Succession Planning in Small Accounting Practices in Regional Far North Queensland

The importance of succession planning, particularly in small and medium accounting practices, continues to become increasingly important with the impending retirement of the ‘baby boomer’ generation. Planning for succession and retirement within a small practice is even more critical in rural, regional and remote areas where staff recruitment and retention is already an issue. This study provides insight into the views of principals of small accounting practices toward succession planning within a regional area of Australia. Applying Sambrook's model of succession, findings reveal that formal succession planning is no longer considered possible by these principals given the perception of generational differences and a change in employment and workplace expectations within the small accounting practice environment.     

县级地区会计师事务所发展中的问题

在国内5000多家会计师事务所中,地处县级地区的事务所(以下简称县级事务所)在数量上占了“半壁江山”,几乎每个县都有1至2家。脱钩改制6年来,县级事务所同经济发达城市事务所一样,有发展,也有问题。笔者拟就其中几个突出问题谈点看法。脱钩改制不彻底、历史遗留问题多按照财政部有关文件规定,会计师(审计)事务所要先脱钩后改制。脱钩主要指在人员、财务、业务、名称4个方面进行脱钩。迄今为止,有相当多的县级事务所特别是边远贫困地区的事务所,除了名称改了外,在人员、财务、业务方面仍未完全脱钩。有些事务所成了主管部门干部家属、子女、…     

The Accounting Burdens Facing Small Firms: An Empirical Research Note

In recent years there has been much discussion regarding the burdens imposed on small firms by administrative requirements, and in particular those imposed by accounting requirements. The purpose of this note is to examine whether the relative burden of accounting requirements is general to small firms or specific to certain types of small firm. The main empirical finding of the note, using ordered probit analysis on a sample of 100 small firms, is that the relative burden of accounts as perceived by small firms is not contingent on the factors investigated.     

Measurement of Formal Harmonisation in Accounting: An Exploratory Study

Extant research in evaluation of accounting harmonisation has mainly focused on measurement of harmonisation and evaluation of its impact on share market indicators. Within these themes, however, researchers have been studying the impact of formal harmonisation on material harmonisation, and share prices and returns. Given the important role formal harmonisation plays in accounting harmonisation, this study introduces a methodology for the measurement of formal accounting harmony between countries. The methodology introduced in this paper can be used to identify areas of harmony or disharmony for policy-making purposes. It also provides means of gaining valuable insights into the nature of harmony or disharmony between different countries' accounting rules. Finally, it creates new grounds for examining various other aspects of accounting harmonisation.     

Public Choice and Accounting Standard Setting in New Zealand: An Exploratory Study

Recent studies in accounting regulation have used either the capture argument or the pluralistic notion to describe the enactment of accounting regulations. This paper explores the nature of the impact of public choice in accounting standard setting in New Zealand using the pluralistic notion. To provide an insight into the standard-setting process, this paper involves an examination of the establishment, withdrawal and re-establishment of New Zealand's most controversial standard after current cost accounting — the standard on investment property accounting (SSAP 17). The investigation considers the nature of public choice in the agenda entrance, demand and supply factors influencing standard setting in New Zealand. The results indicate that the New Zealand accounting standard-setting process is pluralistic in a limited way. Like most other English-speaking countries, the scope of participation for certain groups has been institutionalized on the supply side by way of membership of standard-setting committees of the New Zealand Society of Accountants. On the demand side, however, consumers of accounting have been provided with only limited scope for participating in the formal process of standard setting. Nevertheless, other means (i.e., exogenous and informal ones) may be used to influence the process. Overall, from both the demand and supply perspectives of regulation, the Big-8 accounting firms (as they were previously known) followed by the preparers of financial statements, seem to have greater participatory capacity in the New Zealand standard-setting process.     

论当前会计理论与实务中的一些问题

在目前的会计理论研究和会计实际工作中,还存在着许多误区,干扰着会计理论研究和实际工作.在此笔者提出一些个人浅见,供探讨.     

