The European IFRS Endorsement Process – in Search of a Single Voice

We analyse the creation and development of the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG), a key part of the EU endorsement mechanism for International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), which was probably the first example of a dedicated IFRS endorsement system. We discuss the historical background to the EU approach and we analyse how EFRAG evolved over its early years up to the Maystadt reform. Our analysis addresses its remit, its operational structure and financing and the key decisions made in the endorsement process over this period. We find that while national standard-setters had a limited role in the early stages, and EFRAG had limited resources, over time the pressure to find more resources and to try to achieve a unified voice in the creating of international standards have resulted in national standard-setters playing an ever-greater role. Nonetheless, a single voice for Europe is not likely to be attained     

Developments in accounting regulation: A synthesis and annotated bibliography of evidence and commentary in the 2016 academic literature

In this paper key regulation-related findings and commentaries in the 2016 academic literature are synthesized in annotated form. This paper is one in a series of previously published annotated bibliographies published in this journal. Papers published in academic outlets including The Accounting Review, Journal of Accounting Research, Journal of Accounting and Economics, Contemporary Accounting Research, Accounting Horizons, The Journal of Accounting, Auditing & Finance, Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Journal of Business, Finance & Accounting, The Journal of Financial Reporting, Auditing A Journal of Practice and Theory, and Research in Accounting Regulation were reviewed for potential inclusion. The 2016 literature featured strong regulation-related threads as follows: financial accounting regulation, analysis of individual pronouncements, SEC regulatory activity and its impact, international financial reporting standards, income tax reporting, and auditing.     

Financial Reporting in Europe: Future Challenges

Abstract

A roundtable at the 11th workshop of the European Financial Reporting Research Group (EUFIN) on Friday 4 September 2015 in Paris brought together leading participants in the development and enforcement of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and the use of IFRS financial statements to debate the future challenges in European financial reporting. The panellists were Philippe Danjou, a board member of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), Roxana Damianov, team leader for corporate reporting at the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and Jacques de Greling, senior equity analyst at Natixis, vice-chairman of the European Federation of Financial Analysts Societies (EFFAS) financial accounting commission, member of the IASB's capital markets advisory group and member of the user panel of the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG). The panel was chaired by David Cairns. None of the panellists presented formal papers but instead spoke and debated freely about a range of current and future challenges. Not surprisingly, they focussed on the challenges arising from the use of IFRS in the consolidated financial statements by EU companies listed on EU regulated markets rather than the challenges that might arise from the use of EU or national requirements in non-IFRS financial statements.

This paper provides a synthesis of the panel discussions in the context of the European Commission's evaluation of the International Accounting Standards (IAS) Regulation, the International Financial Reporting Standards Foundation's (IFRSF) review of its own and the IASB's structure and effectiveness, and the ongoing work of the IASB and ESMA.     

IASB与FASB财务会计概念框架的趋同

国际会计准则理事会(IASB)和美国会计准则委员会(FASB)2004年开始共同构建统一的财务会计概念框架,该项目分为八个阶段:目标与质量特征;要素:确认与计量属性;初始计量与后续计量;报告主体;列报与披露;概念框架的目的及其在GAAP层级中的位置;非盈利机构的可适用性;完成整个概念框架。至今五六年,已经取得了一些阶段性成果。对这些初步成果进行梳理并作适当评述,以期对概念框架更加关注,加深对概念框架的理解,得到一些关于我国概念框架构建的启示。     

保险合同取得成本会计研究——基于IASB与FASB对保险合同取得成本会计的意见

保险合同取得成本的定义、内容及会计模式对保险公司尤其对经营人寿保险业务的公司来说至关重要,直接关系到保险公司利润衡量和资产负债管理。尽管目前IASB暂时决定取得成本应在发生时费用化,但是关于取得成本会计的讨论一直没有停止。本文在介绍IASB与FASB对保险合同取得成本会计不同意见的基础上,比较分析了保险合同取得成本的定义和会计模式,最后就我国保险合同取得成本会计提出了相应的建议。     

Compliance with International Financial Reporting Standards and auditor choice: New evidence on the importance of the statutory audit

We examine the impact of auditor choice on IFRS compliance under the assumption of strict exogeneity of auditor choice. Our results reveal that compliance is positively related to auditor choice after controlling for firm size, profitability, leverage, degree of international diversification, and whether a firm has a U.S. listing or was audited according to International Standards of Auditing. We also find that auditor choice is positively related to firm compliance when controlling for unmeasured, firm-specific effects. The results of our study reinforce the importance of developing institutional mechanisms (e.g., enforcement, auditing, or corporate governance structures) to encourage compliance with IFRS.     

IASB“公允价值计量”项目研究评述

公允价值是国际会计热点问题。FASB已经发布“公允价值计量”准则,IASB也在积极制定单独"公允价值计量"准则。本文在追踪IASB和FASB公允价值计量项目近期研究动态的基础上,分析了当前公允价值计量研究的关键问题。     

会计准则国际化的战略选择

会计国际化,从广义上来讲可以分为两大部分,即会计准则国际化与会计实务国际化,但从狭义上来讲,则仅仅指准则的国际化.我们认为,当前是会计国际化尤其以会计准则国际化为当务之争.本文以此为切入点,进一步阐述我国会计准则国际化的内在动因、现状及主要障碍,以及我国会计准则国际化的战略对策选择.     

Reporting Performance: Comprehensive Income and its Components

The underlying question raised in this article is: why is the accounting profession's conceptual framework (CF) so authoritative when it is conceptually incoherent? A supplementary question is how can ‘conceptually robust’ accounting standards be derived from an incoherent framework? This article draws on Page and Spira's (1999) contrasting framework metaphors to suggest that the appearance of conceptual robustness is more important than the reality, and illustrates the point with the International Accounting Standards Board's (IASB’s) progress report on its reporting performance project. Some inherent weaknesses in the move towards internationally enforceable financial regulations have been acknowledged, but this article suggests the IASB's project demonstrates two additional weaknesses: internal incoherence, and the potential for political ends to drive supposedly technical regulations.     

基于财务分析视角的改进财务报表列报效果研究——来自中石油和中石化的实例检验

2008年IASB和FASB联合发布《讨论稿——关于财务报表列报的初步观点》,其主要内容之一是将财务报表项目按经营活动、投资活动和融资活动进行分类,本文从财务分析角度对这一思路的效果进行了检验。运用基于改进后财务报表的新分析体系,对中石油和中石化两家上市公司进行分析,并与基于现行财务报表的杜邦分析法进行比较,研究结果表明,改进列报方式后财务报表的信息含量显著增加,财务报表的决策有用性增强。但是,编制新格式报表需要引入更多管理层意图和职业判断,这将大大增加报表编制复杂性和外部审计难度,随之而来的制度成本也不容忽视。我们认为,将"讨论稿"上升至准则"语言",至少从目前来看并不现实,但企业集团在进行内部财务分析时可加以借鉴。