CURRENT COST DEPRECIATION: A PROGRAMMING PERSPECTIVE

Professional accounting bodies in the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada are requiring disclosure of current cost of capital equipment and related depreciation. In this paper the ability of a normative programming model of the firm to produce depreciation allocations in accordance with economic depreciation is examined, and the model's depreciation allocations are compared with current professional pronouncements. It is found that if the firm can costlessly adjust capacity period-by-period, current cost depreciation is on strong theoretical grounds. Otherwise depreciation should be based on value-use.     

International Variation in Accounting Measurement Rules and Analysts' Earnings Forecast Errors

We theorize that accounting systems affect analysts' forecast accuracy through changes in earnings variability. We argue that the matching and historical cost principles reduce earnings variability, and hence, reduce analysts' earnings forecast errors. We also argue that restricting the choice of accounting methods can result in larger forecast errors. We argue that more informative disclosure environments should reduce forecast errors. We test whether variation in these factors across countries explain variation in analysts' earnings forecast bias and accuracy. Our results indicate that these characteristics of financial accounting systems are complements, and that they affect financial analysts' earnings forecast errors.     

Accounting for government guarantees: perspectives on fiscal transparency from four modes of accounting

Government guarantees are increasingly important as a policy instrument in public infrastructure investment and to assist the banking and financial sectors following the global financial crisis. This paper analyses how different modes of accounting characterize such guarantees in the contexts of public sector financial reporting, statistical accounting, budgeting and long-term fiscal projections. Guarantees are difficult to specify for accounting treatment and consistent conceptualization of liabilities. These difficulties make it attractive for governments to treat obligations as off-budget and off-balance sheet contingent liabilities, rather than recognize them in financial statements and statistical accounts. Miller and Power’s territorializing, mediating, adjudicating and subjectivizing roles of accounting are utilized to analyse the reporting of UK government guarantees. Provisioning for guarantees is complex in financial reporting statements and often absent in national accounts, a deficiency which Eurostat has attempted to address by devising the concept of standardized guarantees and by securing more disclosure of contingent liabilities. There is potential for future research especially where there is greater mediation between the four modes of government accounting.     

A Real Effects Perspective to Accounting Measurement and Disclosure: Implications and Insights for Future Research

Accounting measurement and disclosure rules have a significant impact on the real decisions that firms make. In this essay, we provide an analytical framework to illustrate how such real effects arise. Using this framework, we examine three specific measurement issues that remain controversial: (1) How does the measurement of investments affect a firm's investment efficiency? (2) How does the measurement and disclosure of a firm's derivative transactions affect a firm's choice of intrinsic risk exposures, risk management strategy, and the incentive to speculate? (3) How could marking‐to‐market the asset portfolios of financial institutions generate procyclical real effects? We draw upon these real effects studies to generate sharper and novel insights that we believe are useful not only for the development of accounting standards, but also for guiding future empirical research.     

金融风险的信息质量特征与我国金融会计制度改革

本文着眼于巴塞尔新资本协议第三次征求意见稿提出的金融风险监管和信息披露框架,以我国金融会计制度的国际化协调为切入点,分析了信用风险、市场风险和操作风险等金融风险的构成要素,指出现有监管信息系统和会计体系存在的问题.同时,本文还评价了我国新<金融企业会计制度>等规范对金融风险的披露和监管特征,分析了新制度对银行类上市公司所产生的影响,并提出了建立以风险计量会计披露为核心的监管体系的构想.本文最后对协同新巴塞尔协议的监管原则,建立完整的银行业信息披露框架,形成动态信息披露机制提出了一些建议.     

衍生金融工具会计风险问题研究

针对大多数衍生金融工具为表外业务,无法在财务报表中加以确认和计量的特点,本文讨论了衍生金融工具存在的计量风险,以及采用公允价值方法与及时信息披露方法结合对衍生金融工具计量和披露,由于会计计量属性的原因,会计难以全面披露衍生金融工具的风险,由此讨论如何规避由于采用衍生金融工具而导致的会计风险的方法和措施。     

The Financial Accountability of Australia's Medicare System: A Generational Accounting Analysis

The financial sustainability of publicly funded health care systems is sensitive to the demographics of ageing populations, which have a significant bearing on their financial management, accountability and reporting of their financial performance. This paper examines historical and current trends in demographic structure of Australia's population that are likely to impact on the financial management and accountability practices affecting Australia'suniversal public health care system ('Medicare'). The pay-as-you-go financed funding status of Medicare as represented under both currently required, cash-based accounting principles and proposed accrual-based accounting principles are criticised for not recognising the obligations of the Australian government under Medicare. An alternative system of generational accounting is proposed that projects the financial management costs of Medicare. Data are taken from both historical trends in expenditure and ageing as well as projected demographics. The analysis implies that there is significant intergenerational-inequity in the funding of Medicare, which is not recognised under accrual-based accounting principles that are now being used to evaluate the financial accountability and performance of government entities.     

