) 281-303. | ||
Cordery, C.J. & Simpkins, K. ‘Financial reporting standards for the public sector: New Zealand's twenty first century experience’ Public Money and Management (Special Issue on Public Sector Reporting), 36(3) 209-218. | ||
Sinclair, R. & Cordery C.J. ‘Bridging the gap between academia and standard setters’, Pacific Accounting Review, 28(2) 135-152. | ||
2015 | Fowler, C.J. & Cordery, C.J. ‘From community to public ownership: A tale of changing accountabilities’ Accounting, Auditing, and Accountability Journal, 28(1) 128-153. | |
Sutton, D., van Zijl, T. & Cordery, C. ‘The purpose of financial reporting: the case for coherence in the Conceptual Framework and standards’ Abacus, 15(1) 116-141. | ||
Cordery, C.J., Smith, K.A. & Proctor-Thomson, S. ‘Staff and Volunteers’ Perceptions of the Volunteer Programme: an alternative use of the Net Benefits Index’ Voluntary Sector Review, 6(2) 173-191. | ||
Cordery, C. J., ‘Accounting History and Religion: a review of studies and a research agenda’ Accounting History, 20(4) pp 430-463. Won the 2015 Robert W. Gibson Manuscript Award | ||
2014 | Mourey, D., Eynaud, P. & Cordery, C. ‘The impact of governmental policy on the effective operation of CSOs: a French case study’ Nonprofit Policy Forum, 5(1), 169-194. | |
Cordery, C.J. & Sim, D. ‘Cash or Accrual: What basis for small and medium-sized charities’ accounting?’ Third Sector Review 20(2) 79-105. | ||
2013 | Cordery, C.J., Proctor-Thomson, S. & Smith, K.A. ‘Towards communicating the value of volunteers: lessons from the field’ Public Money and Management, 33(1), 47-54. | |
Cordery, C.J. ‘Does public services accounting belong in the curriculum?’ Pacific Accounting Review, 25(1), 101-116. | ||
Cordery, C.J., Sim, D. & Baskerville, R.F. ‘Three models, one goal: assessing financial vulnerability in New Zealand amateur sports clubs’ Sport Management Review, 16(2), 186-199. | ||
Howell, B. & Cordery, C.J. ‘From Providers to Primary Health Organizations: An Institutional Analysis of Nonprofit Primary Health Care Governance in New Zealand’, Healthcare & Nonprofit Organizations Section of the Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management, 25(1), 4-41. | ||
Cordery, C.J. ‘Regulating small and medium charities: does it improve transparency and accountability?’, (Special Issue ‘Charity Accounting, Reporting and Regulation’) Voluntas, 24(3), 831-851. | ||
Cordery, C.J. & Morgan, G.G. ‘Special Issue on Charity Accounting, Reporting and Regulation’ (Editorial) Voluntas, 24(3), 757-759. | ||
Cordery, C. and Sinclair, R. ‘Measuring performance in the Third Sector’ (Editorial in Special Issue: Measuring Performance in the Third Sector) Qualitative Research in Accounting and Management, 10(3/4), 196-212. | ||
2012 | Cordery, C.J. ‘Funding Social Services: An historical analysis of responsibility for citizens’ welfare in New Zealand’, Special Issue ‘Accounting and the State’ in Accounting History, 17(3), 463-480. | |
Cordery, C.J. ‘“Procurement Approaches”: Why are there Differences Among Government Agencies in how they Contract for Services from Third Sector Organisations?’ Third Sector Review, 18(2), 75-97. | ||
2011 | Cordery, C.J., Baskerville, R.F. & Porter, B.A. ‘Constructing a non-profit organisation’ Financial Accountability and Management, 27(4) 363-384. | |
Cordery, C.J., Fowler, C.J. & Mustafa, K.M. ‘A solution looking for a problem: factors associated with the non-adoption of XBRL’ Pacific Accounting Review, 23(1), 69-88. | ||
Cordery, C.J., Proctor-Thomson, S. & Smith, K.A. ‘Valuing volunteer contributions to charities’ Public Money and Management (themed issue on Charities: accounting, accountability and governance), 31(3), 193-200. | ||
Cordery, C.J. and Baskerville, R.F. ‘Charity transgressions, trust and accountability’ Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 22(2), 197-213. | ||
2010 | Cordery, C., & Tan, L. ‘A survey of the affects of direct financial costs in volunteering’ Third Sector Review, 16(1), 105-124. | |
Cordery, C.J., Baskerville, R.F. and Porter, B.A. ‘Control or collaboration? Contrasting accountability relationships in the primary health care sector’ Accounting, Auditing, and Accountability Journal, 23(6), 793-813. | ||
