Assurance provided by auditors' reports on prospective financial information: implications for the expectation gap

The results of this study indicate significant differences in beliefs between auditors, users and preparers of prospective financial information, concerning forecast reliability and the role and responsibilities of auditors and management. Contrary to the usual published studies on expectation gap, it was found that auditors believe that forecasts are more reliable than users or preparers. Auditors also believe that they have a higher level of responsibility and accountability than is attributed to them by users or preparers. Beliefs were affected by the type of report issued by the auditor and subjects were able to discriminate between the level of assurance provided by positive and negative assurance opinions. However, based on the responses of shareholders, it appears that the negative assurance opinion on assumptions for an audit might confuse users and might not meet the demands of the market.     

A Comparative Analysis of Auditor, Manager and Financial Analyst Interpretations of SFAS 5 Disclosure Guidelines

This study examines empirically whether financial analysts (users), as well as managers (preparers) and external auditors ascribe different interpretations to the SFAS 5 disclosure criteria. We find: (1) financial analysts are, on average, more conservative than managers and auditors in their numerical interpretations of both the 'remote' and 'probable' verbal phrases; (2) managers and auditors share very similar numerical interpretations of these verbal phrases; (3) audit partners' numerical interpretations of the 'remote' region are between those of managers and users, whereas audit managers align their numerical interpretations with those of managers. One danger is that preparers of financial statements may omit loss contingency information that users consider valuable.     

Convergence in accounting standards: Insights from academicians and practitioners

The efficiency and competitiveness of global capital markets depends on the ability of financial statement preparers to communicate effectively with investors through financial reports. Despite the global movement to adopt IFRS, US adoption of IFRS is still uncertain. To assess potential for convergence, this study compares perspectives of academicians and practitioners regarding convergence to a set of global accounting standards. The majority of respondents believe that effective convergence to a set of globally accepted accounting standards would be beneficial to preparers, users, auditors, analysts, and standard setters. Convergence in accounting standards can require extensive and possibly costly changes to the standard-setting infrastructure and enforcement process in the US and other countries, and will also require proper training for management, auditors, and investors.     

The Impact of AASB 8 Operating Segments on Analysts’ Earnings Forecasts: Australian Evidence

This paper evaluates the impact of firms’ adoption of AASB 8 segment disclosure rules on analysts’ earnings forecasts. It examines whether providing more disaggregated segment information following the adoption of AASB 8 is associated with an increase in analysts’ ability to forecast earnings. We find that analysts’ earnings forecasts have not improved significantly after adopting AASB 8 in Australia, regardless of whether firms disclosed more disaggregated segment information. Our use of control firms provides assurance that the results are due to AASB 8 and not to some other events concurrent with the adoption of AASB 8. Overall, our results imply that the benefits associated with the management approach as experienced by financial analysts in the United States have not been realised by financial analysts in Australia. This suggests that the successful adoption of an accounting standard in one country should not be the justification for recommending adoption in other countries. Further, our results raise questions about whether the enhanced disclosures required in the new standard are more for the other users of financial statements, such as investors, rather than analysts.     

Financial statement presentation of discontinued operations: Determinants and consequences

US GAAP requires firms to separately report income from discontinued operations within the income statement. Current financial reporting guidance, however, allows managers to either aggregate or disaggregate operating income (or loss) and gain (or loss) from discontinued operations on the face of the income statement. Using this unique setting, we hand-collect data on the presentation of discontinued operations (i.e., aggregated versus disaggregated presentation) to understand factors that affect the discretionary presentation choices in financial statements. We show that managers' disaggregation preference in reporting discontinued operations reflect properties of prospect theory and mental accounting theory. We fail to find empirical evidence that investors' valuation of discontinued operations is different for aggregated and disaggregated presentations. These results should help managers, regulators, and investors understand the implications of discontinued operations' presentation choices in financial reporting.     

套期会计原则缺失问题研究——IASB套期会计征求意见稿评述

IASB 2010年12月发布的套期会计征求意见稿首次提出了套期会计目标,简化了套期会计适用条件,增加了套期工具和被套期项目种类,充分体现了财务报告编制者对增加套期会计适用性的要求。本文分析了套期会计原则缺失导致的套期会计方法与目标不一致问题,并通过对我国企业衍生金融工具交易实践的分析说明,套期会计方法可能会产生与套期会计目标背离的会计结果。提出应建立明晰的套期会计原则,实现套期会计方法与目标的统一,保证套期会计能够传达套期工具的实质,使报表使用者能够清楚地了解企业使用套期工具的真实目的和实际效果。     

