Set Of Accounting Standards Research Articles

INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL REPORTING STANDARDS (IFRS) VS. US GAAP: A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE

In light of the growing tendency of firms extending their operations into international markets, the adoption of worldwide accounting standards has become more urgent. The direction of attempts to bring international accounting standards closer to parity with US GAAP has been drastically changed as a result of two recent opinions issued by the SEC with a considerable impact. This article discusses the consequences that the SEC's decision to allow international enterprises to use IFRS in financial reporting, separate from reconciliation to US GAAP, has had on investors, multinational corporations, and global financial reporting by examining the implications of this decision. The idea that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has to bring together foreign authorities to discuss the harmonization of accounting standards is also discussed. According to the Securities and Exchange Commission (2018), the International Accounting Standards Committee Foundation (IASCF) is planning to establish a Monitoring Group that will include of the European Commission, the Japan Financial Services Agency, and the International Organization of Securities Commission (IOSC). In this section, we will examine the differences between IFRS and US GAAP. After careful consideration, the authors have arrived at the conclusion that there is an immediate need for a unified set of global accounting standards that are based on both IFRS and US GAAP. Many of the problems that have been plaguing the globe's financial reporting system will be resolved, and as a consequence, the economy of the whole world will become more secure and prosperous.

IFRS Adoption and Performance of Stock Markets: A Comparative Analysis of Frontier Stock Markets in Sub‐Saharan Africa

ABSTRACTThe International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) is a set of global accounting standards that tries to provide truer and fairer accounting figures by recommending more realistic measurement and recognition criteria, increasing the disclosure of relevant information, and increasing the comparability of financial statements across borders. Most of the literature on IFRS adoption addresses its impact on the value relevance of accounting figures but ignores the wider picture in terms of impact on stock market performance. The few studies that address IFRS adoption and stock market performance focus on advanced economies and lack proper theoretical underpinning. This study addresses the impact of IFRS adoption on stock market performance in Sub‐Saharan Africa. The study applied the autoregressive distributed lag model to test the research hypotheses. The Johannesburg, Nigerian, and Nairobi stock exchanges were selected as the sample markets because they constitute the major frontier markets for foreign investors wishing to penetrate the Sub‐Saharan African market. The sample period was from 1990 to 2020. The results of the study showed that IFRS adoption had a positive and significant impact on market efficiency and size for all the selected countries. IFRS adoption had a positive and significant impact on market liquidity in Kenya only. The study recommends that IFRS adopters should implement stock market policies that encourage the participation of foreign investors following the increase in financial statements comparability brought about by IFRS adoption.

Is the accounting curricula keeping up with sustainability development?

ABSTRACT There is continuing demand from practitioners, standard setters, and regulators for accountants to have the knowledge and competencies to contribute to sustainable business practices, reporting, and assurance. Educators at all levels of the accounting curricula have a responsibility to upskill. This research examines the extent of sustainability education among all levels of accounting curricula. Publicly available course information at three levels in New Zealand – secondary school, university, and professional accounting – was analysed using content analysis. The research finds a lack of sustainability education at all accounting curricula levels, with uneven coverage that is focused on sustainability broadly with questionable breadth and depth. This inconsistency among accounting educators results in accounting graduates with varied exposure to sustainability. This research calls for collective responsibility and collaborative leadership among educators, professional accounting bodies, practitioners, standard setters, regulators, and society to ensure sustainability education keeps pace with the development of sustainability accounting practice globally.

Power dynamics in Australian public sector accounting reform: A Machiavellian interpretation

AbstractDuring the era of New Public Management from the 1970s to the 1990s, government accountability in Australia underwent a significant transformation from compliance to performance evaluation. This change underscores a Machiavellian interpretation presented in this paper, emphasizing the politicized and power‐driven nature of public sector accounting reforms. The Australian Government employed a commercial accounting model to legitimize these reforms, leveraging Machiavellian principles to strengthen political power. Despite the accounting profession's role in legitimizing public sector financial reporting, its control over Australian accounting standard setting diminished. The new public sector accountability framework allowed the shifting of blame to the profession when problems arose. An analysis of the New South Wales Government's journey through the reform, from embracing accrual accounting to rejecting heritage assets measurement and applauding fair value, illustrates the complex interplay between self‐interest and the protection of public interest. The Australian Government strategically enlisted the support of the outer fringe accounting profession and successfully instituted reforms premised on the principle of public accountability and liberty for Australian society. Once the reformer's goals were achieved, the facilitating elites found themselves marginalized from the bureaucratic group and power reclaimed deftly to the Government with CLERP reforms paving the way for the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards. This shift exemplifies Machiavelli's perspective, where liberty is used as a means to garner public support and ultimately attain power, a strategy that continues to hold validity in contemporary political contexts.

