Impact of IFRS adoption on accounting quality in European firms

In this paper it is examined whether firms following International Financial Reporting Standards （IFRS） exhibit higher accounting quality. While IFRS are supposed to improve international comparisons by harmonisation and definition of strong principles, Ball （2006） and Nobes （2006） were concerned about differences in the application of IFRS cross-countries and firms. Barth, Landsman ＆ Lang （2008） stated that the flexibility of principles- based International Accounting Standards （IAS） could create incentives for firms to manage earnings. This paper contributes to analyse the impact of IFRS on accounting quality for European firms. The findings show that for firms in the European Union （EU） IFRS produce a negative effect on accounting quality that continues after 2005, when IFRS becomes mandatory. By contrast, for European firms which are not EU members the IFRS adoption increases accounting quality. These results support the concerns about IFRS application and flexibility and indicate that accounting quality does not improve just because the adoption of IFRS is mandatory.     

The IAS/IFRS application on the intangible assets of non-listed companies

With the introduction of IFRS （International Financial Reporting Standards） most of the intangibles are expensed on the income statement and hence they ＂disappear＂ from the balance sheet, while investments in tangible assets are capitalized. Based on a sample of 128 firms, made up of 99 SMEs （Small and Medium Enterprises） and 29 large firms, and through a simulation of IAS （International Accounting Standards） transition, the authors＇ study finds that IAS 38 reduces the amount of intangible assets recognized on the balance sheet of SMEs, while large firms do not appear to experience such large reductions in their intangible assets. The differential effect of IAS 38 on SMEs and large firms can be explained by the different growth strategies of these firm types. SMEs largely depend on internal paths of growth and intangibles assets that typically arise from internal growth strategies are eliminated from the balance sheet under IAS 38. Larger firms are less exposed to such reductions in their intangibles assets, because they mostly follow external paths of growth and the treatment of those intangible assets that typically arise from external growth strategies requires the impairment test.     

Review of International Accounting Standards Board （IASB） Proposed New Conceptual Framework： Discussion Paper （DP/2013/1）

The International Accounting Standards Board （IASB） is one of the largest independent accounting standard setters whose publications, International Financial Reporting Standards （IFRSs）, have revolutionalized the accounting profession, investors, finance providers, and the entire accounting information stakeholder community. The conceptual frameworks are the theoretical accounting bases that are constituted by a set of principles that underlie as a bedrock foundation cornerstone for the development and updating of IFRSs. The existing conceptual frameworks were issued by IASB in 2010, after long years of protracted and wide consultation and joint project with the biggest American standard setter Financial Accounting Standards Board （FASB）. In year 2013, the IASB embarked on a solo project to update the conceptual framework and issued a discussion paper （DP/2013/1） to its users and stakeholder community for comments. The methodology used in this study of an extensive review of literature （secondary/primary） from the discussion paper, existing conceptual framework, and comment letters from investors, accounting, insurance, and international audit firms has been manipulated. The findings revealed that the existing conceptual framework has opposing objectives especially that of decision usefulness （future-oriented information） and concepts of ＂prudence and stewardship/accountability＂, which are deeply embedded within the framework as subsumed, but their prominence has been overshadowed and watered down by not identifying them as objectives. The finding also revealed that almost all public accounting and audit firms are advocating not only for the reinstatement of the ＂prudence and stewardship/accountability＂ but also for a clear definition of recognition, de-recognition, and measurement of statement of financial position elements （assets and liabilities） and also elements of the comprehensive income statement （revenues and expenses）, which have seriously compromised investors, p     

The Reliability of Impairment Tests： The Case of Vessels

For a shipping company, the vessel is the most valuable and important asset. In most cases, the value of the vessel is the bigger part of total assets. Under International Accounting Standards （IAS） and also United States Generally Accepted Accounting Principles （US GAAP） （IAS 36 and Statement of Financial Accounting Standards （SFAS） 144 respectively）, entities are required to conduct impairment tests where there is an indication of impairment of an asset. It is of high importance that the assumptions and the methodology of these tests be right, in order for the results of these tests to be valid. Always, there is the risk that the accountant manipulates the test in order to avoid any impairment losses. Our purpose is to examine the way that the results from these tests are related with market values. Also, we aim to examine under what test assumptions the results from these tests are close enough to market values of vessels.     