IPSAS or IFRS as the Framework for Public Sector Financial Reporting? New Zealand Preparers’ Perspectives

The last 30 years have seen public sector accounting in many countries undergo considerable change. More recently, some governments adopted accrual accounting and International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS), some adopted modified International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) while others continued with cash‐based accounting. New Zealand (NZ) has, for more than two decades, followed a sector neutral approach to financial reporting and standard setting where the same accounting standards were applied to all entities in all sectors: for‐profit, not‐for‐profit and the public sector. This period included the adoption of IFRS by for‐profit entities with minor modifications for the public sector. The suitability of IFRS for the public sector has been questioned and, recently, standard setters in NZ decided to adopt a sector‐specific standard‐setting approach with multiple tiers for each sector. The for‐profit sector will continue to follow IFRS but reporting standards for the public sector will be based on IPSAS. In this period of change we sought the views of preparers of public sector financial reports regarding the users of such reports and their preferences for the public sector reporting framework. We also sought the views of the preparers regarding the usefulness of each financial statement for users, and whether the benefits of reporting by their organisations exceeds the costs. The findings indicate support for maintaining IFRS as a basis for reporting in the NZ public sector. However, IPSAS modified to NZ conditions is also perceived as an acceptable option by respondents in this study. The income statement is, in the opinion of the respondents in this study, the most useful statement while cash flows appear to hold little value. A high proportion of respondents believe that the benefits of reporting exceed the costs, which contradicts the view that such reports are mainly compliance documents that provide little value. This finding contributes to the continuing debate on costs versus benefits on the recent introduction of IPSAS as the reporting framework for the public sector and the perceived appropriateness of IPSAS in public sector reporting.     

Prioritising disclosures in the annual report

Drawing upon information economics, this paper presents a relative assessment of 24 of the most common disclosure items in the management commentary and notes sections of the annual report. We design and conduct an Internet survey using a large representative sample of users with an investment focus (n?=?288) and preparers of annual reports (n?=?89). Using cost-effectiveness analysis, an evaluation method widely used in healthcare economics, the balance between preparation costs and user satisfaction, relative to user demand is assessed. Our main findings show that corporate social responsibility and corporate governance, the least demanded disclosure items in the management commentary, are also costly items to prepare. Further, preparers do not consider indirect costs (i.e. competitive position costs and potential litigation costs) of information provided in the management commentary to be a major concern. With regard to the notes, we find that business combinations (IFRS 3), financial instruments (IFRS 7) and impairment tests (IAS 36) are highly demanded but are also among the items most costly to prepare, and users are less satisfied with these notes. The findings have important implications for practitioners and policy-makers and can be used for setting priorities.     

2005 — It's Here, Ready or Not: A Review of the Australian Financial Reporting Framework

This article reviews the current financial reporting framework in Australia by considering three groups that are involved in the production of companies' financial reports: rule-makers, financial report preparers and rule-enforcers. We outline dramatic changes to the financial reporting framework in the period 2002-04 (primarily from CLERP 9) and explore the effect on the roles and activities of various groups of the adoption of international accounting standards in Australia.     

Stakeholders’ perceptions of factors affecting the credibility of sustainability reports

This study investigates factors affecting the credibility of sustainability reporting. Potential factors were first identified from prior studies and then refined through semi-structured interviews with sustainability reporting stakeholders including users, preparers, assurance providers and standard-setters. From this we construct a conceptual framework containing 26 variables that potentially influence credibility assessments of sustainability reports. This large set of variables is then evaluated by using a questionnaire survey of different stakeholder groups. The responses reveal that some source credibility variables (trustworthiness, track record and management expertise), assurance-related variables, and message characteristics (materiality and completeness of sustainability disclosures) are perceived by different stakeholder groups as particularly important to the credibility assessment, with source credibility factors dominating the rankings. An exploratory factor analysis shows that perceptions coalesce on four factors that are concerned with assurance and accountability, source (management) characteristics, message characteristics, and standards & ratings, with the structure of first two being dominated by the variables ranked as most important. The rank analysis also reveals significant differences between users and preparers in the ordering of influential credibility factors, and this is further supported by the significant differences between users’ and preparers’ mean scores for the ‘assurance and accountability’ and ‘source (management) characteristics’ factors.     

PRIVATE SHAREHOLDER RESPONSE TO CORPORATE ANNUAL REPORTS*

Private shareholder response to annual reports of Australian public-listed companies was investigated via postal questionnaires in 1979 and 1980. Approximately 2000 usable replies indicate that although annual reports are ranked third to stockbroker advice and newspapers as sources of corporate information, two-thirds claim the report is of some importance and one-quarter would buy it and pay up to $2 per copy. Readership behaviour reveals that whereas the chairman's review is the most read item, traditional financial statements are more important in influencing equity decision-making. The auditor's report, statistical data and notes to accounts are least read and least important. Such evidence has implications for report preparers, auditors, accountancy professional bodies, financial journalists and educators.     

