An Empirical Evaluation of the Costs of Harmonizing Romanian Accounting with International Regulations (EU Directives and IAS/IFRS)

After the fall of communism, Romanian accounting has undergone several waves of reform. The first began with the 1991 Accounting Law and its 1993 Regulations implementing a French-inspired accounting chart and guidelines. The second wave of reform produced Regulations (in 1999 and 2001) for the harmonization of large entities' accounting with EU accounting directives and International Accounting Standards/International Financial Reporting Standards (IAS/IFRS). An interesting feature was the inclusion of IASB's conceptual framework into the text of these Regulations. Our study seeks to identify and evaluate the costs of harmonizing Romanian accounting with international regulations (EU Directives and IAS/IFRS). We hypothesize that three types of costs are prevalent: personnel training costs, consultants' fees and costs to adjust existing information systems. We also hypothesize that harmonization benefits are noticeable for those entities that make frequent use of foreign finance and for those entities with majority foreign shareholders. To collect data, we sent out questionnaires to the finance directors of listed Romanian companies. As full application of IAS/IFRS by non-financial companies has recently been postponed until 2007, we also comment on the benefits and costs of gradual reforms as opposite to a one-step adoption of IAS/IFRS.     

Does a goodwill impairment regime better reflect the underlying economic attributes of goodwill?

IFRS adoption transformed the accounting treatment for goodwill in many countries. Instead of amortizing goodwill, firms now test for its impairment and write off impairment losses against income. Accounting standard‐setting bodies claim that an impairment regime better reflects the underlying economic value of goodwill than systematic amortization. We investigate this claim by comparing the association between goodwill accounting charges against income and firms’ economic investment opportunities in amortization and impairment regimes. We find that the association between firms’ goodwill charges against income and the firms’ investment opportunities is stronger during the IFRS regime than the AGAAP regime. This indicates that, as claimed, impairment charges better reflect the underlying economic attributes of goodwill than do amortization charges.     

高校科研经费间接成本核算模型构建--基于政府会计制度背景

科研经费间接成本是对高校开展科研活动的成本补偿,随着《政府会计制度》的实施,高校在会计核算模式、财务报告编制方面都发生了重大的变化,新制度为高校成本核算提供了制度保障。本文阐述了科研经费间接成本的构成及研究现状,梳理了从资源归集、作业中心成本计算及科研项目成本分摊的整个核算流程。根据资源消耗的不同特点,运用作业成本法和权重比例法的理论和方法,科学地对科研经费间接成本进行分类和分摊,构建了比较完整地高校科研经费间接成本核算模型。同时提出了与模型运用相配套的建议:制定具体行业的间接成本核算规定,规范间接成本的核算;构建并完善高校成本管理系统并加强财务人员的培养;根据高校自身特点,制定科研经费间接成本核算体系。     

Sollen nach International Accounting Standards Abschlußaufwendungen aktiviert und eine Schwankungsrückstellung passiviert werden?

The aim of the International Accounting Standards Committee is to formulate and to publish accounting standards to be observed in the presentation of financial statements and to promote their worldwide acceptance and observance. There is only one International Accounting Standard (IAS) which treats a particular industry (IAS 30 for banks); for insurance companies does not exist a specific IAS. An International Accounting Standards ?Insurance“ is being developed at the moment. The discussion of the Steering Committee for the IAS ?Insurance“ regarding special topics, e.g. acquisition costs or the equalisation provision, was recently published in an ?Issues paper“. The objective of this study is to answer the question if acquisition costs should be deferred and amortized over the policy period and if an equalisation provision is allowed in the system of the IAS. For this purpose acquisition costs must be classified as an asset and an equalisation provision must be classified as a liability. In contrast to the standpoint of the Steering Committee this study shows that acquisition costs meet the requirements of the asset definition in the Framework to the IAS and an equalisation provision meets the requirements of the liability definiton.     