An Exploratory Analysis of Accounting Expert System Abstracts

A classification scheme was developed to show trends and categorize articles on accounting expert systems (AES) which were written during the period 1977 to 1989 and abstracted in Brown (1989). The analysis shows that the number of articles on AES has been burgeoning since 1985. The number of introductory articles has declined, as authors have assumed reader familiarity with expert systems concepts. Research in all areas of accounting has been increasing and a wide range of issues in AES has been covered, but with an increasing emphasis on tax and auditing, perhaps due to the influence of large management consulting/accounting firms. Finally, for most subcategories within AES, the focus of the articles along the ES dimension has been on the prototyping and working model stages of development.     

An Interpretive Inquiry of Accounting Practices in Religious Organisations

This paper reports the study of accounting practices as embedded in two religious organisations in Malaysia. The research is an attempt to study accounting practices in a cultural setting that has not been the subject of previous interpretive accounting research. The study also makes a contribution towards the need for accounting research to become more explanatory of accounting as social practice wherein theory is both informed, and is developed by observation. This is achieved by developing grounded theory from the data and is in accordance with recent calls for case studies in accounting research to be more concerned with producing social theories of accounting practice.     

Budgeting in Catholic Parishes: An Exploratory Study

In this paper an aspect of accounting, namely budgeting, has been studied in an organizational context. According to Booth (1993) churches represent 'extreme cases' in which to study the impact of accounting. Following on from Laughlin (1988) Booth considered the sacred and secular divide to be a significant element in the use of accounting by church organizations. The parishes of the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne form the context of this study in which evidence is sought for the sacred and secular divide by studying the role of budgeting in the parish. Questions were asked regarding participation in the budgetary process and the development and use of the budget. It was found that there was little consultation or participation in the budgetary process and that the use of the budget was restricted. These findings suggest that the sacred and secular divide operates at the parish level.     

《小企业会计制度》制定中的有关问题

在相继制定发布了《企业会计制度》和《金融企业会计制度》以后,财政部于2002年开始着手制定《小企业会计制度》,历经两年多时间,于2004年4月27日正式发布,今年1月1日起已开始在全国范围内实施。为帮助各方面了解《小企业会计制度》的有关内容,现对该制度在制定过程中涉及的有关问题作一简要回顾。关于小企业的划分标准制定《小企业会计制度》,首先要遇到的问题就是规定制度的适用范围。目前各国对小企业的界定有所不同,主要是因为不同国家经济发展情况和阶段不同,企业规模的划分也有所不同。(一)国外及相关国际组织对企业规模的划分1.从定…     

EC Accounting Harmonisation: An Empirical Study of Measurement Practices in France,Germany and the UK

This research attempts to assess the extent to which accounting measurement practices in France, Germany and the UK are currently harmonised in the context of the major effort that has been made to promote EC accounting harmonisation. The statistical tests show that there are significant differences between France, Germany and the UK in respect of all the practices evaluated. Furthermore, the I-indices used to measure the overall level of international accounting harmony across the three countries indicate a wide and relatively low range of values.     

企业所得税会计几个问题的探讨

本文研究企业所得税会计问题。针对我国企业所得税会计准则在执行过程中存在的方法、理念几个等认识误区问题,提出相应解决措施,主张理念决定方法,只有从理念、依据的角度深刻认识所得税会计准则的主旨,才能在实际工作中正确执行准则的相关规定。     

Disclosure Practices, Enforcement of Accounting Standards, and Analysts' Forecast Accuracy: An International Study

Using a sample from 22 countries, I investigate the relations between the accuracy of analysts' earnings forecasts and the level of annual report disclosure, and between forecast accuracy and the degree of enforcement of accounting standards. I document that firm‐level disclosures are positively related to forecast accuracy, suggesting that such disclosures provide useful information to analysts. I construct a comprehensive measure of enforcement and find that strong enforcement is associated with higher forecast accuracy. This finding is consistent with the hypothesis that enforcement encourages managers to follow prescribed accounting rules, which, in turn, reduces analysts' uncertainty about future earnings. I also find evidence consistent with disclosures being more important when analyst following is low and with enforcement being more important when more choice among accounting methods is allowed.     