Accounting variables and stock returns： Evidence from Istanbul stock exchange

The fundamental relationship between accounting variables and stock returns is a recurring theme in financial research. One of the major purposes of accounting is to help investors provide reliable, comparable and accurate information. If accounting data are informative about fundamental values and changes in values, they should be correlated with stock price changes. This study provides theory and evidence showing how accounting variables explain stock returns and examines the relationship between the stock returns and accounting variables of listed non financial companies in ISE-100 Indice for 2006-2008 period by using panel data methodology. Empirical analysis consists of 192 observations of 64 companies in years 2006-2008 to examine the effects of inventory, accounts receivable, gross margin, operating expense, return on assets, cash flow, leverage, liquidity, price/earnings, return on equity on stock returns. The results of the study confirm that the predicted roles of fundamental factors and stock returns are significantly related to gross margin, cash flow, leverage and equity variables. The model explains about 13.35 % of the variation of annual stock returns with the leverage variable with most of the significant power.     

Global Financial Crisis and Accounting Rules： The Implications of the New Exposure Draft （ED） Financial Instruments： Expected Credit Losses on the Evaluation of Banking Company Loans

During the financial crisis, the delayed recognition of credit losses on loans and other financial instruments was identified as a weakness in existing incurred loss model of impairment stated by International Accounting Standards （IAS） 39, because it is believed that this delay might generate pro-cyclical effects. In response to the recommendations of G20, Financial Crisis Advisory Group （FCAG）, and other international bodies, the International Accounting Standards Board （IASB） has undertaken, since 2009, as a part of the project to replace IAS 39, a project （partially shared with Financial Accounting Standards Board （FASB）） aimed at introducing an expected loss model of impairment. Within the scope of this subset project, the IASB has previously issued two exposure documents proposing models to account for expected credit losses： an exposure draft （ED） Financial Instrument： Amortized Cost and Impairment, published in November 2009, and a supplementary document （SD） Financial Instrument： Impairment, published jointly with the FASB in January 2011. However, neither of the two proposals received strong support from interested parties. Recently, the IASB, after the FASB＇s decision to withdraw from the joint project and to develop a separate expected credit loss model based on a single measurement approach consisting in the sole recognition of lifetime expected credit losses, published a third proposal--Ahe so-called expected credit losses model （ED/2013/3 Financial Instruments： Expected Credit Losses）.     

The Role of Comprehensive Income as Financial Performance Predictor： Panel Evidence From Italy

The aim of this study is to investigate whether the comprehensive income （CI） and its individual components are useful in assessing the future cash flows for Italian listed companies. In addition, we verify whether the recent requirement of International Accounting Standard （IAS） 1 （r2011） of providing the other comprehensive income （OCI） separates in two sub-totals （recycling and non-recycling items groups） is useful to explain the expected cash flows. We consider a sample of 121 Italian non-financial companies listed on the Italian Stock Exchange for the testing period of 2008-2011, employing a fixed-effect regression model, and we test the relationship between the changes in the variables considered and not the relative absolute value reducing, in this way, the risk of not grasping a report if the independent variable and the response variable do not have the same sign. Our results stress that CI and the two new sub-aggregates are not relevant to explain future cash flows, while net income （NI） and OC1 as a whole seem to be more relevant to make explicit the future financial position. The study contributes, as a sort of post-implementation review, to the current debate on the ability of Cl to predict the future cash flows and on the real usefulness of the CI and the sub-aggregate identified by the IAS 1 revised as well.     

Debt Rating Initiations： Natural Evolution or Opportunistic Behavior？

The authors examine a firm＇s decision to begin issuing debt in public bond markets and find that it is a function of both life cycle influences and opportunistic timing. Defining life cycle factors to encompass both a firm＇s age in years and its underlying characteristics, the authors confirm that bond market participation is generally restricted to large, mature firms. Summary statistics show that finns obtain their initial bond ratings on average 9.5 years after their equity initial public offering （IPO） and 11.8 years after initiating dividend payments. Growth rates, capital expenditures, and cash flow volatility all decline as the firm accesses public debt markets, consistent with entry into the mature phase of its life cycle. With respect to opportunistic timing, it is asked whether entry into public bond markets follows strong performance （or precedes weak performance） at both the firm and market levels. At the firm level, the authors find that the debt IPO occurs following periods of strong operating performance and high excess stock returns. At the market level, entry coincides with favorable interest rates and default spreads. The benefits of careful timing result in firms receiving initial bond ratings that are stronger than what would be predicted; however, there is no evidence of abnormal numbers of downgrades for these firms in subsequent years.     