Financial Reporting BY Local Government And The Disproportionate Requirements Of AAS 27

This paper discusses the economic characteristics, and related financial reporting issues, of goods and services provided by local government. These goods are grouped into three categories: public, private, and mixed public/private goods and services. Modified cash-based reports are found to be proper for government units that provide public and mixed goods, and accrual-based accounting is appropriate for units that provide private goods. When the provision of mixed goods and services by local government is not mandatory, the disclosure of the market value of the assets employed in producing these goods or services is also warranted.     

National Accounting, Government Budgeting and the Accounting Discipline

National accounting and government budgeting include two kinds of financial reporting that are not influenced by, but have an increasing influence on, the accounting discipline. The government budget has changed, over the last sixty years, from a financial statement that was recognisably part of the accounting discipline to one in which national accounting and government budgeting have the dominant influence. There were early attempts to reconcile national accounting and the discipline but these have largely disappeared. Although the three forms of accounting measure the same phenomena, each is different in fundamental ways, in terms of both relevance and reliability.     

政府会计二元结构体系中的概念框架研究

我国理论界已达成"政府会计由预算会计和财务会计两大相对独立的系统构成"的新共识。政府会计二元结构格局的形成决定了人们迫切需要运用二元结构思维重新考究政府会计概念框架的构建,以指引即将展开的政府会计改革。二元结构新理念可以融入政府会计目标、政府会计核算对象与适用范围、政府会计主体、政府会计信息质量特征、政府会计核算基础与计量属性、政府会计要素、政府财务报告等概念框架及其表现形式之中,进而形成新的政府会计概念框架体系。     

政府会计信息披露研究

随着我国政府体制改革的不断进行,我国对于政府会计信息披露的要求也会随之提上日程,本文对我国政府会计信息披露的必要性进行了说明,并对我国现行的政府会计信息披露存在的问题进行了阐述和反思,以此作为改革的理论和现实基础,同时在这一基础上提出了一些相应的建议,希望对我国政府会计信息披露有所帮助。     

Accounting Problems in Infrastructure Asset Valuation and Depreciation in New South Wales Local Government

The aim of this paper is twofold: (i) to investigate whether New South Wales (NSW) local government councils comply with Australian Accounting Standards in accounting for revaluation of their infrastructure assets and (ii) to assess any consequences for the reliability of financial reporting in NSW local government. Using road assets as an example, we analyse the results of revaluations of road assets undertaken by 89 NSW councils as reported in their financial statements during the period 2013 to 2016. In this analysis we focus on the effect of a change in accumulated depreciation and impairment loss component of fair value as a percentage of the gross replacement cost of the revalued assets. The analysis reveals that in most cases this effect is significant. However, the accounting and reporting of this effect is strikingly inconsistent between the councils. Based on a critical analysis of the accounting framework and disclosure of the revaluation effects, we conclude that the main reason for the change in the fair value of assets is altered estimates of remaining useful life. Furthermore, we argue that councils did not comply with the requirements of AASB 116 in determining the useful life of the assets.     

信息税及其对证券市场会计信息披露问题的治理

随着我国证券市场的发展,证券市场的法定信息披露、信息披露监管、会计准则建设等信息的公共服务越来越重要,而证券市场现行较为单一的证券交易税收制度作为公共服务开支的来源很难保证这些公共服务的有效提供。开征信息税所产生的收入、支出和调节等作用会产生一定的政策效应,如提高证券市场信息披露利益相关者对虚假信息披露问题进行治理参与的积极性,提高信息披露监管、信息披露规则建设和合法信息权利保障工作的财力支持,从而有利于证券市场信息披露质量、信息监管质量的提高,有利于证券市场有效性的提高和信息披露利益相关者合法权益的维护。     

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTING IN SPAIN

This paper provides an analysis of the present situation concerning local government accounting in Spain following recent reforms introduced in the early nineties. It presents a picture of the main features of Spanish local finance—budgeting and accounting, the measurement focus, and the basis of accounting—and analyses the financial reporting system adopted by Spanish municipalities. This is followed by a critical review of several weak points in the reform which in the author's view will encourage further developments.     