History repeats itself: The acquisition method and nonrecurring charges

The Financial Accounting Standards Board issued Statement No. 141 (R) that replaces Statement of Financial Accounting Standard No. 141, Business Combinations. The new standard mandates use of the acquisition method, which requires expense treatment for acquisition-related transaction costs. Expense treatment is a departure from purchase accounting procedures, but is consistent with past guidance of Accounting Principles Board Opinion No. 16 for the pooling-of-interests method. Restoration of historical and controversial accounting procedures resurrects past outcomes. This study utilizes econometric techniques to predict outcomes of the acquisition method. Evidence indicates that expensing acquisition-related costs may improve transparent reporting. The results, based on 638 business combinations from 1994 through 1998, support the expectation that expense treatment for acquisition-related costs increases the likelihood that these costs appear more frequently and are greater in magnitude.     

Monopoly versus Competition in Setting Accounting Standards

Financial accounting standards are set by organizations granted a significant degree of monopoly power by various governments. While there has been considerable debate on the merits of national (e.g., US Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB)) versus international (International Accounting Standards Board (IASB)) monopolies, little attention has been paid to the merits of using competing standard‐setting organizations (SSOs) for setting accounting standards. We compare the standard‐setting processes of the FASB/IASB to the processes of four technology‐oriented SSOs to assess the role of competition. We also provide a case study of monopoly and competitive standards in telephony. Both telephony and accounting yield some gains from coordination, and similar arguments are used (under the labels of comparability and consistency of accounting) in debates about granting a monopoly to their respective SSOs. Our results show that a group of volunteers competing with the government‐sanctioned monopoly of International Telecommunications Union transformed the telephone industry. Thanks to this standards competition, we enjoy free video internet calling and massive cost savings. Implications for accounting standard setting are discussed.     

Why haven’t U.S. GAAP and IFRS on insurance contracts converged? Evidence from an unsuccessful joint project

This study examines the FASB’s and IASB’s unsuccessful joint project on accounting for insurance contracts. It highlights the divergent views the Boards may hold on certain fundamental accounting issues. Further, this study examines how the costs and benefits of accounting standard convergence can vary within an industry, conditional on factors such as prior accounting standards and firms’ global operations. Empirically, U.S. insurers’ negative market reactions to the joint insurance project suggest U.S. investors perceived net costs would outweigh net benefits. This study also finds that market reactions of U.S. insurers were more negative than those of European insurers. The results of cross-sectional analyses indicate that U.S. life insurers perceived higher net costs associated with the joint project, while European insurers with more global revenue perceived higher net benefits. This work illuminates some of the challenges facing standard setters when attempting to develop a globally acceptable set of financial reporting standards.     

The construction of US utility accounting: 1882–1944

This paper seeks to contribute to a longstanding tradition in accounting research which attempts to understand accounting within its social and historical context. The topic of this historical narrative is the creation and role of accounting in the formation of the electricity industry in the US between 1882 until 1944. The paper is divided into three parts. In the first part we examine how early electrical engineers struggled to understand the nature and behavior of the costs of generating and distributing electricity at the turn of the 19th Century. In doing so, these engineers established a relationship between costs and the engineering concepts of load factor and diversity and developed pricing structures which would recover both standing (fixed) and running (variable) costs. In the second phase, we examine how this accounting knowledge was deployed by early “inventor entrepreneurs” and businessmen in their attempts to dominate the early electric markets in the US and how investor owned regulated utilities emerged out of these strategies as a uniquely North American institution. In the final phase, we examine how accounting became the center of intense conflict between regulatory commissions and investor owned utilities in the US court system – including the Supreme Court – as representatives of these entities vied with each other over the chart of accounts, allowable expenses, the valuation of assets and depreciation. Here we contend that utility accounting did not simply grow to reflect a regulatory process but rather worked to shape utility regulation in the US. In 1944 a legal ruling displaced the primacy of accounting in the regulatory process and shifted its focus from asset valuation to rate of return determination. The space once dominated by accountants was ceded to regulatory economists. After that, accounting became taken-for-granted and matter-of-fact.     

Critical Accounting Research: A View from England

This paper seeks to provide a review of the state of critical accounting in England. The paper first seeks to define the role and nature of critical accounting, demonstrating the breadth of the area of concern yet arguing for the importance of theory. The interested nature of accounting is demonstrated. Following this, an argument is made as to why accounting is important. This argues that accounting information can be used as a steering device to impose and control the interests of particular groups. It suggests accounting is both a tool and a creator of modernity. Accounting information is argued to be malleable. The paper differentiates the programmatic use of accounting and its technologies, providing some examples of their usage in the public services, particularly the Private Finance Initiative in the UK. Finally, the paper reviews the state of critical accounting in England, arguing for the need to ensure that a new generation of critical accounting researchers is supported. The need for research into the impacts of funding and regulative regimes in the higher education sector is highlighted.     