Impact of International Financial Reporting Standards （IFRS） Adoption on Key Financial Ratios＂ The Case of the Czech Republic

This contribution analyzes the impact of new International Financial Reporting Standards （IFRS） reporting rules on financial ratios prepared in the Czech companies. Using a sample of 16 Czech firms, we attempt to measure the scope and size of the differences in the selected set of financial ratios as calculated with data reported according to the traditional Czech accounting standards （CAS） and under the IFRS provisions. Our study discovers that there are important differences resulting from the two reporting formats. Our research comes to a conclusion that translation of Czech statements to IFRS may cause changes in the values of financial indicators without relationship to the real change in the firms＇ value, performance, and stability. Even though the findings were not statistically significant, the indicative results of our measurements disclosed an important fact that the transition to IFRS could cause deterioration of key indicators and thereby could impact on the overall rating of companies. One needs to be cautious with generalization due to the small sample size.     

英文摘要

Study on the Change of Influence on Accounting Information Value of Comprehensive Income Reporting Mode
Comprehensive income reporting mode changes will affect the use of fair value. The comprehensive income reporting system based on the mode change, introduced the concept of comprehensive income and its presentation of the impact on the financial report, the financial report on the quality of the status of accounting information. Aiming at the lack of reporting effect on valuation of comprehensive income information and empirieal research, this paper reported from the analysis of comprehensive income to improve investor perception, improve investor valuations and strengthen financial supervision of the constructed model, value and benefits related to model validation policy change effect. Results show that the increase in the income statement, profit and loss information will enhance the value of accounling information, can significantly improve the transparency of financial reports and significantly reduce investors valuation cost, provides the reference for the formulation of accounting standards and improve the quality of accounting information.     

How value relevant are earnings when they are transitory？ Empirical evidence for France

Capital market participants take seriously into consideration the value relevance of earnings for security valuation. This study examines the value relevance of earnings when earnings are transitory, i.e., there is great variability in earnings. It hypothesizes that the relationship between earnings and security returns worsens when earnings are transitory and this robustness is country specific. The dataset consists of more than 1,100 French firm-year observations over a nine year period. Empirical results show that when earnings are transitory, investors pay more attention to operating cash flows and less attention to earnings, a result indicating that investors penalize firms with unstable earnings. These results should be of great importance to financial analysts, investors and bankers for investing and credit decisions, especially after the recent global financial crisis.     

Risk signal, financial derivatives transactions and the Indonesian GAAP

Motivated by the accounting events of firm＇s default related to derivatives and other financial instruments transactions, this study is aimed to investigate the capability of accounting information to signal the risks associated with the use of financial derivatives for hedging. Hypothesis are developed based on the theory and empirical evidences of manager＇s motive to use derivatives for hedging （Berkman ＆ Bradbury, 1968; Dune, et al., 2003） as well as signaling theory of accounting information （Ball ＆ Brown, 1968; Beaver ＆ Dukes, 1972; Jensen ＆ Meckling, 1976; Megginson, 1997）. The hypotheses are formulated in the Ordinary Least Square model. The study uses Statistical Product and Service Solutions （SPSS） version 14 as software to conduct the statistical tests. Non-bank and non-financial institutions firms with financial derivatives transactions listed in Indonesian Stock Exchange during 2001 to 2006 are chosen as the sample. Determinations of the time frame has considered the timing of introduction of revisions of accounting standard on derivatives and other financial instruments in Indonesia PSAK 50 Financial Instruments： Presentations and Disclosures which was published in July, 1998, as well as PSAK 55 Financial Instruments： Recognition and Measurements which was published in 1998. Based on the sample selections procedure and the completeness of the data required by the model, 24 firms listed during 2001-2006 or equal to 66 firm-years observations were identified as the data to be tested. Empirical evidences suggests that Indonesian GAAP is capable of providing signal associated with： （1） Fair value exposures related to manager＇s motive to reduce the cost of financial distress; （2） Cash flow exposures related to manager＇s motive to practice tax arbitrage as well as to overcome underinvestment problems; （3） Interest rate risks related to manager＇s motive to avoid the risk default due to limitations of debt covenants; （4） Forex risk related to manager＇s motive to control forex exposures caused by foreign operations as well as foreign sales.     