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People in the Accounting Profession – An Exploratory Study

The aim of this article is to explore the role that accounting skills and accounting qualifications may play in entering fields that have been virtually closed to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) 1 people. It is acknowledged in the literature that accounting processes and accountants have historically had a domineering and detrimental impact on marginalised groups, such as ATSI peoples. However, we propose an alternative viewpoint using a Bourdieun perspective and theorise that accounting skills and accounting qualifications (capital) can open doors to powerful organisations and institutions (fields). As this is an exploratory study, we have limited our analysis to one key aspect of the Bourdieun framework, namely that of field. To that end, we examine accounting and other organisations that have traditionally closed their doors to marginalised groups in society. Interviews were conducted with ATSI people who have successfully gained entry into the field of the accounting profession, in an effort to understand the experiences and barriers they faced and to investigate the role that accounting skills plays in enabling ATSI people access to fields and decision‐making positions that have traditionally been inaccessible to them.     

Auditors' Conflict Management Styles: An Exploratory Study

This study explores the conflict management styles used by auditors when resolving disputes with clients concerning financial statement issues. Rahim's (1983a, 1990) ROCI–II conflict management instrument was used to establish both the styles generally used and also those used in a scenario concerning possible inventory obsolescence. Size of the client and the strength of its corporate governance mechanisms were manipulated in the scenario. It was found that auditors indicate that they primarily use the integrating style to resolve disputes. The compromising and dominating styles are used to a lesser extent while the obliging and avoiding styles are rarely used. Partners are more likely than managers to use more assertive styles of conflict management. The size of the client and the strength of corporate governance mechanisms in place have a significant but relatively minor impact on the choice of styles. The study also identifies the parties whom the auditor would expect to help resolve the dispute. It was found that, when resolving a dispute with the client's chief financial officer, the audit committee is perceived to give the most assistance, followed by the chief executive of icer.     

会计实务问题(一)——资产核算

为促进注册会计师业务知识与技术的学习,我刊新设“业务讲座”栏目。本期开始,先约请浙江天健会计师事务所主任会计师胡少先根据现行会计制度、会计准则规定的基本精神,参照国际惯例,对若干会计实务问题的处理进行了分析,并提出处理建议,供行业同人参考。     

Issues Facing Overseas Banks in China

The increasing presence of foreign banks has been an important aspect of banking reform in China. Since China’s entry into WTO and its acceptance of WTO commitments, China has spared no ef orts to open...     

Management Accounting and Service Industries: An Exploratory Account of Historical and Current Economic Contexts

Management accounting's development between 1880 and 1930 was rapid but subsequently truncated. This development was notable for its synergy with coincident economic and social changes and a reliance on impetus from the practical experiences of the members of other disciplines. Since World War II, advanced economies have become increasingly dependent upon their service sectors. The characteristics of service firms differ from those of manufacturers on a number of criteria including average number of employees. The accounting implications of these circumstances may include reappraisal of: the behavioural assumptions of management accounting; the roles of budgets; appropriate budget use styles; the utility of management accounting in ambiguous situations; and qualitative research into organizational contexts.     

Corporate Reporting on the Internet in Australia: An Exploratory Study

This paper documents a research study on corporate reporting on the Internet by Australian companies. The findings suggest that while corporate reporting on the Internet is emerging in Australia, current practice does not utilise the full potential of the Internet to disclose information to stakeholders. Only limited evidence was found of changes in the reporting practices of companies resulting from opportunities for innovation in information dissemination offered by this technology.