Emerging Chinese status in international accounting standard setting: A social network analysis of the International Accounting Standards Board

ABSTRACT This study employs a network analysis with centrality measures to trace China’s evolving position within the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) governance network. The analysis spans from 2001 to 2021, revealing the shifts in China’s position from a marginal to a more central one in the IFRS governance network. The benefit of information and control across the network empowers China to emerge as an important force influencing the operations of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and IFRS development. The findings contribute to our understanding of the political dynamics in international accounting regulations. Insights gleaned from China’s experience offer implications for other jurisdictional constituents aspiring to amplify their influence in IFRS development. While acknowledging certain limitations in the study, this research concludes by advocating for a deeper exploration of China’s representation role in the IASB’s decision-making process.

Uncertainty in times of ecological crisis: a Knightian tale of how to face future states of the world

How do we face uncertainty in times of crisis? Debates in International Relations often struggle to disentangle the processes involved in turning the uncertainty of a crisis into decisions and actions. Drawing on the analysis of Frank H. Knight, we argue that decisions and actions taken by international actors in times of crisis are underpinned by the way that information is accessed, interpreted, and evaluated in order to claim reliable knowledge for shaping future states of the world. We illustrate our argument with the global politics of the ecological crisis and three contrasting methods used by international actors to convert the time of the crisis into decisions and actions: United Nations agencies, financial accounting standard-setters and central banks.

Does Islamic religiosity influence professional accountants' judgments? Evidence from global convergence of IFRS

We examine the influence of religiosity on professional accountants' judgments towards global convergence of financial reporting using, as an example, the Islamic religiosity context of Bangladesh. Professional accountants' judgments, in relation to the global convergence of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), is measured using Gray's (1988) accounting values (professionalism vs. statutory control, uniformity vs. flexibility, conservatism vs. optimism and secrecy vs. transparency), with Islamic religiosity measured using the Sahin–Francis Scale of Attitude towards Islam. We find that professional accountants in Bangladesh who have higher levels of Islamic religiosity values are supportive of statutory control, conservatism, uniformity, and secrecy. These findings suggest that professional accountants in Bangladesh are less likely to be supportive of principles-based financial reporting standards such as IFRS. The findings have implications for global accounting standard setters, international accounting firms, and multinational companies, particularly in Islamic countries. Our study findings may be useful to regulators in Bangladesh and other Islamic countries in improving the quality of the convergence of IFRS.

Assetization as a mode of techno-economic governance: Knowledge, education and personal data in the UN's System of National Accounts

Assets are made through the configuration of technoscientific and political-economic (or techno-economic) relations, claims and practices; a process increasingly conceptualized as ‘assetization’. The UN’s System of National Accounts (SNA) – a set of national accounting standards – defines assets as ‘entities that must be owned by some unit, or units, and from which economic benefits are derived by their owner(s) by holding or using them over a period of time’. Accounting standards like the SNA are implicated in the construction of assets through their ‘extension of the asset boundary’, which happens periodically as accounting standards are revised and updated to better reflect changing business practices. Assetization, then, entails more than an analysis of the transformation of something into an asset, it can also be conceptualized as a mode of governance in which social actors change their world. To make this argument, I examine the SNA’s treatment of knowledge, education and personal data: respectively, redefined as an asset (e.g. intellectual property product); treated as a quasi-asset (e.g. human capital); and subject to continued debate (e.g. digital data). In exploring the SNA’s accounting standards, I show how assetization reconfigures the governance of knowledge, education and personal data, often in problematic ways.

Classification and Measurement under IFRS 9: A Commentary and Suggestions for Future Research

This paper discusses several issues that were raised by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) in their request for information for the post-implementation review (PIR) of the International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) 9: Financial instruments – Classification and Measurement. In doing so, we first review the related academic literature and present empirical evidence on the post-adoption impact of IFRS 9. We then discuss conceptual issues associated with the business model and cash flow characteristics assessment in IFRS 9, as well as issues associated with the presentation of fair value changes in other comprehensive income (OCI) and modifications to contractual cash flows. Finally, we identify gaps in the literature and provide suggestions for future research that can help inform accounting standard setters.

Developing learning objectives for forensic accounting using bloom’s taxonomy

ABSTRACT This paper aims to identify and explore the learning objectives outlining the core knowledge for forensic accounting education. Bloom’s taxonomy is used to outline and analyze the core knowledge for forensic accounting education (e.g. fraud examination, litigation support, business valuation, and IT forensic accounting) in 15 Australian universities that provide forensic accounting courses. Furthermore, this paper applies a qualitative method to forensic accounting curricula, handbooks, and syllabi. These educational documents were retrieved from Australian universities. The findings report learning objectives under core content knowledge distributed over Bloom’s cognitive areas. This study also provides a unified set of learning objectives to harmonize forensic accounting courses’ teaching and learning processes. The most promising contribution of the paper is to provide a set of learning objectives in all forensic accounting subtopics. The main implications of this paper are relevant to forensic accounting educators, students, standard setters, researchers, regulators, and curricula designers.

