解读套期保值会计准则

2006年2月15日,财政部印发了38项企业具体会计准则.相对于其他37项具体会计准则,第24号准则<套期保值>显得非常陌生.探究其原因,一方面是过去国内套期保值业务并不常见,另一方面则与会计实务界普遍缺乏金融知识有关,加之学术界中金融与会计的融合程度还不高,使得目前很难找到可供参考的、系统介绍套期保值会计理论的中文资料.     

Compliance with flexible accounting standards

We examine to what extent firms adhere to the stated intent of noncompulsory accounting standards when reporting for intercorporate investments. The Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) in Norway strongly recommend that a 20-50% intercorporate investment is accounted for by the equity method rather than the cost method, if the investment is long-term, of strategic importance, and involves significant influence. Even so, we find that the actual use of the equity method is independent of the duration of the investment period, the fraction of equity held, its recent growth, and the investor's voting power. This lack of compliance suggests that one cannot use the observed choice between the cost method and the equity method to infer the underlying characteristics of the investment as specified by the accounting standard. Flexible GAAP may therefore not induce firms to disclose the information that the GAAP were designed to produce.     

Cultural differences and judgment in financial reporting standards

This instructional resource provides you with the opportunity to explore how cultural differences can impact financial reporting outcomes through the judgments accountants make when interpreting and applying accounting standards. It is intended to draw your attention and awareness to culture’s impact on financial reporting judgments since financial reporting is becoming increasingly international in scope. The instructional resource begins by discussing financial reporting standards and cultural differences and then moves into presenting three accounting scenarios. The three scenarios (lease classification, contingent liability, and revenue recognition) examine how applying accounting standards requires judgment and how cultural differences can influence accountants’ judgments and the resulting financial reporting outcomes. In each scenario, you have the opportunity to identify and consider how different cultural dimensions could impact cross-cultural financial reporting outcomes. The instructional resource content allows you to consider the challenges in using and applying a uniform set of global accounting standards that require judgment across cultures.     

International harmonization of Japanese accounting standards

Historically, Japanese accounting standards have been quite distinct from International Accounting Standards (IASs) which have been perceived as being modelled on British-American accounting standards. However, in the 1990s, after the publication of E32 in 1989 and the IASC-IOSCO Agreement in 1995, the Business Accounting Deliberation Committee (BADC), the standards-setting body in Japan, has pursued a policy of harmonization with IASs. Accounting standards relating to consolidated financial statements of companies that make cross-border offerings of securities or operate worldwide are being revised drastically. This paper focuses on the development of international accounting harmonization and its impact on Japan.     

让会计准则早日无国界

随着国际经济一体化的日益加强,资本市场的全球化以及与之息息相关的会计准则国际化,已成为各个国家不可回避的现实问题.本刊特摘登4月15日《中国证券报》采访证监会顾问冯汉光和邱家赐的"让会计准则早日无国界"一文、以飨读者.     

Incompatible theoretical bases underlying accounting standards

The paper presents evidence that demonstrates that U.K. and International Accounting Standards require entries in income statements that are sometimes based on a matching approach and sometimes on a valuation approach. It indicates that the two approaches are fundamentally different and that they produce different net income figures that have different meanings. In these circumstances, the imposition of the standards currently required results in figures of net income that have no defined meaning and are therefore potentially confusing. Consequently, one can argue that the regulators have been misguided in failing adequately to differentiate between the two approaches. Each income statement published should be based on a clearly identified model and be interpretable by reference to known assumptions.     

Agenda formation and accounting standards setting: lessons from the standards setters

There are many studies on lobbying of accounting standards, but the technical agenda of regulators is taken as ‘given’ and why a particular topic was admitted to the agenda is not investigated. Agenda formation is important as control of the agenda determines which topics get regulated and the form of the regulatory response. A few studies have explored agenda formation across regulatory institutions but are largely silent on the role of individual decision makers and technical staff. However, the standards setters have sought to explain their agenda processes. This paper reviews statements by the members of accounting standards setting agencies about their experiences of agenda formation. It identifies insights gained from standard setters and makes some suggestions for future research.     