Functional fixation: Experimental evidence on the presentation of financial information through different digital formats

This study examines whether, in the presentation of financial information, digital formats address the concern over users’ functional fixation. The accounting literature indicates that the presentation of financial information either within the financial statements or in the notes to the financial statements often creates functional fixation where users of financial statements fail to adjust for differences in accounting policy. This leads users to judge what would otherwise be identical financial situations as being different due to the different accounting policies and methods adopted. It has been suggested that the use of digital formats in presenting financial reports may overcome functional fixation. Using an experimental design involving accountants in public practice, the results indicate that the use of digital formats to present financial reports does not fully overcome the issue of functional fixation in the processing of financial information. Although the participants were able to identify and extract relevant information, irrespective of whether or not the information was presented within the financial statements or in the notes to the accounts, the evidence indicates that functional fixation remained when the participants made final decisions based on available information. This suggests that functional fixation may not be caused by access to or extraction of information but by the level of perceived significance based on where the information is reported in the financial statements. In general, the results indicate that current technology may not be able to fully reduce functional fixation in the evaluation of financial information prepared in accordance with different accounting policies and methods.     

Colour as visual rhetoric in financial reporting

Visual rhetoric within communication seeks to persuade through the use of picturing and encompasses words and colour. Visual rhetoric is present within annual reports. The specific role of colour in financial reporting is a neglected field of enquiry. A survey of 100 Hong Kong annual reports related colour usage to profitability change and found companies used more colour when profitability both increased and decreased. The eight most popular colours published in reports were identified and an experiment used them to proxy a pervasive form of visual rhetoric. Results show that some colours are associated with more (less) favourable perception formation and with more (less) investment allocations. Gender differences also were examined with some positive results. However, the story is not about identifying and advocating any specific colour associations for annual report usage or avoidance. The focus is about whether colour can influence perception formation and investment judgments. The evidence suggests that colour may not possess neutral effects in annual report communication. If replication studies with larger samples and in different cultural settings can corroborate this as a phenomenon then the implications may be far-reaching for annual report preparers, auditors and users.     

Classifications Manipulation and Nash Accounting Standards

This paper studies a model of "classifications manipulation" in which accounting reports consist of one of two binary classifications, preparers of accounting reports prefer one classification over the other, an accounting standard designates the official requirements that have to be met to receive the preferred classification, and preparers may engage in "classifications manipulation" in order to receive their preferred accounting classification. The possibility of classifications manipulation creates a distinction between the official classification described in the statement of the accounting standard and the de facto classification, determined by the "shadow standard" actually adopted by preparers. The paper studies the selection and evolution of accounting standards in this context. Among other things, the paper evaluates "efficient" accounting standards, it determines when there will be "standards creep," it introduces and analyzes the notion of a Nash accounting standard, and it compares the standards set by sophisticated standard–setters to those set with less knowledge of firms' financial reporting environments.     

The Downside of Harmonisation Haste: The Equity Accounting Experience

While the main harmonisation objective of legalising the use of equity accounting in the consolidated financial statements has been achieved to the relief of Australian business, the Australian standard-setting boards have had less success in harmonising the detailed application and implementation rules. With no clear conceptual direction, they appear to have arbitrarily adhered to, and deviated from, international precedents on ancillary issues of significance to the users and preparers of financial statements.     

Do tax decision support systems affect the accuracy of tax compliance decisions?

Tax complexity has increased over the years as laws and regulations have been consistently added to the existing code sections. This complexity directly affects taxpayer compliance; complexity reduces taxpayer compliance. Along with the rise in complexity has come an increased use of tax preparation software such as TurboTax to combat the rising intricacy. This software is designed to help users properly complete a tax return and, as a result, increase taxpayer compliance. These software packages represent sophisticated tax decision support systems (TDSS) used by both professional tax preparers and individual taxpayers alike. While the availability and use has risen dramatically over the past few years, little research has been conducted to determine the impact of TDSS on tax preparers' decisions. The purpose of this study is to examine whether tax preparers manually preparing a tax return make the same decisions as tax preparers aided by a TDSS. The Theory of Technology Dominance suggests (1) that less experienced users will not be able to adequately use the TDSS and will make inferior decisions when compared to more experienced users and (2) that more experienced decision-makers using a TDSS will make better decisions than their counterparts preparing a return manually. The results support the propositions of the theory and show that less experienced tax preparers using a TDSS make inferior decisions when compared to more experienced tax preparers. The less experienced tax preparers report higher taxable income and higher tax liability. The results also indicate that using a TDSS can help both experienced and novice tax preparers make better decisions even though the novices cannot perform at the level of experienced tax preparers. This study concludes tax compliance is improved with the use of a TDSS.     