The impact of European firms＇ economic conditions and financial performance on accounting quality

In this study the authors analyse the possible effect of firms＇ economic conditions and financial performance on accounting quality. Bradshaw, et al. （2004）, Gelos ＆ WEI （2005） stated that financial reporting quality is fundamental for investors and it affects international capital movements. Following Schipper ＆ Vicent （2003）, the authors estimated accounting quality by abnormal accruals and earnings persistence. The authors＇ contribution consists of investigating a huge number of firms from 17 European countries using unbalanced panel data. The authors found evidence that economic conditions affect accounting quality： big firms and those with high current earnings exhibit better financial information. These results are robust because they do not depend on the accounting quality proxy, even when the authors estimated regression with economical and financial factors alone or together. Financial performance does not seem to affect accounting quality. However, this relation is not linear because in high leveraged firms, the capital structure becomes determinant.     

Evaluation of the Impact of International Accounting Standards Board （IASB） Framework Concepts on the Public Accounting Profession

Accounting profession has, in recent times, been regulated mainly by the private accounting standard setters mainly the International Accounting Standards Board （IASB）, which has taken a center stage and redefined the accounting information systems beyond the knowledge discernment of the average users and stakeholders. Public accounting profession＇s overreliance on the ever-changing IASB conceptual frameworks and their subsequent publications International Financial Reporting Standards （IFRS） standards has strongly compromised the ethics and objectivity of the profession, especially the accounting fundamental qualitative characteristics of the fair representation. Public accountants are, by ethics, required to issue an accurate, independent, and objective opinion of the financial state of the reporting entity. A review of various literatures from the IASB and the related bodies including independent auditors was employed during the evaluation process so as to minimize bias and evaluate objectively. The results revealed that currently, the IASB conceptual frameworks and IFRS contain inconsistent and opposing objectives including an inconclusive definition of elements and measurement basis mainly of profit and loss transactions and other comprehensive income, and hence the public accounting profession has been ethically challenged and compromised. Financial reporting is now premised on estimates, judgments, and models as opposed to a definitive measurement in accounting. A recommendation of further study on the IASB fundamental qualitative characteristics of decision usefulness should be pursued objectively.     

A Possible Narrative Section Harmonisation？ The Role of the Practice Statement Management Commentary

The Practice Statement provides a flexible approach to preparation of the management commentary, generating more meaningful disclosure and discussing those matters that are more relevant to the company＇s individual circumstances. In this direction, the International Accounting Standards Board （IASB） has highlighted some content elements recognised as being fundamental for guaranteeing the usefulness of the management commentary. With reference to these elements, it is interesting to analyse the level of disclosure of the financial reporting. These analyses aim to identify the themes dealt with most extensively by the companies and those that require greater attention so that the narrative section of the financial statement is, on the one hand, at least consistent with the suggestions of the guideline and, on the other hand, contains information that is useful for the users. Lastly, in the light of the relevant European Union （EU） directives, the results of the analysis will help to formulate considerations on the ability of the IASB guideline to improve the completeness of the narrative section. All this is examined in a cross-country dimension： Financial reports in Italy and the United Kingdom （UK） are examined. The content analysis methodology is applied. Within the financial reporting, the management discussion is examined in particular. The analysis is performed considering 2008. This qualitative paper will contribute to the studies on disclosure and usefulness of the information provided.     

Financial reporting of cash flow： Arbitrary items and management preferences

The international financial reporting standard for cash flow statement （IAS 7） provides options for the classification of certain cash flow items （arbitrary items）. Therefore, business firms may classify the arbitrary items using the option that would maximize their own interest. This reduces the comparability of financial statements amongst business firms. This study aims to investigate the factors explaining management preferences in the selection of financial reporting practices on the arbitrary cash flow items. It concludes that managers tend to magnify the CFO reported in order to maximize the shareholders＇ wealth, which in turn would maximize their compensation. Managers of business firms with a relatively smaller size of CFO tend to classify interest paid and dividends paid as non-CFO in order to magnify their CFO. They also tend to classify interest received as CFO in order to inflate their relatively smaller size of CFO up to expectation. Similarly, managers of business firms with a relative larger size of dividends paid would classify the dividends paid outside CFO.     

