Financial Reporting Outcomes under Rules-Based and Principles-Based Accounting Standards

2012 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 681-705 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denton L. Collins ◽  
William R. Pasewark ◽  
Mark E. Riley
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Experimental Work ◽  
Strong Evidence ◽  
Accounting Standards ◽  
Matched Sample ◽  
Accounting Standard ◽  
Lease Accounting ◽  
The U.S ◽  
Archival Study

SYNOPSIS: This archival study addresses whether the presence or absence of “bright lines” in a lease accounting standard influences the classification of leases as capital or operating. To the best of our knowledge, our study is the first archival research to address the association between lease classification decisions and the use of U.S. GAAP and IFRS lease accounting standards. We examine firms' lease classification decisions using 2007–2009 data from a matched sample of members of the Fortune Global 500 that report under U.S. GAAP and IFRS. Consistent with experimental work by Agoglia et al. (2011), we find strong evidence that U.S. GAAP firms using a lease standard containing bright-line guidance (i.e., ASC 840) are more likely to classify leases as operating than IFRS firms adhering to a lease accounting standard that lacks the bright lines of the U.S. standard (i.e., IAS 17). Also consistent with Agoglia et al. (2011), we find little evidence of increased dispersion accompanying financial reporting under IFRS. In fact, we find some evidence suggesting the use of IFRS may actually lead to lower dispersion in reporting outcomes.

Judgments of auditors on “principles” versus “guidance” in lease accounting standard

2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 362-386 ◽  
Author(s):  
Noriyuki Tsunogaya ◽  
Satoshi Sugahara ◽  
Parmod Chand
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Accounting Standards ◽  
Final Decision ◽  
Accounting Standard ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Financial Condition ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Lease Accounting ◽  
Positive Effect ◽  
Quasi Experiment

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of a principles-based accounting standard with guidance (principles-with-guidance approach), stringency (conservativeness) of numerical thresholds, and incentives (high or low debt-equity ratio environment) on the judgments of Japanese auditors in a lease accounting setting. Design/methodology/approach To reflect Japanese auditors’ judgmental features, this study adopts a quasi-experiment that uses both manipulation for different environments (i.e. stable or critical financial condition) and perceptions about the importance of “principles” and “guidance” in different types of lease accounting standards (i.e. substantially all, approximately 90 and 88 percent). Findings “Principle” (substantially all) has a positive effect, while “guidance” (approximately 90 percent) has a negative effect on encouraging Japanese auditors to capitalize lease transactions. “More stringent guidance” (approximately 88 percent) has a positive effect only when clients are in critical financial conditions. Other findings indicate that judgments of Japanese auditors are strongly influenced by their colleagues’ perceived judgments. Originality/value This is the first quasi-experiment to examine Japanese auditors’ professional judgments using a lease accounting setting. To find out whether Japanese auditors interpret and apply International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in the similar manner as their counterparts in other countries will be important when Japanese policymakers make their final decision regarding the adoption of IFRS. The discussion and findings also contribute to the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) with regard to enhancing global convergence of financial reporting.

scholarly journals Revising the Conceptual Framework of the International Standards: IASB Proposals Met with Support and Skepticism

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher W. Hoffman
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Accounting Standards ◽  
International Standards ◽  
Financial Accounting ◽  
International Accounting Standards ◽  
Financial Accounting Standards Board ◽  
Accounting Standard ◽  
Other Comprehensive Income ◽  
The U.S

This article analyzes the current financial reporting issue regarding the updates proposed by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) to the Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting. Since accounting standard-setters have embraced the notion of concepts as a guide and foundation to developing accounting standards, the IASB has concluded that there should be more importance place on developing a solid framework. Based on current literature and the fact that the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) in the U.S. has a solid framework in place, the IASB has designed proposed updates to their framework and requested comments from the general public regarding those updates. This article evaluates the comments made by 72 respondents and tabulates the responses based on agree, disagree, or no comment. These results concluded that 66% of the responses were positive toward the updates, but 29% were negative. The disagreement was focused around four main topics: (1) prudence; (2) statement of profit or loss; (3) statement of other comprehensive income; and (4) rebuttable presumption for recycling. The IASB hopes to assimilate, deliberate, and disseminate the suggestions, comments, and the updates in 2016.