VOLUNTARY DISCLOSURE OF FINANCIAL SEGMENT DATA: NEW ZEALAND EVIDENCE

This paper reports on the voluntary financial disclosure of segment data by New Zealand companies and relates the extent of quantified segment disclosure to firm-specific characteristics. The extent of voluntary segment disclosure varies across a sample of 29 firms listed on the New Zealand Stock Exchange. The extent of quantified segment disclosure is significantly related to firm size, financial leverage, but not to assets in place, earnings volatility or a the importance of foreign funding to the firm.     

Stakeholder engagement in internet financial reporting: The diffusion of XBRL in the UK

Internet financial reporting is now widespread with most medium and large companies in the developed world providing a wide variety of financial data online. However, much of this information mirrors the paper versions of financial reports, often with little attempt to enhance the decision usability of the data, providing a so called ‘first generation’ of online reporting (ICAEW, 2004). eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) has been designed to provide a ‘second generation’ of online reporting, specifically to enhance the usability of the data. Documents rendered in XBRL are digitally-enabled so that it is easier for stakeholders to extract information directly into spreadsheets, or any other XBRL-enabled analysis software, without the need to re-key data thus providing significant improvements in information flows and enhancing inter-company comparability.XBRL consortia have spent more than 15 years promulgating the use of this technology within the business and government communities. However, despite their efforts XBRL has not become widely diffused, there is little stakeholder engagement and very few organisations have voluntarily adopted XBRL in practice.The results of a questionnaire survey in the UK indicate that awareness of XBRL, and second generation reporting more generally, resides in key champions but there is little diffusion outside this narrow set of stakeholders. Regulatory engagement seems to be the only impetus for diffusion and better channels of communication within stakeholder networks, such as between regulators, preparers, users and the XBRL community are needed. This paper suggests that currently the supply-push for XBRL is failing to produce effective use of this technology in the UK. Greater regulatory commitment is now needed to create an impetus for XBRL such as creating tools and making publicly available, accessible, repositories of XBRL data. Unless this happens, diffusion will not occur, and the demand-pull which is now needed will vanish and XBRL will fade and die.     

Assuring the integrated report: Insights and recommendations from auditors and preparers

There is little guidance on how integrated reports could be the subject matter of a conventional assurance engagement despite their growing use as an important means of communicating with stakeholders. This paper takes the first step in addressing this issue. The study relies on primary data collected from recorded interviews with 20 audit experts and 20 preparers, complemented by principles from existing professional assurance standards, to develop interpretively three possible assurance models (restricted, integrated and Delphi-inspired assurance).A restricted assurance model concentrates only on the audit of financial statements and the reporting of inconsistencies between the financial statements and other information contained in an integrated report to those charged with an organisation's governance. An integrated approach to ‘assurance’ offers an immediate solution for providing at least some assurance over the integrated report. It relies on different systems of checks and balances to provide directors with a basis for accepting responsibility for their organisations' integrated reports. Finally, a Delphi-inspired model offers a glimpse into how assurance services may evolve in response to the call for integrated reports to be assured. This model relies on a panel of experts to express an opinion on the method used to prepare integrated reports.     

Issues concerning web-based business reporting: an analysis of the views of interested parties

Rapid developments in information and communications technology have led organisations in many countries to consider the impact of the Internet on the delivery and dissemination of business information. This paper reports the findings of a UK study into the views of various user groups, preparers and auditors regarding specific proposals for change and newly emerging practices. Over 500 individuals from six groups responded to a questionnaire study, representing an overall response rate of 33%. Views were elicited regarding: (i) the desirability of different kinds of additional information that could be provided electronically, (ii) the usefulness of different navigation and search aids, and (iii) the portability of information under different formats.It is found that users favour many of the expansions of scope made possible by the web. A range of navigation aids, search aids and file formats are found by all groups to be at least fairly useful, especially global navigation aids. Preferences regarding file formats vary across the groups. Paired group comparisons show that, while expert and non-expert users hold similar views in relation to many issues, users' and preparers' views differ considerably. Auditors' views generally fall in between those of users and preparers. Cyert and Ijiri's (1974) framework is used to rationalise the observed conflicts and congruences of interest, underpinning clear pointers for policy-makers.