An Interview with Sylvie Voghel-Chair,Small and Medium Practices Committee,IFAC

How does IFAC support Small-and Medium-Sized Entitles(SMEs)and Small and Medium Practices(SMPs)? A thriving SME sector is a vital part of job creation, social cohesion, innovation and economic growth.     

European Stock Exchange Wooes Chinese Firms

Erik Wenngren, Euronext’s director of international listings, said Euronext views China as its key market, and has set up a special group to attract Chinese firms to list on its main board Eurolist or on the Alternext board for medium-sized and small fir…     

My First and My Last

When George was thirty-five,he bought a small plane and learned to fly it.He soon could made his plane do all kinds of tricks.George had a friend.His name was Mark.One day George     

香港会计师公会启动中小型业务部门和中小企业资源中心

香港会计师公会(HKICPA)近日开始设立一个中小型业务部门(SMP)和中小企业资源(SME)中心网站,提供包括审计中小企业的指南、财务申报和     

IPO initial returns in China: Underpricing or overvaluation?

This paper separates the amount of IPO underpricing(primary market underpricing) and overvaluation(secondary market overvaluation) from the value of an IPO's initial return to evaluate the relative importance of these two factors and their main determinants. Using data on the IPOs of 948 Chinese firms, we find that average initial returns are 66% and that underpricing and overvaluation are between 14–22% and 44–53%, respectively, depending on the method used to assess firms' intrinsic values. In addition, while both the value of the initial return and the extent of overvaluation are significantly negatively related to post-IPO long-run stock performance, overvaluation can predict post-IPO performance better than the value of the initial return. Value uncertainty in IPOs is positively related to both underpricing and overvaluation, and both the underwriter's reputation and the existence of pricing regulation are positively related to underpricing. Investor sentiment has a positive effect on overvaluation but has no effect or a negative effect on underpricing. Overall, our results suggest that in China overvaluation accounts for a larger proportion of the initial return than underpricing,and that underpricing and overvaluation have different determinants.     

Chinese robust economy contributes greatly to world economic growth

The United Nations (UN) recently issued the “Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific for the year of 2007”. It says that in 2006,     

项目库

北京亚太化工科技有限公司融资项目 项目地点：北京市顺义区大孙各庄镇 项目内容：年产3吨(9吨)辅酶Q10项目；年产10吨精品茄呢醇项目。 Financing Project of Beijing Yatai Chemical Science and Technology Co. Ltd Construction Place: Dasungezhuang Town, Shunyi District, Beijing Construction Scale and Contents: Annual output of 3(9) tons of Coenzyme Q10. Annual output of 10 tons of high-quality solanesol.     

European Mortgage Securitisation: A Valuer''''s Guide (Continued)

II. European MBS-Market Tracking issuances, the volume of the residential MBS market segment in the European Union may be esti- mated at 150 bn Euro, which represents approximately 3.5% of the total residential mortgage loan outstanding in the EU (end of 2001). In some European countries, outstanding RMBS are much more significant than the European average. RMBS volume ranges from 3.6% (UK), 7 and 8% (Spain and the Netherlands respectively) up to even 10% (Ireland) of the respective…     

Great Effort in Ensuring Safety and Stability of Energy and Economic Development in Beijing

On Feb.22,Ms.Ou Xinqian,vice chairwoman of National Development and Reform Commission(NDRC),and Mr.Ji Lin,member of standing committee of CPC Beijing branch, and executive vice mayor of Beijing delivered their important     

浅谈影响企业的行为关键因素(英文)

This essay would analyse the key points of the entrepreneurial behaviour and explain why these factors become the import ones and how we should apply with them to become the successful entrepreneurial. Wickham (2004) declaimed that the roles of the personality factor, the resources and the marketing strategy are all the factors that influenced the entrepreneurial process and there are three factors that are the most important ones than others which influenced entrepreneurial behaviour. The essay would base on his theories and use a lot of actual examples to support his views and assay the actions offered by the entrepreneurial and discuss some different views of the opinion.     

Cloud-based client accounting and small and medium accounting practices: Adoption and impact

Cloud accounting represents a major disruptive technology for the accounting industry. This qualitative study used semi-structured interviews to collect data from eight small and medium accounting practices (SMPs) to test a preliminary model of the determinants and impact of cloud-based client accounting adoption by SMPs. Accordingly, the SMP was the unit of analysis. The complex triadic relationship between SMPs, their clients and cloud accounting provider necessitated an interorganisational perspective. Four factors contributed to SMPs’ adoption decisions: perceived benefits of cloud-based client accounting, perceived benefits of partner programs, organisational readiness (IT sophistication and client readiness), and external pressure (client and competitive pressures). Subsequent to adoption, SMPs experienced a decline in the levels of traditional (statutory) services provided. However, most noted increases in income from business advisory. All firms were at least as well off after adoption. Improvements in client relationships and the perceived value of accountants’ services were also noted. An adoption/impact typology predicted and found positive impacts for cloud initiators, in particular. The findings have implications for owners of SMPs, their SME clients, and for accounting professional bodies.     

Global compliance with international accounting education guidelines

The International Accounting Education Guidelines (IAEG) of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) issued since 1982 specify the components for the Professional preparation to become a qualified accountant.

This paper presents the results of a survey of compliance conducted in fifty-four countries outside the USA with International Accounting Education Guidelines (IAEG), as issued by the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC). Its purpose is to provide a benchmark measure of compliance for current assessment of accounting education, and for reference in future studies. This study is the first attempt to examine compliance with IAEGs in all sectors of the world in which IFAC has members. The paper is divided into the following sections: international accounting education guidelines; survey questions; methodology; results; effectiveness of the guidelines, and summary and conclusions.     