Impairment reversals: unbiased reporting or earnings management

2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 245-271 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tongyu Cao ◽  
Hasnah Shaari ◽  
Ray Donnelly
Keyword(s):  
Earnings Management ◽  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Accounting Standards ◽  
Financial Accounting ◽  
Financial Accounting Standards Board ◽  
Reporting Standard ◽  
Accounting Standard ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Study Support ◽  
A Company

Purpose This paper aims to provide evidence that will inform the convergence debate regarding accounting standards. The authors assess the ability of impairment reversals allowed under International Accounting Standard 36 but disallowed by the Financial Accounting Standards Board to provide useful information about a company. Design/methodology/approach The authors use a sample of 182 Malaysian firms that reversed impairment charges and a matched sample of firms which chose not to reverse their impairments. Further analysis examines if reversing an impairment charge is associated with motivations for and evidence of earnings management. Findings The authors find no evidence that the reversal of an impairment charge marks a company out as managing contemporaneous earnings. However, they document evidence that firms with high levels of abnormal accruals and weak corporate governance avoid earnings decline by reversing previously recognized impairments. In addition, companies that have engaged in big baths as evidenced by high accumulated impairment balances and prior changes in top management, use impairment reversals to avoid earnings declines. Research limitations/implications The results of this study support both the informative and opportunistic hypotheses of impairment reversal reporting using Financial Reporting Standard 136. Practical implications The results also demonstrate how companies that use impairment reversals opportunistically can be identified. Originality/value The results support IASB’s approach to the reversal of impairments. They also provide novel evidence as to how companies exploit a cookie-jar reserve created by a prior big bath opportunistically.

scholarly journals Do Common Features Exist Among Countries That Locally Adopt IFRS?

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Felski
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Previous Analysis ◽  
Regression Analyses ◽  
Accounting Standard ◽  
Common Features ◽  
Financial Reporting Standards ◽  
Ifrs Adoption ◽  
Several Variables ◽  
Discriminant Analyses

Although International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) have clearly emerged as the preferred global accounting standard, previous studies of IFRS have mainly focused on post-adoption outcomes. The few IFRS adoption-focused studies are either limited in scope or are based on outdated versions of IFRS.  This paper fills these holes in the literature by offering a comprehensive analysis of IFRS adoption: first, through an expanded classification system which includes local adoption as a distinct form of IFRS adoption and then through ANOVA, discriminant analyses and regression analyses. Several variables were identified as significant drivers of adoption status, one being the Asian region which consistently emerged as a powerful driver of adoption type suggesting previous analysis of IFRS diffusion is incomplete, missing this key region variable. This expanded typology suggests that the system of country classification of required/not required currently used is inadequate in capturing how IFRS is adopted in practice.

Co-operatives and the Equity-Liabilities Puzzle: Concerns for Accounting Standard-Setters

2012 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 767-787 ◽  
Author(s):  
Germán López-Espinosa ◽  
John Maddocks ◽  
Fernando Polo-Garrido
Keyword(s):  
Classification Criteria ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Financial Instruments ◽  
Accounting Standard ◽  
Joint Project ◽  
Upper Limit ◽  
Net Assets ◽  
The U.S ◽  
Jel Classifications

SYNOPSIS: The IASB/FASB joint project on Financial Instruments with Characteristics of Equity (formerly Liabilities and Equity) has highlighted the complexity and the associated difficulty of drawing the line between liabilities and equity. While classification difficulties have been identified for investor-owned businesses (IOB), the inconsistency of the different approaches being considered is clearer when applied to classification of the financial instruments of co-operatives whose ownership characteristics differ from the IOB model. In co-operatives the existence of an upper limit on members' claims on the net assets while the co-operative is a going concern is a key ownership characteristic. We have examined the characteristics of co-operative member shares in six European countries as well as in the U.S. and in Canada, in order to analyze the application of the various classification approaches under discussion by the IASB and FASB. The results of this analysis indicate that classification criteria based on ownership must take account of the fact that ownership is multidimensional and contingent on the type of firm. JEL Classifications: M41, P13.

Classification of profit-sharing investment accounts

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 351-370 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aprilia Beta Suandi
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Sample Selection ◽  
Accounting Standards ◽  
Financial Statements ◽  
Profit Sharing ◽  
Islamic Banks ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Current Accounting ◽  
Islamic Financial Institutions

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the classification of profit-sharing investment accounts (PSIAs) under various accounting standards, and determine whether Islamic banks maintain uniform practices when the same accounting standards are applied. It also aims to determine whether Islamic banks consider investment account holders (IAHs) important financial statement users by disclosing necessary information pertaining to PSIAs. Design/methodology/approach A sample composed of financial statements from 63 Islamic banks from 15 countries is compared with respect to the information related to PSIAs. Findings The results show heterogeneity of classification for PSIAs. Applying the same standards does not lead to the uniform classification of PSIAs when banks apply International Financial Reporting Standards, while financial statements applying Financial Accounting Standards by the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions are more similar. The perplexity in classifying PSIAs brings obscurity on the treatment for PSIA-related accounts, particularly returns attributable to IAHs. The fact of fewer disclosures pertaining to PSIAs in Islamic banks – which apply accounting standards not specifically tailored to Islamic finance – suggests that IAHs receive less attention under those accounting standards. Research limitations/implications The main limitation relates to the lack of financial statements available online and the possibility of sample selection bias toward larger Islamic banks. Originality/value This research contributes to the limited literature on accounting for PSIAs, and reveals the diversity of reporting methods for unique transactions in Islamic banks and the insufficiency of current accounting standards to guide them, which create possible challenges of comparability.

