To Fair Value or Not to Fair Value: A Broader Perspective

Fair value is considered here with respect to the two primary objectives of financial statements proposed in the joint conceptual framework that is under development by the FASB and the IASB, namely (a) informativeness—to assist providers of capital in predicting, evaluating, and comparing the amounts, timing and uncertainty of future cash flows, and (b) stewardship—to assist in evaluating how efficient and effective managers have been in enhancing shareholders' value. More specifically, a comprehensive set of accounting measures and a set of corporate governance reforms intended to align corporate insiders' and auditors' behaviour and decisions with the interests of investors is outlined. Suggested reforms show how to present a mix of effectively historical quantifications, exit values, and the discounted values of future cash flows expected from the particularized use of combinations of assets within the firm. Additionally, the article describes how markets can be reformed in order to align the interests of the officers who prepare such accounts, and the auditors who certify them, with those of investors. These market-based reforms would require auditors to insure misrepresentations, and managers to take equity to induce truthful reporting. Also included is a radical extension to earlier proposals by the author, requiring an officer of the company to make the market in shares in a way that would place limits upon the value of the insider's private information.     

Equity Accounting: Empirical Evidence and Lessons from the Past

This paper analyses the recently issued accounting standard prAASB 1016 and its predecessor ED 71 in the light of the historical development of equity accounting in Australia and overseas. Empirical research shows that equity accounting was not universally adopted before being banned and that, given a voluntary choice of accounting method, firms are more likely to adopt equity accounting when they hold material investments in associated companies, when the investments in associates are unlisted and when there is a greater level of interdependency between the investor and investee, as evidenced by the existence of cross-guarantees or the level of non-capital transactions which take place. There is no empirical evidence supporting the degree of influence as an important consideration in the adoption decision.     

Fair Value Measurement and Mandated Accounting Changes: The Case of the Victorian Rail Track Corporation

VicTrack in the State of Victoria in Australia began using fair value to value its assets in 2011. In doing this the company encountered the difficulties normally associated with valuing long‐lived assets that are specific to their use. In this paper, a case study is presented centred on VicTrack in order to provide information on the basic difficulties of determining the fair value of assets that are long‐lived, specific‐to‐use and in markets that are incomplete; and to better understand some of the implications of the switch from historical costs to fair value.     

公允价值审计问题介绍

随着国际会计准则中公允价值计量属性的大量运用,财务报表的确认、计量和呈报等方面均出现了与公允价值相关的要求,公允价值会计时代的到来已初露端倪。尽管如此,对公允价值会计的应用依然存在很多争议,其中争议最大的就是公允价值计量的可靠性问题。而如果公允价值计量可靠性较弱,对审计的冲击也会是很大的。如何对财务报表中的公允价值部分进行审计,并尽可能地规避审计风险,是审计人员无法回避的问题。国外的注册会计师职业组织对这一问题作了大量研究,公布了一系列研究报告和指南。尽管我国目前的会计准则中有关公允价值的规定已基本上被…     

Managing the information revolution : Lessons for business from the French Revolution

This article looks back to the French Revolution and forward to the next stages of the information revolution. It observes that the ‘managers’ of the French Revolution failed, first, to see what to do about the revolution's core issues; second, to properly manage the changes that were started; third, to manage expectations; and fourth, to provide committed and sustained leadership. Avoiding these four failures is also critical to managing the information revolution. But the new capabilities of information and communications technology are making it easier to do this. In their future strategy, top management need no longer be inhibited by ignorance of IT capabilities. Managing change can now be based on clearly differentiated roles of business and technical management. And, as understanding grows of the inherent uncertainties of system design, managing user expectations can become more effective.     

Fair Value Exposure,Changes in Fair Value and Audit Fees: Evidence from the Australian Real Estate Industry

This paper investigates the relationship between audit fees and both fair value exposure and changes in fair value of investment properties. The study is motivated by the limited and inconclusive evidence on the effect on audit fees of full fair value reporting for illiquid assets. Using hand‐collected data from the Australian real estate industry, we find a negative (positive) association between audit fees and fair value exposure (changes in fair value of investment properties). Our findings also indicate that the use of unobservable inputs in fair value estimates for investment properties does not significantly increase audit risk and audit fees. Further, we find that audit fees are higher for firms with fair values of investment – properties estimated by external and mixed valuers – compared to firms with fair values estimated by directors alone. This study enriches the audit fee literature by documenting auditors’ pricing decisions in an area that involves significant estimation and valuation risks.     