Convergence of accounting standards and foreign direct investment

Since the development of the eclectic paradigm by Dunning (1977, 1988, 1993), many studies have investigated different forms of location advantages that attract foreign direct investment (FDI). In this study, we consider accounting standards as a component of the institutional infrastructure of a location and hypothesize that the convergence of domestic and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) promotes FDI as it reduces information processing costs for foreign investors.² We also hypothesize that the effect of reduced information costs is stronger for partner countries whose accounting systems showed greater pre-convergence differences because they magnify the facilitating role of accounting standard convergence for FDI. Using bilateral FDI data from 30 OECD countries between 2000 and 2005, we find evidence generally consistent with these hypotheses.     

The reform of accounting standards and audit pricing

This paper focuses on the reform of accounting standards in China in 2007 and investigates its impact on equilibrium pricing in the audit market. We find that the concentration of the audit market and the probability of issuing modified audit opinions do not significantly change, but that audit fees increase significantly after the adoption of the new accounting standards in China. Deeper analysis suggests that (1) the implementation of the new IFRS-based Chinese Accounting Standards (CASs) has increased the market risk faced by listed firms and thus auditors’ expected audit risk, causing an increase in audit fees, and (2) the degree of the increase in audit fees is positively related to the adjusted difference between net income according to the old CAS before 2007 and the new CAS after 2007. We thus conclude that the reform has had a significant impact on audit pricing in China.     

Complexity of financial reporting standards and accounting expertise

This study tests whether firms seek to mitigate the adverse effects of Financial Reporting Complexity (FRC) by investing in accounting expertise. We develop a measure of FRC based on the complexity of accounting standards that govern annual disclosures. We find that FRC is positively related to the accounting expertise on a firm’s board of directors and audit committee. We also find that accounting expertise mitigates the relation between FRC and negative reporting outcomes. Collectively, this study increases our understanding of the actions firms take to mitigate the negative consequences of FRC, and the role of accounting expertise in this setting.     

我国会计准则国际协调效果量化研究述评

近年来,检验我国会计准则国际协调效果的量化研究日益增多,但由于研究的切入点、样本、变量及期间的选择和采用的方法不同,结论存在诸多差异甚至相互矛盾,以致这些研究的理论价值和现实意义有待于深入探讨。本文首次系统地分类探讨我国会计准则国际协调效果的量化研究,从我国会计准则与国际会计准则具体条款的协调程度,以及基于我国会计准则和国际会计准则编制的会计报表数据差异、会计信息含量差异和会计盈余质量差异四个方面,对我国会计准则国际协调效果量化研究的文献进行了回顾,最后对全文进行了总结并对后续研究提出建设性意见。     

Rules, principles and judgments in accounting standards

The distinction between rules-based and principles-based standards is not well defined and is subject to a variety of interpretations ( SEC, 2003 , p. 5). Yet there is a commonly held view that the FASB's standards are rules-based and the IASB's standards are principles-based. This article identifies the basis of this distinction. For research and development, the article compares the FASB standard with two principles-based standards. For each standard we identify and classify rules and judgments, and observe the level of justifications for the rules and assistance to support the judgments. The three standards have rules, are based on principles, and require the exercise of professional judgment; the less conservative standard requires more judgments and, unexpectedly, more rules. The results suggest that the rules-based versus principles-based distinction is not meaningful, except in relative terms. We conclude that a relatively more principles-based standards regime requires professional judgment at both the transaction level (substance over form) and at the financial statement level ('true and fair view' override). Furthermore, it is suggested that any FASB and IASB convergence will require agreement on the weightings given to the qualitative characteristics.     

