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Ken Bills

Associate Professor
Department: Accounting and Information Systems
Office:
North Business Building
632 Bogue St Rm N217
East Lansing, MI 48824
Phone: (517) 884-1677
Plante Moran Faculty Fellow
Department: Accounting and Information Systems
Areas of Expertise
  • Biography
    Ken Bills is an Associate Professor, Plante Moran Faculty Fellow, and Co-Director of the Accounting PhD Program in the Eli Broad College of Business. Prior to joining the Accounting & Information Systems Department, Ken was an Associate Professor and Doris M. Cook Chair in Accounting at the University of Arkansas and an Assistant Professor at Colorado State University. He graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a PhD in accounting in 2012. Ken teaches advanced auditing in the M.S. in Accounting program and has previously taught audit and assurance services for undergraduates. He is a Certified Public Accountant in Utah and worked as a senior auditor for Tanner in Salt Lake City, Utah prior to joining academia. Ken currently serves as an Editor for Auditing: A Journal of Practice and Theory. His research has been published in The Accounting ReviewContemporary Accounting ResearchReview of Accounting StudiesAccounting, Organizations, and Society, and Auditing: A Journal of Practice and Theory
  • Publications
    Article
    Bills, K. L., R. Cating., C. Lin, and T. A. Seidel. 2023. The spillover effect of SEC comment letters through audit firms. Forthcoming in Review of Accounting Studies.
    Article
    Bills, K. L., M. Harding, T. A. Seidel, and M. Truelson. 2023. The influence of turnover among other top executives on financial reporting risk. Forthcoming at Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory.
    Article
    Prentice, J. D., K. Bills, and G. F. Peters. 2023. The impact of benefit plan audits on the financial statement audit. Accounting Horizons 37 (2): 161-187.
    Article
    Ahn, J., H. Akamah, K. Bills, and K. K. Saunders. 2022. Accounting firm associations and audit firm growth. Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory 41 (3): 45-65.
    Article
    Bills, K. L., C. Hayne, S. E. Stein. 2021. Collaborating with competitors: How do small firm accounting associations and networks successfully manage coopetitive tensions? Contemporary Accounting Research 38 (1): 545-585.
    Article
    Zimmerman, A. B., K. L. Bills, and M. Causholli. 2021. The market premium for audit partners with Big 4 experience. Accounting Horizons 35 (2): 193-217.
    Article
    Bills, K. L., M. Cobabe, J. Pittman, and S. E. Stein. 2020. To share or not to share: The importance of peer firm similarity to auditor choice. Accounting, Organizations and Society 83: 1-24.
    Article
    Bills, K. L., C. Hayne, S. E. Stein. 2018. A field study on small accounting firm membership in associations and networks: Implications for audit quality. The Accounting Review 93 (5): 73-96.
    Article
    Bills, K. L., L. L. Lisic, T. A. Seidel. 2017. Do CEO succession and succession planning affect stakeholders' perceptions of financial reporting risk? Evidence from audit fees. The Accounting Review 92 (4): 27-52.
    Article
    Bills, K. L., L. M. Cunningham, and L. A. Myers. 2016. Small audit firm membership in associations, networks, and alliances: Implications for audit quality and audit fees. The Accounting Review 91 (3): 767-792.
    Article
    Bills, K. L., Q. T. Swanquist, and R. L. Whited. 2016. Growing pains: Audit quality and office growth. Contemporary Accounting Research 33 (1): 288-313.
    Article
    Bills, K. L., and N. M. Stephens. 2016. Spatial competition at the intersection of the large and small audit firm markets. Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory 35 (1): 23-45.
    Article
    Bills, K. L., L. M. Cunningham. 2015. How small audit firm membership in associations, networks, and alliances can impact audit quality and audit fees. Current Issues in Auditing 9 (2): 29-35.
    Article
    Bills, K. L., R. Glasscock, and D. Johnston. 2015. The capital market pricing of suspended exploratory well costs. Oil, Gas & Energy Quarterly 64 (2): 173-182.
    Article
    Bills, K. L., S. E. Stein, and D. C. Jeter. 2015. Auditor industry specialization and evidence of cost efficiencies in homogenous industries. The Accounting Review 90 (5): 1721-1754.
  • Awards
    • Auditing: A Journal of Practice and Theory Outstanding Service Award
      Award for Outstanding Service as a Reviewer for Auditing: A Journal of Practice and Theory
    • Doris M. Cook Chair in Accounting
      Endowed Chair Position in the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas
    • Plante Moran Faculty Fellow
      Endowed Fellowship Position in the Broad College of Business at Michigan State University

Related News:

Broad faculty Judith Whipple, Stephen Schiestel, Anand Nair, Kevin Markle and Stanley Griffis wear academic regalia and pose in front of a Broad College banner at the 2022 Faculty Recognition Dinner and Investiture Ceremony.
This year’s Faculty Recognition Dinner and Investiture Ceremony highlighted faculty endowments from 2020, 2021 and 2022.