A Study of Recent Accounting Trends in India's Corporate Sector with Special Reference to International Financial Reporting Standards

Accounting is the process of keeping track of monetary transactions and data in a structured, consistent, and understandable style so that stakeholders in a business or organization may make informed economic decisions. Early forms of accounting used clay tokens to keep track of products and livestock, but the discipline has since evolved into a sophisticated system for recording a wide variety of financial transactions and details. The first step toward IAS, or International Accounting Standards, was done in 1959. Since then, accounting groups and others have collaborated to form the International Accounting Standards Committee. In 1997, the IASC was restructured to better enable the convergence of various national accounting standards and practices toward a single, high-quality set of global accounting standards. Established in 1973, it issued the foundational documents for what is now known as International Accounting Standards until the year 2000. As the International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC) was abolished in 2001, the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) was tasked with publishing international accounting standards. The integration of global financial markets and the need of investors for more uniformity in the financial reports of multinational firms both demand the globalization of IFRS.

Perspectives on the Financial Reporting of Intangibles

SYNOPSISDiversity in views about the existence, nature, and extent of the “intangibles problem” in financial reporting and various proposed solutions is well represented among national accounting standard setters. This paper summarizes the varying perspectives on these issues by a group of national accounting standard setters from Canada, Germany, Japan, the U.K., and the U.S. The paper strives to deliver a balanced discussion of the alternative perspectives to provide fodder for further consideration by the accounting community and to stimulate additional academic research relevant to these issues.JEL Classifications: M410.

The Adoption of AAOIFI Standards by Islamic Banks: Understanding the Microeconomic Consequences

This study seeks to measure the microeconomic consequences of the adoption of the Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) standards on the conservatism, financial performance (FP), and earnings management (EM) of Islamic banks (IBs). The study draws on data from 122 IBs across 22 countries over a period of eight years (2014–2021), using the generalised method of moments (GMM). The results indicate a positive impact of AAOIFI adoption on financial performance and conservatism compared to non-adopters. Our results further show that IBs that adopt AAOIFI are less involved in EM. After applying robustness checks (corporate governance, inflation, and mandatory adoption of AAOIFI in some countries), our results remain the same. The implications of the study are potentially valuable for those setting accounting standards (such as AAOIFI and International Accounting Standards Board (IASB)), central banks, financial market regulators, investors, governments, and any adopting or non-adopting Islamic financial institutions (IFIs) through identification of the effects of AAOIFI adoption.

Decision Facilitating Information and Induced Volatility: A Study of Tradeoffs in Accounting Disclosure

ABSTRACTCorporate managers often express concern about accounting-induced volatility in financial statements. Accounting regulators, however, argue that the volatility in financial statements merely increases transparency by shining a light on risks that are inherent to the firm’s business. We show that in many situations managerial concerns about volatility are justified because the information that is being provided actually magnifies rather than merely reflects the volatility in a firm’s fundamentals. Corporate managers anticipate the magnified volatility and take preemptive actions to decrease the firm’s exposure to the accounting treatment that induces volatility. These actions may not be in the best interests of external stakeholders, making disclosure costly, while at the same time improving the decisions of external stakeholders. We develop and study the resultant tradeoff that accounting regulators should consider in setting accounting standards.

Who or What Counts in International Accounting Standard Setting? The Case of IFRS 7

Who or What Counts in International Accounting Standard Setting? The Case of IFRS 7

Accounting Standard-Setting for an Emission Trading Scheme: The Korean Case

This study examines the participation and interaction of relevant individuals in the process of developing an accounting standard for South Korea’s emission trading scheme (ETS). Despite the enormous accounting implications of such schemes, there is a paucity of research on the development and application of ETS accounting. Ulrich Beck’s and Anthony Giddens’s risk society framework is utilised to scrutinise the process of setting accounting standards—from the agenda-setting stage all the way to the final publication of the standard. In this case study, we take an interpretive approach in analysing the rich data collected through face-to-face interviews with prominent standard-setters, accounting experts and representatives of industry and government. Participant observation and relevant documents were also considered. The findings highlight the political nature of accounting standard-setting and identify the risks and responsibilities of the key agents in the process along with the means of sub-political action taken to influence decisions. We reveal that the agents involved in standard-setting attempted to balance their anthropocentric priorities with ecocentric responsibilities and prioritised the production of a standard with minimal impact on economic, reputational, and operational risk. Having authority as a standard-setter, referring frequently to precedents and, perhaps most importantly, engaging actively with the stakeholders throughout the process seem to have contributed to a widely accepted standard, which can serve as a benchmark for future attempts to factor in ETSs.