LOCAL GOVERNMENTS,UNEXPECTED DEPRECIATION AND FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE ADJUSTMENT

Prior management and manipulation of financial accounting information research has overwhelmingly been focused within a private sector setting. This study adopts a public sector focus in empirically examining the use of a specific discretionary accrual (i.e., depreciation) to adjust the financial performance of New South Wales (Australia) local governments. Findings indicate a significant positive association between absolute unexpected depreciation and absolute local government income before capital contributions, and a significant positive association between absolute unexpected depreciation and capital contributions. Overall, the results make significant contributions to various literature streams with implications for various stakeholders interested in local governmental financial performance.     

从美国成本会计准则看我国军事采购成本会计准则的构建

美国联邦政府采购成本会计准则建立的根本原因在于美国联邦政府采购中成本类型合同的使用.其与我国军事采购过程中成本类型合同的使用相似.为加强我国军事采购合同成本的管理,有必要构建我国军事采购成本会计准则,而美国联邦政府采购成本会计准则涵盖的内容、豁免条款和范围层次的使用,以及披露报表的编报,对于建立我国军事采购成本会计准则具有积极的借鉴意义.     

New development: China promotes government financial accounting and management accounting

In late 2013, China's political leadership decided to require the government to practice accrual accounting and prepare whole-of-government financial reports. This decision was codified in the new budget law and followed up by a State Council directive endorsing the reform proposal of the Ministry of Finance. Some basic government accounting standards have been made public for comment. In the same timeframe, the ministry also decided to promote management accounting in order to raise the competency and contributions of China's millions of accounting personnel.     

Social justice in a cold climate: Could social accounting make a difference?

Building on the argument that justice should be the transcendent principle in accounting, we argue that social accounting invokes notions of community, shared social values, and fairness in the distribution of social resources. These ideas are elaborated in relation to local government, which provides a window on how communities make decisions about distributing their social resources and the accounting processes which guide these decisions. Fieldwork in two large but contrasting English local authorities suggests that the potential of social accounting is not reflected in the predominant accounting systems in local government organisations, but in more subtle and successful forms of ‘enacted social accounting’. Its utility relates to the achievement of short-term social goals where social injustices persist and accountants, managers and politicians seek to accommodate financial pressures to protect the most vulnerable members of the community. We identify local government accountants as morally responsible for the further development of social accounting which envisions a future for local government, and establishes links between social justice, environmentalism and localism.     

The Commercialization of Government's Departmental Accounting (AAS 29): Quasi Rents and Public Welfare

In the Australian public sector. departmental administrative reform is intent on producing lean. efficient. commercially orientated government entities. An accounting regulatory response is AAS 29. Financial Reporting for Governtizetzt Departments. which requires all government departments as reporting entities to adopt in principle much of the whole corpus of private sector accounting standards and statements including. importantly, current cost accounting. This paper explores the proposition that the commercialization of departmental accounting through AAS 29 or similar pronouncements is directly associated with a significant reduction in social and public welfare accountability. Accounting processes are powerful. value-laden agents of social change. Benston (1980) states that 'benefits (net of costs) of accounting standards to society' cannot be measured but can be specified for individuals. Here. accounting outcomes are identified to be the residuals of economic policies to eliminate quasi rents in government. Standardization in AAS 29 rests on the assumption that rights and obligations being equities of generations of participants can be periodically measured as A -L = E at current factor prices. This economic notion lacks cultural heritage in financial disclosure of continuing equities in government and may, for any generation of consumers. induce an excess of social costs over social benefits for the accounting standardization process under prevailing managerialist philosophies.     

An Empirical Investigation of the Effect of CFO Power on Disclosure Quality

We examine the association between chief financial officer (CFO) power and disclosure quality, measured using financial statement disaggregation disclosure and analyst forecast disclosure. Empirically, we validate that CFO power, measured by multiple dimensions, is positively associated with firms’ disclosure quality. We also find that this positive association between CFO power and disclosure quality is stronger when firms exhibit higher governance monitoring and accounting quality. Further analysis shows that our main results hold across multiple disclosure quality tests. Our findings are robust to addressing endogeneity issues using two-stage least squares, Heckman selection bias, and propensity score matching analyses. The results highlight the importance of CFO power for the accounting reporting process and decision-making.