公允价值会计对欧洲银行业的影响:金融稳定性视角

从 2 0 0 5年起 ,欧洲的上市公司 (包括银行 )都必须采用国际会计准则 (IAS)编制和呈报合并财务报表。国际会计准则 ,特别是所提出的有关金融工具的计价方法 ,将会对欧洲银行业产生重大影响。最近 ,国际会计准则制订者重新修订了推广公允价值会计议案 ,引起了广泛关注。欧洲中央银行的一份研究报告 ,以金融稳定性为基本视角 ,通过考察来自银行业以外各种冲击如何根据新准则在财务报表中得以体现 ,以及因此而导致的银行经营方式的变化 ,深入分析了推行公允价值会计对金融稳定性的影响。这份研究报告 ,对我们认识和研究公允价值会计有一定的参考价值 ,朱海林等同志编译了研究报告的主要内容 ,现介绍如下。     

公允价值的价值相关性:B股公司的证据

本文研究了B股公司按国际会计准则第39号(IAS39)披露公允价值的股价反映,以及公允价值揭示对会计信息价值相关性的影响。本研究发现,公允价值披露显著地增加了会计盈余的价值相关性。按公允价值计量的投资持有利得(损失)具有较弱的增量解释能力。而投资的公允价值调整没有显示出价值相关性。公允价值调整及持有利得(损失)对股价的影响存在差异,原因可能在于我国投资者对盈余的关注程度要高于对账面净值的关注程度。公允价值调整及持有利得(损失)缺乏很强的价值相关性的原因在于,公允价值存在计量误差,而投资者也看穿了这一计量误差。     

公允价值变动列报的市场反应——来自中国上市公司的经验证据

在新会计准则下,上市公司金融资产公允价值的变动需要在不同的位置列报,本文考察了这一改革的市场反应。经验研究表明,金融资产公允价值变动是否进入损益以及不同列报位置,会带来不同的市场反应:市场对于同时在资本公积和利润表下其他综合收益中列报的公允价值变动反应充分,而对于仅列入资本公积的情形则反应不足,对仅计入利润表的情形则会过度反应。本文结论验证了利润表引入综合收益列报的重要性,并为功能锁定假说提供了进一步的经验证据。     

Unintended Consequences of Changing Accounting Standards: The Case of Fair Value Accounting and Mandatory Dividends

A growing body of literature investigates the interaction of changes in accounting standards with institutions such as investor protection laws and corporate governance mechanisms. We examine the unintended consequences of fair value accounting in determining mandated preferred dividends. We study the case of Russian energy conglomerate UES, which had a good corporate governance track record and a consistent dividend history. Following its adoption of fair value accounting, UES reported the highest quarterly profit in world corporate history, but it subsequently omitted dividends for all its shareholders. The case analysis suggests that the transitory nature of fair value adjustments and the interaction with the investment policy were important considerations in justifying the dividend omission. The reduction in preferred dividends was not offset by any capital gains, and led to a wealth transfer from preferred to ordinary shareholders. Thus, requiring the use of fair value accounting when determining the dividend distribution base can lead to unintended consequences and increase agency costs for minority shareholders.     

Liberal Fair Value Accounting in Banks: A South African Case Study

Research findings on the role of fair value accounting (FVA) in the global financial crisis suggest that FVA is not applied neutrally by banks. The results of FVA are accepted when they contribute to higher profits and are actively resisted when they lead to losses. The aim of this article is to investigate how FVA is practically applied by banks in detail. The focus is on banks as most of their assets are financial instruments and thus potentially fair valued, and banks’ behaviour is significantly influenced by their regulatory environment. The research objective is pursued by using a case study of two South African banks. One of these is the largest and most systemically important bank in the South African system and the other is on the crossover between systemic and not systemic. It is found that FVA as applied by these two banks is not neutral. Also included is a demonstration of a method to derive the unrealised portion of profit and equity, the identification of the gap between assets and liabilities at fair value as the driver of where in a banking group FVA profits and losses are realised, and the finding that the restatement of comparative figures was used to circumvent the prohibition on reclassifications into and out of the ‘designated as at fair value’ category.     