scholarly journals Corporate governance and Chinese ghost cities

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 249-265
Author(s):  
Hugh Grove ◽  
Mac Clouse
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Accounting Standards ◽  
International Accounting ◽  
International Accounting Standards ◽  
Fraudulent Financial Reporting ◽  
The U.S ◽  
International Accounting Standards Board

Sir David Tweedy, the former chair of the International Accounting Standards Board, observed: “The scandals that we have seen in recent years are often attributed to accounting although, in fact, I think the U.S. cases are corporate governance scandals involving fraud” (Tweedy, 2007). This paper will show that many of the recent Chinese cases of fraudulent financial reporting are also really corporate governance scandals involving fraud.

scholarly journals ONE FINANCIAL REPORTING GLOBAL LANGUAGE: THE ULTIMATE GOAL?

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Amelia Limijaya
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Accounting Standards ◽  
Reporting Quality ◽  
Financial Reporting Quality ◽  
International Accounting Standards ◽  
Political Aspect ◽  
Accounting Standard ◽  
The Us ◽  
Global Language ◽  
Accounting Standard Setting

This article aims to analyse the extent to which international accounting standards is applied and whether it is the ultimate goal. Up until the end of 2016, approximately there are 84% of the 149 jurisdictions analysed which require IFRS for all or most domestic publicly accountable entities. This may indicate that we are not that much further from having a single set of globally-accepted accounting standards. However, there is more to financial reporting than just accounting standards alone, such as the political aspect of accounting standard-setting, translation issues surrounding IFRS adoption, the US position and the complexity of financial reporting. Improving financial reporting quality needs more than just having global accounting standards, rather, it is also essential to consider the preparers’ incentives and other institutions surrounding the firm. Stakeholders need to broaden the perspective when viewing financial reporting, so that it will not be focused merely on accounting standards alone.

scholarly journals The Theoretical Defenses Of The Last In First Out Inventory Methods

2013 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 43
Author(s):  
Peter Harris ◽  
William Stahlin
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Accounting Standards ◽  
Financial Accounting ◽  
Financial Accounting Standards Board ◽  
Complete Elimination ◽  
Political Pressure ◽  
The U.S

The Last in First out Method (LIFO) is presently under severe scrutiny from the financial community which may soon culminate in its repeal as an acceptable accounting method. There are pressures from the SEC in conjunction with the International Financial Accounting Standards Board (IFRS) to standardize accounting standards worldwide. In addition, there is political pressure imposed by the U.S. administration to raise additional revenues. Both groups strongly oppose LIFO, raising a strong possibility of its complete elimination. This paper addresses the reasons defending LIFO as an acceptable accounting method strictly from a financial reporting perspective.

scholarly journals THE ACCOUNTING STANDARDS AND FINANCIAL REPORTING IN ALBANIA

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 092-097
Author(s):  
Rezarta Shkurti ◽  
Brunilda Duraj
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Small And Medium Enterprises ◽  
Accounting Standards ◽  
Current Status ◽  
International Accounting Standards ◽  
Accounting Standard ◽  
Non Profit ◽  
National Accounting ◽  
Financial Reporting Standards ◽  
Medium Enterprises

Albania implemented its first set of 14 National Accounting Standards (NAS), which were prepared in compliance with the International Financial Reporting Standards, in 2009. The 15th standard, specifically the Accounting Standard for financial reporting by micro-entities, was added to this set in 2011 and a 16th standard, relating to the reporting for non-profit enterprises, was added in 2015. In 2014, the National Accounting Council of Albania (NACA) performed a major revision of this existing framework of NAS. The focus of this paper is to analyze the current status, as well as the development of accounting and financial reporting in Albania for the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). An international standard of financial reporting for SMEs was issued by the International Accounting Standards Board but was not fully endorsed by the European Community, nor by the NACA, who instead chose to revise their current NAS. In this study, we provide a general overview of the accounting regime and platforms currently applied in Albania, by focusing on the changes over the recent years. We also depict the main differences between the IFRS for SMEs and the NAS in Albania in treatment of several elements of the financial statements.

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