公允价值计量运用的利弊及对策分析

公允价值在我国企业会计准则中的出现和运用几经波折,由此可见我国经济环境的发展导致政策上对公允价值的态度也是一直在变化的,究其原因还是在于公允价值计量属性的特殊性。本文在分析了公允价值的优势、劣势以及其在我国运用的局限性的基础上,有针对性地提出了相关建议,以期从理论上帮助公允价值能够在新准则的指导下为我国企业所广泛运用。     

公允价值计量在投资性房地产中的运用研究——福建三木集团股份有限公司为例

当今,经济体制逐渐完善,市场交易也复杂起来,形成了形式多样的衍生金融工具,由于衍生金融工具不具有实物形态或货币形态,加之许多交易实际并未发生,历史成本无法可靠计量,这就需要一种反映市场价值的计量属性,这就是公允价值计量。2014年初我国财政部印发了《企业会计准则第39号——公允价值计量》,对公允价值计量作了更详细地解释和规定,使企业能够更准确的理解和运用公允价值计量,避免企业进行会计利润操纵。目前我国经济体制还不够完善,公允价值计量运用条件还不完全成熟,房地产市场上运用公允价值计量的企业还相对较少,企业对该计量方式运用情况如何,对企业财务数据有何影响,成本模式和公允价值模式有何区别,企业进行会计政策变更会财务会发生什么变化,本文围绕福建三木集团股份有限公司进行分析,评价现有房地产企业运用公允价值模式的情况,以期为我国稳步推行公允价值计量提供参考与建议。     

公允价值应用:现状·问题·前景——一项基于问卷调查的研究

我国2006年新会计准则适度引入了公允价值计量属性,标志着我国开始重视公允价值的应用。为了了解公允价值在我国的应用情况以及企业界对公允价值准则的态度等情况,本文采用问卷调查方式对实务界进行了调查,发现被调查者对公允价值相关知识有一定的了解,但了解程度并不深;公允价值在我国企业中有一定的应用,也具有较好的经济后果,但应用程度较低;大部分被调查者对我国公允价值的应用前景充满信心,而且不少企业也为大规模采用公允价值采取了积极措施。     

试论虚拟经济环境下公允价值的有效运用

本文通过对虚拟经济的内涵与特征进行分析，剖析公允价值与虚拟经济的关系，揭示在虚拟经济环境下公允价值运用存在的问题，提出在虚拟经济环境下公允价值有效运用的措施，以便于更好地指导理论与实务工作。     

公允价值在我国运用中存在的问题及对策研究

随着经济全球化的不断发展,各企业所在的经济环境产生一系列的转变,无形资产,股票,债券,商誉,衍生金融工具等大量"新资产"不断出现,历史的成本计量模式难以对此做出可靠的计量,严重影响会计信息使用者的抉择。美国财务会计准则委员会提出了"公允价值"这一全新计量模式,并逐步应用在会计准则中。本文通过对公允价值在我国运用中出现的问题进行深入分析,并相应地提出对策,将有利于公允价值在我国会计领域中的广泛运用。     

公允价值在非货币性资产交换中的应用

<正>一、新会计准则下公允价值的运用新《企业会计准则——基本准则》明确地将公允价值作为会计计量属性之一,这表明我国会计向国际趋同迈出了实质性一步。公允价值的广泛运用,意味着我国传统意义上单一的历史成本计量模式被历史成本、公允价值等多种计量属性并存的计量模式所取代,标志着适应我国市场经济发展要求、与国际惯例趋同的企业会计准则体系正式建立。公允价值主要涉及企业合并、投资性房地产、非货币性资产交换、债务重组、金融工具和衍生金融工具等方面运用。本     

金融危机与公允价值会计:源起、争论与思考

本文探讨了金融危机与公允价值会计争论的背景、焦点和原因。文章从会计计量中采用公允价值是否优于历史成本、为什么会计会对金融稳定产生影响、会计如何与金融监管相协调并在金融稳定中发挥作用等三个方面进行了思考,为我国企业正确认识和运用公允价值会计提供了参考。     

公允价值在新会计准则中的应用

2006年．我国财政部颁发的新会计准则,在债务重组,企业合并等17个具体准则中运用了公允价值这一剂量属性。本文在引入了我国当前公允价值的定义．分析了公允价值的特殊内涵的基础上,详细论述了公允价值在债务重组,非同一控制下的企业合并中的应用以及分析了目前形势下引入公允价值面临的挑战．并提出了自己的对策建议＇为公允价值的获取提供便利,努力营造公允价值计量核心所要求的公平交易环境。     