Prediction difficulty, financial strength and debt maturity

In order to have the optimal capital structure, the company with higher volatility of return adjusts the capital structure more frequently and has shorter debt maturity. Investors also have shorter investment cycle on these companies. Investment cycle is also affected by information asymmetry. The less asymmetric the information is, the more information investors get and the longer the investment cycle is. The adjustment frequency is also restricted by financial strength. This paper measures the debt maturity structure of the firm as the weighted average of debt maturity, and it is more precise than the ratio of long term debt to total debt. In empirical tests on debt maturity, the results show that financial strength, volatility of return and asymmetric information all have negative impacts on debt maturity.     

Prediction Ability of Cash Flows,Net Income （NI）, and Auditors

The accounting information should help investors and creditors evaluate the amounts, timing, and uncertainty of firms＇ future cash receipts and disbursements. The Financial Accounting Standards Board （FASB） contends that accrual-based historical earnings are superior to cash flows in predicting future cash flows. But, Bowen, Burgstahler, and Daley （1986） showed that traditional measures of cash flows （net income （NI） plus depreciation and working capital from operations） appear to be better predictors of future cash flows than accrual accounting earnings. Since then, many researchers have articulated the importance of accounting data, especially cash flows and NI, in the predictive and forecasting processes. In this study, we empirically re-examined the ability of cash flows from operating activities （CFO） and accrual-based NI in predicting firms＇ bankruptcy. In the past, the results of this type of research were mixed. Differently from previous research, we focus on the timing of predictive ability, i.e., which indicator, cash flows or NI, is faster in predicting a firm＇s bankruptcy. We also investigate the timing of auditors＇ issuance of a going-concern opinion. The preliminary results show that the accrual-based NI is more accurate and faster than either CFO or audit opinion in predicting firms＇ failures. On average, NI signals a firm＇s bankruptcy 2.41 years before the bankruptcy filing, while CFO signals 1.48 years before filing. Auditors issued a going-concern opinion, another signal for firms＇ failure, to only 16 out of 41 bankrupt firms one year before bankruptcy, and no auditor issued the going-concern opinion two years before bankruptcy.     

The Effects of Audit Committee Attributes on Fraudulent Financial Reporting

This study aims to examine the relationship between audit committee attributes （audit committee independence, financial expertise, meeting frequency, gender diversity, and ethnic composition） and the propensity for fraudulent financial reporting. The sample includes 116 fraudulent and non-frandulent firms listed on Bursa Malaysia from 2005 to 2010. The finding of this study indicates that audit committee independence is positively associated with fraudulent financial reporting. The higher the proportion of independent or outside directors on the committee, the higher the possibility of financial fraud, and vice versa. The results also show that the expertise of members of the audit committee is negatively associated with corporate fraud. This suggests that when audit committee members are financially literate, they are more competent to curb fraudulent financial reporting. However, the findings for frequency of audit committee meetings, gender, and ethnicity show that there is no relationship between these variables and corporate fraud. The result of this study is robust after controlling for other firm-specific effects.     

Harmonization of financial reporting of small and medium-sized enterprises in the Czech Republic

A current problem of the present-day accounting and financial reporting consists in aligning the accounting in small and medium enterprises. In July 2009 the International Financial Reporting Standard for small and medium-sized enterprises was issued, which extended the aligning possibilities also to small and medium enterprises considerably. If the standard is adopted by the national legislation, problems connected with the standard implementation in the national legislation will have to be solved as well as practical issues connected with making financial statements. At present the yields and the problems which can arise in connection with the standard application have to be focused on. A contribution of the standard application will be a better informative ability of financial statements on the international level. At small and medium enterprises this can contribute to better comanunication with banks, with investors, rating application are： parallel reporting according to national agencies etc. The problems connected with the standard regulations, differences between the national legislation and the standard, wide practice at keeping accounts and making financial statements and limited approach of small and medium enterprises to obtaining information and to training of their employees. Another problem can be a tight link between the trading income and the tax base, when small companies prefer rather the tax point of view.