DETERMINING COST OF SALES IN THE CCA SYSTEM

The profit concept in the Current Cost Accounting system is based on the objective of maintaining “capital” in the sense of “operating capability”. This paper seeks to demonstrate that the recommended capital maintenance adjustment of the Australian Provisional Accounting Standard on “Current Cost Accounting”, as it relates to cost of sales, is inappropriate for the stated capital maintenance objective. This appears to be because operating capability is a dated concept, since it is the operating capability existing at the beginning of an accounting period which is to be maintained. An alternative adjustment for cost of sales is proposed which is consistent with the stated capital maintenance objective.     

会计制度变迁与政府治理结构

本文试图通过产权和交易成本理论范式来搭建政府治理结构理论框架,并以此框架来阐释我国改革开放二十多年来的会计制度变迁行为。会计制度变迁行为背后的逻辑关系是政府财政部门为了履行法律所赋予的职责,完善政府治理结构,明晰利益相关各方的产权关系而做的努力。会计准则和会计制度作为一种政府治理工具或手段,其经济后果是降低了政府的监管成本以及节约了企业的交易成本。     

Trident Utility: accounting for nuclear decommissioning costs

This case relates to current accounting for the costs that utility companies will incur in the future to decommission their nuclear plants and how the accounting would change under a new Exposure Draft. There is currently considerable diversity in the methods used to account for costs incurred to decommission nuclear power plants. The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued an initial Exposure Draft concerning these costs in 1996 and issued a revised version in February 2000. The Exposure Drafts propose more uniform accounting practices in this area. The proposed standard would, however, have significant effects on the balance sheets of utility companies that own nuclear power plants. This case investigates the consequences that the proposed standard would have on financial analysts’ perceptions of the financial soundness of utility companies affected by the standard. The case also explores some recent developments regarding deregulation of the electric utility industry and their ramifications for accounting.     

充分披露、完全信息与国有企业会计监督

会计信息的透明度实施是会计监督的必要条件。我国国有企业会计信息的纵向报告方式,限制了会计信息的透明度,提高了会计监督的成本。将报告制度转变为披露制度,将大大提高会计监督的效率。     

Development of accounting in Iran

The main purpose of this paper is to show the origin, growth and practice of accounting in Iran plus analysis of influential factors such as financial markets, tax policies, privatization, membership in the World Trade Organization, foreign investment, and legal systems. Documents of ancient Iran show that in 550 B.C. (Achaemenid era), all records of public revenues and costs were kept soundly and with remarkable accuracy. These documents display the relentless progress and development of accounting in Iran up until now (pre-Islamic era, post-Islamic era, and contemporary era). During the past two decades, various measures have been adopted to promote and advance accounting in Iran via harmonizing the domestic accounting practices with International norms and standards. Although Iran has employed International Accounting Standards as the basis for developing its National Accounting Standards, there are still some differences between Iranian and international standards, and there are some certain International Accounting Standards that are not applicable in Iran. A host of endemic factors, such as existing laws and rules, religious beliefs, culture, economic and political conditions, have influenced the National Accounting Standards setting processes.     

Determinants of accounting innovation implementation

Accounting innovations are often not successfully implemented or diffused throughout the organization. This study seeks to explain this phenomenon. One of the major impediments to the successful implementation of accounting innovation is that management accounting systems are generally used to serve the decision control needs of top management while at the same time purportedly supporting the decision management needs of lower level managers. To the extent that the accounting system is used for decision control, innovation creates the potential for wealth effects to occur. This prompts managers, whose wealth will be negatively affected, to resist accounting innovation. We present conditions where it is likely for negative wealth effects to occur. Under these conditions the system will fail to achieve its intended objectives. Our theoretical model examines how decentralization choices influence resistance to accounting innovation. We argue that delegation of decision rights can limit the potential for resistance in two ways—(a) by creating the environment which allows managers to ensure that their subunits are able to adapt to the new signals provided by accounting innovations and (b) by enabling subunit managers to become involved in the design of these systems. Our model also enables us to assess the consequences on organizational outcomes when subunit managers resist accounting innovations. Based on data collected from production managers, our results demonstrate the importance of decentralization choices on the effective implementation of accounting innovations.     