投资性房地产公允价值计量的财务影响与决定因素:以北辰实业为例

以北辰实业为例,本文分析了企业在投资性房地产成本模式与公允价值计量模式之间选择的财务影响及其决定因素。与成本模式相比,投资性房地产公允价值计量将大幅提高其账面价值,加剧了企业当期净利润的波动。北辰实业在A股年报中采用成本模式,而在H股年报中采用公允价值计量,这主要源于以下因素:(1)香港会计准则与我国会计准则的差异;(2)两地监管机构对公允价值会计的态度不同;(3)两地投资性房地产信息披露的差异;(4)资本市场成熟度与投资者的理性程度的差异。最后我们总结了本案例对于企业选择公允价值计量模式、监管层推行公允价值会计与应对会计国际趋同三个方面的政策含义。     

新会计准则体系下会计政策选择的思考

企业选择会计政策的动因是:规避市场管制动机;纳税动机;追求管理者自身利益动机。新会计准则体系下会计政策选择存在的问题是:对于投资性房地产来说,成本模式计量同原来相比基本没有变化,而如何运用公允价值就成为一个非常关键的问题;对于企业存货来说,发出存货计价方法不同,对企业财务状况、盈亏情况会产生不同的影响。进一步完善会计准则的相关建议:要加强企业内部控制建设;对公允价值做出明确具体的规定;需要加强审计监督的作用;应加强我国市场环境的法制建设,建立健全管理机制。     

关于公允价值会计的研究——面向财务会计的本质特征

论文从两个方面对公允价值进行了剖析。首先从经验数据层面(数据来自美国证监会挑选的50家金融机构)对公允价值应用结果进行了考察。其次,也是更重要的,又从财务会计的理论层面进行分析。公允价值计量在财务会计中是有用的,将公允价值计量与确认相结合的公允价值会计却无用,因为它是估计数字,估计数字若在资产、负债、权益(净资产)和收益中确认,这就歪曲了财务报表的数字(真实数与估计数相混合,已实现的收益与未实现的公允价值变动相混合)。历史成本信息由财务报表提供较好,而公允价值信息由报表附注、其他财务报告提供较好。     

The impact of the institutional environment on the value relevance of fair values

Most prior studies attribute valuation discounts on certain fair valued assets to measurement error or bias. We argue that institutional differences across countries (e.g., information environment or market sophistication) affect investors’ ability to process and impound fair value information in their valuation. We predict that the impact of the institutional environment on value relevance is particularly pronounced for reported fair values of assets designated at fair value through profit or loss (hereafter, “FVO assets”), for which investor experience is lowest and complexity is highest. Using a global sample of IFRS banks, we find that FVO assets are generally less value relevant than held-for-trading assets (HFT) and available-for-sale assets (AFS). By partitioning countries into market- and bank-based economies to proxy for institutional differences, we find that the valuation discount on FVO assets is more pronounced in bank-based economies. Additional tests suggest that this valuation discount is attenuated by a richer firm-level information environment and the presence of institutional investors with fair value experience.     

Understanding accounting discretion in China: An analysis of fair value reporting for investment property

This study sheds light on the discretionary accounting practices in China, the largest emerging market in the world. In particular, we focus on whether Chinese firms use discretion in investment property fair values to manage reported performance. We examine whether firms’ ex ante needs for accounting discretion affect their decisions to adopt fair value reporting for investment property and the ex post performance management by these fair value adopters. Our findings show that the voluntary adoption of fair value reporting for investment property in China remains low. However, the fair value option for investment property is significantly more likely to be chosen by firms with greater needs for accounting discretion. Consistent with the conjecture that firms choose the fair value model to manipulate reported earnings, we show that fair value adopters use the unrealized gains and losses associated with investment properties to smooth earnings and that these firms are also more likely to meet or beat earnings benchmarks after adoption. Overall, our findings indicate that the use of fair value reporting for investment property in the emerging Chinese market is driven by managerial opportunism.     

Does Fair Value Accounting Exacerbate the Procyclicality of Bank Lending?

This study investigates whether fair value accounting contributes to the procyclicality of bank lending. Using banks’ approval/denial decisions on residential mortgage applications to capture banks’ supply of credit, I find no evidence that fair value accounting has procyclical effects on bank lending over the past two business cycles. I further identify two reasons for this result. First, the main accounting item distinguishing fair value accounting from historical cost accounting—unrealized gains and losses on available‐for‐sale securities—does not affect lending decisions. Second, unrealized gains and losses on available‐for‐sale securities are not procyclical, as the risk‐free interest rate rises during some expansionary periods, resulting in unrealized losses, while the risk‐free interest rate (and sometimes the default spread) falls during some recessionary periods, resulting in unrealized gains.     