Sutton, D.B. Baskerville, R.F. & Cordery, C.J. ‘A Development agenda, the donor dollar, and voluntary failure’ Accounting, Business and Financial History, 20(2), 209-229. | ||
Cordery, C. & Narraway, G. ‘Valuing Volunteers: expanding the Relevance and Reliability Debate’, Australian Accounting Review, 20(4), 334-342. | ||
2009 | Narraway G. & Cordery C. ‘Volunteers, valuable but invisible to accountants?’ Third Sector Review, 15(1), 11-29. | |
Cordery, C.J. ‘A Research Note: Exploration of Political Accountability in Primary Health Organisations’ International Journal of Public Policy (IJPP) (Special Issue on Public Sector Accountability and Multiple Network Governance), 4(3/4), 296-313. | ||
2008 | Cordery C. & Narraway G. ‘Conceptual Challenges displayed through the Financial Reporting of Early Childhood Education Centres’ Accounting and the Public Interest, 8, 66-76. | |
2007 | Cordery, C.J. & Baskerville, R.F. ‘Charity Financial Reporting regulation: a comparative study of the United Kingdom and New Zealand.’ Accounting History, 12(1), 7-27. | |
Cordery, C. ‘NAB’s ‘annus horribilis’’: fraud and corporate governance’ Australian Accounting Review, 17(2), 62-70 | ||
2006 | Cordery C. 'Hallowed treasures: sacred, secular and the Wesleyan Methodists in New Zealand 1819-1840', Accounting History (Special Issue: Accounting and Religion in Historical Perspective), 11(2), 199-220. |
Books & Book Chapters
| 2024 | Letiche, H., de Loo, I., Cordery, CJ. & Moriceau, J-L. Ethnographies of Accountability, Routledge, Abingdon, Oxon and New York, NY. |
Cordery, CJ. ‘Framing the sacred and secular (in search of Justice and Righteousness): chaplaincy in an English University’ Chapter 5 in Ethnographies of Accountability (Letiche, H., de Loo, I., Cordery, CJ. & Moriceau, J-L. Eds.) Routledge, Abingdon, Oxon and New York, NY. (forthcoming) | |
| 2023 | Breen, O., Cordery, C. & McConville, D. ‘A Window on the World of Nonprofit Accounting Research’ Chapter 9 in Research Handbook in Nonprofit Accounting (Tinkelman, D. & Parsons, L. Eds.) Edward Elgar Publishing, Cheltenham, UK & Northampton, MA. pp.157-172 |
| Cordery, CJ. & Manochin, MM. ‘Polycentric governance and SDG commitments: public sector responses in challenging times’ chapter 17 in The Routledge Handbook of Public Sector Accounting (Rana, T. & Parker, L. Eds.) (in press) | |
Cordery, C. ‘Accounting practices, rules and standards’ pp.7-10 and ‘Fraud and corruption’ pp. 253-255 in Elgar Encyclopedia of Nonprofit Management, Leadership and Governance (Kearns, K.P., Wang, W. Eds.) Edward Elgard Publishing, Cheltenham, UK & Northampton, MA, USA | |
| 2022 | Cordery, C., Hay, D. and Cox, R. ‘Local Government Auditing – New Zealand’ Chapter in Practices in Local Government: An International Comparison (Ferry, L. & Ruggiero, P. Eds.) pp.103-110. Emerald Public Service Accounting and Accountability Book Series Emerald Publishing Limited doi:10.1108/978-1-80117-085-720221011. |
| Cordery, C. & McConville, D. ‘Annual Reporting in voluntary organisations: Opportunities for research’ Chapter 10, Researching Voluntary Action (Dean, J. and Hogg, E. Eds.) Policy Press, Bristol pp. 110-121. | |
2020 | Cordery C.J. and Hay, D. Public Sector Audit, Routledge, UK. |
Zeff, S., Fower, C., Cordery, C. Celebrating One Hundred Years: Accounting and Commercial Law at Victoria University of Wellington (1912-2011 and beyond), Yourbooks, Wellington. | |
2017 | Cordery, C.J. ‘Risk in government outsourcing and risk-sharing: rhetoric or reality?’, Chapter 7, The Routledge Companion to Accounting and Risk (Woods, M. and Linsley, P. Eds.) pp. 82-97. |
2016 | Mook, L., Rajcsanyi-Molnar, M., Cordery, C.J., Nowland-Foreman, G., Smith, D.H. and Wellens, L. ‘Accountability and Social Accounting in Associations’, Chapter 42, The Palgrave Handbook Of Volunteering Civic Participation And Nonprofit Associations, Palgrave Macmillan, UK. |
2011 | Van Peursem, J., Pratt, M. and Cordery, C. Auditing: Theory and Practice in New Zealand. 6th Ed. Pearson. ISBN 9781442543676 |