创新审计准则体系维护社会公众利益

依据科学、严谨的审计准则,对财务信息进行审计鉴证,保障经济活动有序运行,是政府、公众和市场对注册会计师行业的期待,是注册会计师职业的职责,也赋予审计准则建设者艰巨的使命.过去十多年来,在财政部指导下,中国注册会计师协会一直致力于审计准则的建设工作,陆续制定实施了一系列审计准则,这对于提升注册会计师的执业质量,促进注册会计师行业的专业化发展,以及服务于市场经济建设,都起到了积极作用.审计准则作为衡量与保障注册会计师执业质量的权威标准,已得到社会各界的广泛认同.     

深入宣传贯彻会计审计准则 完善社会主义市场经济体制

2月15日,财政部在京举行会计审计准则体系发布会,发布了39项企业会计准则和48项注册会计师审计准则。发布会由财政部副部长王军主持,财政部部长金人庆、财政部副部长、会计准则委员会主席楼继伟、中国注册会计师协会会长刘仲藜出席会议并发表讲话,有关方面代表及国际会计准则委员会主席戴维·泰迪、国际会计师联合会主席格雷厄姆·沃德参加了会议并发言。现摘编有关领导的讲话,供大家学习、研究时参考。     

中国企业会计准则建设的可贵实践和崭新突破

经过多年的艰苦努力和不懈奋斗,今天,中国企业会计准则体系终于发布了。中国企业会计准则建设,是与我国改革开放的历史进程和建立并完善社会主义市场经济体制的时代要求相伴相随、相互促进的。在十多年的建设实践中,我们始终不渝地遵循下列指导原则,确保企业会计准则具有科学性、前瞻性和可操作性:———中国企业会计准则建设,必须为促进我国经济社会发展服务。会计准则作为市场经济“游戏规则”的重要组成部分,为更好地发挥市场在资源配置中的基础性作用提供技术支持和信息保障。完善社会主义市场经济体制,需要健全会计准则体系;同时,只有…     

Professional standards in futures work

The question of professional standards in the futures arena is a major, but unresolved issue. The paper begins with aspects of a rationale. It then seeks to briefly define Futures Studies (FS) and to answer two questions: what is a futurist, and how can one become a futurist? It summarises various proposals for establishing standards including Bell's for a code of ethics. A number of questions about professional capabilities and behaviour are posed and some provisional answers are given. Several implications are derived for the World Futures Studies Federation as a ‘peak body’. The paper concludes that for FS to fulfil its potential it must pursue quality in every area.     

新准则体系下的会计职业判断空间

新会计准则体系的颁布和实施,给企业财务和会计人员提出了前所未有的挑战,其中最显眼的亮点就是会计人员的职业判断的内容空前扩大。企业的会计人员不仅要了解准则制定者的意图,提供的会计信息也必须对企业经营决策提供参考;既要顾全会计信息质量,也要有利于企业经营管理者作出决策。本文将新准则体系内的会计职业判断的主要内容依其特征整理归类,希望能帮助会计人员进行合理准确的职业判断。     

中国会计审计准则建设的历史丰碑——中国会计审计准则体系发布会上的发言摘要

在中国会计审计准则体系发布会上,审计署副审计长董大胜、国资委副主任李伟、证监会纪委书记李小雪、中国银行副行长周载群、中瑞华恒信会计师事务所总经理顾仁荣、国际会计准则理事会主席戴维·泰迪、国际会计师联合会主席格雷厄姆·沃德结合自身的工作领域,畅谈了中国会计审计准则发布的重大意义和对行业发展的促进、规范作用,并对中国会计审计准则制定机构与国际会计组织的积极合作给予高度评价。现将代表的发言摘编如下,以飨读者。     

Are accounting majors really better? Evaluating admissions and retention standards for undergraduate accounting programs

Admission and retention standards for students in undergraduate programs of education are a widely-used tool for enhancing the quality of the students who complete these programs. The authors present a technique for evaluating the effectiveness of existing admission/retention standards and a discussion of the results of the application of the technique at a major midwestern university. The evaluation technique was found to provide a useful means of verifying the effectiveness of admission/retention standards in undergraduate accounting programs.