Insights from Accounting Practitioners on China's Convergence with IFRS

This study provides insights from accounting practitioners on China's convergence with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Through a survey of 33 senior financial executives of Chinese listed companies in 2014, the study reports their perceptions on the following issues: first, the degree of convergence between IFRS and Chinese Accounting Standards (CAS); second, the choice between fair value and historical cost accounting, and the usefulness of fair value accounting for Chinese companies’ financial reporting; third, challenges in the process of China's harmonisation with IFRS; and finally, essential capabilities of Chinese accounting professionals in the process of China's harmonisation with IFRS. Multivariate regression was used for further analysis. The survey findings reveal that in general CAS have converged with IFRS, with a few exceptions that reflect the unique Chinese context. Historical cost accounting is the preferred measurement base to fair value accounting. Exercising professional judgement was identified as a challenge for China's full convergence with IFRS. Ownership structure and the expertise of accounting practitioners were found to affect respondents’ judgements on China's convergence with IFRS. This study has policy implications for international accounting standard setters and accounting educators to consider the contextual issues of implementing IFRS in an emerging economy.     

The association between firm characteristics and CFO's opinions on the fair value option for non-financial assets

SFAS 157 provides a common definition for fair value while SFAS 159 expands the applicability of the fair value option. This paper analyzes the responses of 209 CFOs of U.S. firms to a survey asking whether they would choose the fair value option for non-financial assets (FVONFA) and investigates the determinants of CFOs' responses to the option. One of our results suggests that CFOs in the U.S. are resistant to the FVONFA, consistent with prior studies based on firms in Europe and Australia. Our results also suggest that firm size, leverage, the amount of non-financial assets, and expertise in fair value measurements all positively affect the CFOs' responses to the FVONFA.     

Fair Value‐related Information in Analysts’ Decision Processes: Evidence from the Financial Crisis

We use a sample of conference calls and analyst research reports from international banks to examine how financial analysts request and communicate fair value‐related information in their valuation process. We find that analysts devote considerable attention to fair value‐related topics. Most of the conference call questions and references in research reports pertain to fair value reclassifications and fair value changes of liabilities resulting from banks’ own credit risk. The accounting impact of these one‐time effects during the financial crisis and a lack of corresponding firm disclosures help to explain the prevalence of these two topics. The content of the questions and references suggests that analysts have different motives for their interest in fair value‐related information. While some analysts adjust reported earnings for unrecognised fair value changes of reclassified assets, most of the observed analysts exclude banks’ own credit risk effects from reported earnings. Thus, the use of fair value‐related information varies substantially across analysts and across instruments.     

The Effect of Fair Value Adjustments on Dividend Policy Under Mandatory International Financial Reporting Standards Adoption: Australian Evidence

Using a sample of firms from the financial sector of the Australian Securities Exchange, we examine the effect of the fair value adjustments of financial instruments on firms’ dividend distributions in the context of mandatory International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) adoption. We find a positive relationship between the fair value adjustments of financial instruments and firms’ dividend payouts, suggesting that the frequent use of fair value adjustments of financial instruments by financial firms following mandatory IFRS adoption has the potential to increase the proportion of transitory earnings in reported earnings and cause changes in dividend policies. Our results add to the ongoing debate on the unintended economic consequences of fair value accounting (FVA) and provide empirical support for regulators’ concerns that unrealized FVA gains from asset revaluation during booms may encourage the distribution of those unrealized gains.     

Adjustment of valuation inputs and its effect on value relevance of fair value measurement

The fair value accounting standards; i.e., FAS 157, FAS 157-3 and FAS 157-4, specify the circumstances where firms need to adjust valuation inputs to fair value measurements in response to changes in market conditions. Such an adjustment inherently involves substantial management judgment and is accompanied with transfers of assets and liabilities among the different levels of the fair value hierarchy. We study the effect of adjusting valuation inputs to reflect market variations on value relevance of fair value measurements by comparing the value relevance of fair value assets between the banks that make transfers of assets and the banks that make no transfers. Overall, we find a significant increase in value relevance of fair value measurements for banks that transferred assets into/out of the Level 3 category. Our study examines a challenging situation in the application of fair value standards; i.e., determining fair value when there is a change in market conditions. Fair value measurement under such a situation involves substantial management judgment and potential estimate errors and manipulation. Our findings provide useful information for researchers, regulators and accounting professionals to assess the market’s perception of the reliability of fair value information when management exercises substantial discretion in adjusting valuation inputs under changing market conditions.     

A note on fair value pricing of mutual funds

Mutual funds claim that they employ fair value pricing to prevent active investors from trading on their beliefs that the funds’ net asset values are stale. Our results support the funds’ assertions. We estimate the returns from the following active strategy: buy international open end mutual funds that do not employ fair value pricing on days that the S&P500 index rises by a large amount, and/or sell them on days that the S&P500 index declines by a large amount. These active strategies significantly outperform pure buy-and-hold strategies. We conclude that international mutual funds should make greater use of fair value pricing.