建立我国财务会计概念框架的路径选择

在基本准则转换为财务会计概念框架的进程中,需对我国会计准则规范体系进行重新的梳理,应遵循的正确路径是将现行的会计准则体系分立为确认与计量准则和披露准则,并由不同职能部门分别进行制定.完整的会计准则规范体系应包括财务会计概念框架、确认与计量会计准则、财务会计信息披露准则.     

The Effect of Regulatory Announcements on the Cost of Equity Capital of British Telecom

This paper examines the impact of regulatory announcements which affect competition, pricing policy and the supply of services in the telecommunications industry on British Telecom's (BT) systematic risk, as measured by the beta coefficient of a market model. Changes in investors' perception of a company's systematic risk will of course also change its cost of equity capital. Since BT's beta coefficient is found to be unstable over the estimation period, the market model is estimated using a time-varying parameter model. The results suggest that announcements which allow the price of BT's services to increase and announcements affecting its supply of services are likely to have an impact on BT's cost of equity capital, since they affect the investor's perception of BT's systematic risk. However, our analysis does not detect any effect from the other types of announcements tested. Further examination of the individual announcements included in the groups reveals that, within the non-significant groups, many individual announcements are significant, but they affect beta in opposite directions and thus no prediction can be made on the sign of their aggregated impact. These findings suggest that when one company dominates the industry, such as in the case of the UK telecommunications industry, the actions of the regulator do not always have the expected effect and problems of regulatory capture are likely to be present.     

Management Accounting Research: 20 years on

This Editorial Report charts the progress of Management Accounting Research in its second decade. Starting by noting that in 2009 there were almost a quarter of a million downloads of papers from Management Accounting Research, it describes the range and diversity of the papers published in the Journal, their topics, research settings, and the theories and research methods used. It emphasises that the editors strongly encourage the use of a broad range of theories and research methods, and they want such diversity to continue to be a defining feature of the papers published in Management Accounting Research in the future. Finally, they urge management accounting researchers to undertake innovative research and to be both original and creative, thereby avoiding the homogeneity and narrowness which seem to be an increasing feature of accounting research more generally. In this way Management Accounting Research will continue to be the major source of leading edge research in the field of management accounting.     

A geographic analysis of constituents’ formal participation in the process of international accounting standard setting: Do we have a level playing field?

As a private organization, input legitimacy, being achieved when inputs received reflect the opinions of all stakeholders involved, is a key issue for the IASB’s acceptance as global standard setter. To study this input legitimacy, this paper examines the evolution of constituent participation in international accounting standard setting in terms of geographic diversity over the period 1995–2007 and examines whether biases (due to differences in institutional regimes) or unequal access (due to differences in participation costs) are present in this process. Based on an analysis of 7442 comment letters we observe an increase in participation over time. However, we also find distortions in the geographic representation of constituents, due to differences in the institutional regimes of countries and due to differences in participation costs, proxied by the level of familiarity with the accounting values embedded in IFRS, with the system of private standard setting, and with the English language. These geographic biases in constituent participation might induce criticism in relation to the input legitimacy of the international accounting standard setting process.     

A fundamentalist perspective on accounting and implications for accounting research

This paper presents a framework for addressing normative accounting issues for reporting to shareholders. The framework is an alternative to the emerging Conceptual Framework of the International Accounting Standards Board and the Financial Accounting Standards Board. The framework can be broadly characterized as a utilitarian approach to accounting standard setting. It has two main features. First, accounting is linked to valuation models under which shareholders use accounting information to values their stakes. Second, the desirable characteristics of accounting information are inferred from the demand of investors and analysts who use the information in practice. This stands in contrast to the “qualitative characteristics” in the Boards’ Framework which are embraced largely on the basis of their aesthetic appeal. These features lead to a set of broad accounting principles that resolve “recognition” and “measurement” issues at the core of the Boards’ Conceptual Framework and also the central issue of a balance sheet approach versus an income statement approach. The framework in the paper also frames the research questions for researchers interested in accounting policy.