IES 4 — Ethics Education Revisited

In 2003, the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) issued a set of International Education Standards (IES). IES 4 Professional Values, Ethics and Attitudes aims to equip candidates for membership of an IFAC member body with the appropriate professional values, ethics and attitudes to function as professional accountants. This paper explores the implications of IES 4 and analyses some of the challenges arising from an international professional accounting body prescribing ethics education. It concludes with an overview of considerations to be addressed to ensure that the implementation of IES 4 is successful .     

Teaching resources

In June 2004, the International Association for Accounting Education and Research (IAAER) in cooperation with the Southern African Accounting Association (SAAA) and the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) hosted a Globalization Roundtable in Durban, South Africa, on the theme of Implementing International Education Standards: The Global Challenges. This was supported by the KPMG Foundation. The Roundtable was held to familiarize members of the international academic community with the International Education Standards (IES) developed and released by IFAC to provide quality and consistency in global accounting education. Attendees at the Roundtable were asked to discuss the IES, identify implementation challenges, particularly in emerging countries, and resources to meet those challenges, including any additional implementation guidance or assistance. This report summarizes the deliberations.     

The reluctance of a developed country to choose International Public Sector Accounting Standards of the IFAC. A critical case study

A movement towards internationally standardized public sector financial reporting started at the end of the 1990s. This standardization process is led by the non-governmental organization the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC). The IFAC has published International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS standards) for all public sector entities from national central governments to local governments. This article analyses the reasons why a developed country refused to adopt IPSAS standards. The analysis is done in the country context of Finland, where the national government accounting board (FGAB) took a negative stand on IPSAS standards. The method of this article consists of a literature review, interviews, a documentary review and of participatory observation in the FGAB. The article describes the reasons for the FGAB's decision and presents an interpretation supported by institutional theory. The choice of the FGAB is compared to the situation regarding the IPSAS adoption in European and especially in Nordic countries.     

SMPs’ Strategic Responses to Conflicting Normative,Material and Client Constraints

The objective of this study is to understand how small and medium audit practices (SMPs) deal with the obligation to conform to evolving norms, given their limited resources and the fact that they serve a client base of mainly small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). Semi‐structured interviews held with 36 respondents working in 33 SMPs revealed that the main response of some SMPs’ to conflicting normative, material and client constraints was to eliminate the normative constraints by exiting the field to which the constraints pertained. When this was impossible, they resorted to less radical strategies. All strategies eventually led to adverse effects, including loss of expertise by some firms and practitioners, a condition that exacerbates the fragmentation within the accounting profession. Disenchanted by an increasingly demanding normative environment, the majority of respondents dealt with their disillusionment by mechanically applying the updates, a process that can lead to lower audit quality. Although the accounting profession was attempting to overcome a confidence crisis by issuing the updates, it ended up ignoring its less visible members and thus triggered upheavals with potentially irreversible consequences. In addition, banks may have been involved in narrowing the audit market for SMPs.     

The Standards Programme of IFAC's Public Sector Committee

This article explains the standard–setting programme of the Public Sector Committee (PSC) of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC). It outlines the objectives of the Public Sector Standards Programme and describes the due process adopted by the PSC. It also identifies achievements to date and examines major features of the PSC's current and future work programme.     

The Review Report: An Empirical Investigation

A laboratory study was used to investigate two questions of relevance to the expectations gap: (1) what differences do the users of financial statements perceive between an audit and a review?, and (2) what impact does changing the format of the audit report from the short form wording used in the UK prior to September 1993 to an expanded version (based on the expanded US audit report) have on these perceptions? Results of investigating (1) indicate that users perceive a number of differences between the audit and the review. Results of investigating (2) demonstrate that expansion of the audit report increases the number of differences perceived by users. The paper goes on to discuss the results in the context of the differences between an audit and a review suggested by IFAC guidelines. It was found that, in a number of respects, IFAC guidelines are inconsistent with user perceptions irrespective of the expansion of the audit report. The implication for audit policy is that any proposal to promote the use of reviews in the UK should address this inconsistency either by reappraising and refining IFAC's guidance on the review and/or by sharpening user perceptions of the review through careful wording of both the review and the audit reports.     

The efficiency of IPO issuing mechanisms and market conditions: evidence in China

This study conducts a comparison analysis on the efficiency of bookbuilding and secondary market proportional offering (hereafter, SMP offering) in the China stock market. SMP offering as described in this paper is not a follow-on offering, but an initial offering applicable to investors in the secondary market. Specifically, as a unique type of fixed price offering, SMP offering only allows the existing investors who are holding shares (of any listed firms) in the secondary market to subscribe to IPO shares. The amount of IPO shares available to be subscribed by the existing investors is proportional to market value of shares held by them in the secondary market. We find some interesting evidence showing that, compared with bookbuilding, SMP offering is more efficient for pricing IPOs, particularly, in a volatile market. SMP offering leads to lower underpricing and lower cross-sectional variation of short-run returns of IPOs. Also, SMP offering is better able to counteract adverse market conditions in the form of low market return and/or high market volatility. Our results are robust to various alternative tests, e.g., the Heckman (Econometrica 47:153–161, 1979) two-stage procedure and an out-of-sample test, after controlling for the problem of endogeneity and for the influence of the exchange of listing, respectively.     

Accounting Education: The Impact of Globalization

This report investigates the impact of globalization on accounting education as set forth by members of a panel at the annual meeting of the American Accounting Association held in New York in August 2009. It addresses the work of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) and the International Accounting Education Standards Board (IAESB) in coordinating accounting education globally, research by the International Association for Accounting Education and Research (IAAER) in support of the IAESB, the work of the International Accounting Standards Committee Foundation (IASC Foundation) and its impact on accounting education, and the impact of globalization on accounting education in Japan.