公允价值的决策有用性:从经济分析视角的思考

公允价值自提出之日起就备受各国准则制定机构的青睐和重视,但在这次国际金融危机中却备受责难,因此,更加值得学术界从不同的角度对公允价值计量属性进行全面、深入的考察和分析。本文从经济分析的视角,对公允价值的决策有用性进行了探讨,从信息观与计量观两个角度分析了公允价值计量、资产负债表公允价值估值和公允价值利润的决策有用性问题,研究结论支持公允价值的决策有用性,并认为我国在新会计准则体系中全面、适当、谨慎地引入公允价值,既具有理论支持,也能够体现会计信息的决策有用性的目标。     

公允价值应对反倾销的思考

反倾销是我国需要长期面对的一个较为棘手的问题,除了某些国家对我国的市场经济地位不认可的因素以外,公允价值的使用还不够普遍也是导致我国遭遇反倾销控诉较多的一个关键.本文从公允价值在反倾销应诉过程中几个关键问题作用的角度出发,探讨了公允价值在正常价值的确定、市场经济地位的荻取和替代国的选择等方面的作用,提出了应加强公允价值在无形成本计量、企业内控核算体系和反倾销预警体系中的作用等建议.     

The Value Relevance of Equity Method Fair Value Disclosures

We assess the valuation implications of the fair value disclosures made for publicly traded securities accounted for under the equity method. We test the association between investors' stock price metrics and fair value disclosures while controlling for book values on a sample of 172 investor firm-years during 1993–1997. Our results indicate that the information in the fair value disclosures is incremental to the information provided by both an investment's equity method book value and equity method reported income. This suggests that there is nothing unique about investments in publicly traded common stock that involve significant influence that makes the fair value disclosures irrelevant for firm valuation.     

The Effect of Fair Value Method Adoption: Evidence from Real Estate Firms in the EU

The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics - The adoption of the International Accounting Standard 40 (IAS 40) in 2005 by public companies in the European Union required firms to disclose the...     

全面信用报告的价值:美国的经验

本文是美国特约编辑詹姆斯·巴茨博士的荐稿。迈克尔·斯塔腾博士(Michael Staten)是 美国华盛顿乔治城大学信用研究中心主任。通过与世界上其他国家的比较,他认为,由于美国较早地建 立了全面征信体系,美国的信贷市场尤为发达,美国各阶层的消费者,特别是那些低收入的人、年轻 人,从中获益颇多。     

论公允价值应用模式的正确选择

公允价值是一种均衡价格,它能反映资产的本质,符合决策有用观中相关性和可靠性的要求,有助于理顺财务报表的逻辑关系,也有助于全面收益计量模式的实现。在金融危机中,公允价值备受争议,我国使用公允价值也经历了漫长曲折的过程。对公允价值理论基础的分析,表明公允价值相对于其他计量属性具有很多优势,在选择公允价值的应用模式时,应综合考虑其适用条件和使用成本,做出正确的判断。     

关于公允价值本质的思考

目前会计界关于公允价值本质有"独立计量属性观"、"复合计量属性观"、"计量目标观"和"检验尺度观"等多种不同的观点,这些观点的形成与不同时期各国会计准则对公允价值的不同理解和规定密切相关。公允价值是在传统的"基于交易会计"逐步转向"基于价值会计"过程中形成的,公允价值的本质应放在"基于价值会计"体系中进行定位。"基于价值会计"在会计目标定位、会计信息质量要求、会计确认、会计计量以及财务报告等各个方面都与传统的"基于交易会计"有一定区别。在"基于价值会计"体系中,公允价值是会计计量力图实现的一种理想目标,各种计量属性是实现这一目标的具体手段,公允价值体现了"真实与公允"会计理念对采用各种计量属性进行价值计量的一种约束和要求。将公允价值狭义地定位成一种具体计量属性,不仅与公允价值在"基于价值会计"体系中的层次地位不符,也与各国会计准则关于公允价值计量的整体精神相违背,还与实务界常用的计量属性之一——"现行市价"有重复之嫌。     

公允价值概念变更-专访IPA AU总裁Andrew Conway

7月底,中国财政部对《企业会计准则-基本准则》（会计基本准则）中的公允价值定义进行了修改,即从侧重“公允”转向侧重“价值”,在某种程度上,可以认为对保持中国企业会计准则与国际财务报告准则持续趋同有重要意义。那么,此次概念上的修改,会对企业产生哪些影响和挑战？就这些问题,《新理财》专访了IPA AU（澳大利亚公共会计师协会）总裁AndrewConway。