Public sector accounting harmonization in the European Union through the lens of the garbage can model

AbstractThe public sector accounting harmonization process that started in the European Union in the aftermath of the financial crisis led the European Commission to launch a project for the development of a set of European Public Sector Accounting Standards (EPSAS). This paper analyses the process and the decision‐making around development of the EPSAS through the lens of the garbage can model (Cohen, M. D., March, J. G., & Olsen, J. P. (1972). A garbage can model of organizational choice. Administrative Science Quarterly, 17(1), 1–25). More specifically, by identifying problems, participants, solutions, and choice opportunities, it discusses why the development of the EPSAS is taking so long and why the process does not seem to be progressing as planned. To this end, documents related to the process of EPSAS development are analyzed. The results provide evidence of problematic preferences and fluid participation possibly coupled with flight decisions—three elements of the garbage can model. Postponing decisions can be an option to dampen reluctance. The more the public sector becomes accustomed to the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) by adopting IPSAS‐like accrual accounting standards while waiting for the completion of the EPSAS, the less resistance there might be to moving to accrual accounting standards. However, at the same time, an imminent change to a new set of EPSAS standards might become less plausible if changes demand extra reform.

Accounting for whom? The financialisation of the environmental economic transition

ABSTRACT Accounting standard-setters including the International Financial Reporting Foundation have recently begun to revisit the relationship between accounting and sustainability to address issues of environmental economic transition. How has sustainability become an issue of interest to accounting standard-setters? And how do accounting standards intend to contribute to the environmental economic transition? Scholars of international political economy and cognate fields have devoted little attention to the study of international accounting standards, particularly in relations to sustainability. Drawing on a set of qualitative data and an interdisciplinary literature on finance and financialisation, this article first argues that accounting standard-setters’ interest in sustainability is the result of the incremental transformation of environmental issues into meaningful information for investors’ decision-making. Secondly, it shows that these standards and their development are based on the premise that the environmental economic transition depends on the provision of information that primarily meets the needs of investors, contrasting starkly with the original underpinnings of sustainability accounting. Overall, both the fact that financial accounting standard-setters are becoming involved in sustainability, and the way that they are addressing this issue, are further evidence of a financialisation of the environmental economic transition.

The impact of IFRS adoption on IPOs management earnings forecasts in Australia

This study investigates the accuracy of management earnings forecasts under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in the context of an initial public offering (IPO). We observe a decline in management forecast errors (FEs) in Australia following the mandatory implementation of IFRS in 2005. Further evidence suggests that IPO management earnings forecasts become more conservative after IFRS was required. We argue that IFRS enables investors to better evaluate IPO firms’ performance and demand higher returns from firms that report inflated and inaccurate earnings forecasts. We also show that over-optimistic earnings forecasts and larger forecasting errors result in greater underpricing under the IFRS regime. Overall, this study suggests that IFRS, as a set of high-quality accounting standards, improves corporate disclosure quality and the information environment.

INTERNATIONAL CONVERGENCE OF FINANCIAL REPORTING

The purpose of this article is to study the state of global convergence of financial reporting standards at the present stage, as well as to consider the key points of the process of unification of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). To achieve this goal, the article considers the concepts of convergence, harmonization and standardization, presents an analysis of the intensity of use of these concepts, which are associated with the dynamic development of recent global accounting transformations and major trends in international convergence of financial reporting. The key stages of the process of unification of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) are considered. For decades, the European Union, the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) and the Committee on International Accounting Standards have supported international efforts to harmonize US GAAP and IFRS. accounting and reporting standards used in different countries. We have determined that while both IFRS and GAAP aim to provide transparency, informational content and usability in financial statements, these standards use different approaches to achieve this. We indicated that at present IFRS is the dominant accounting and reporting system, in fact, only third world countries do not apply it. We have proven that in the process of achieving convergence, a single set of understandable and feasible international accounting standards must be developed, requiring high quality, transparent and comparable information in financial statements in order to ensure convergence of IFRS and GAAP. We analyzed the intensity of the use of the concepts of IFRS and GAAP, which are associated precisely with the convergence of these accounting systems using the Google Ngram Viewer (GNV) tool. We have proved that the Convergence of IFRS and GAAP also applies to Ukraine, since the convergence is bilateral, any change in IFRS will ultimately affect the Ukrainian accounting and reporting system.