National Accounting, Government Budgeting and the Accounting Discipline

National accounting and government budgeting include two kinds of financial reporting that are not influenced by, but have an increasing influence on, the accounting discipline. The government budget has changed, over the last sixty years, from a financial statement that was recognisably part of the accounting discipline to one in which national accounting and government budgeting have the dominant influence. There were early attempts to reconcile national accounting and the discipline but these have largely disappeared. Although the three forms of accounting measure the same phenomena, each is different in fundamental ways, in terms of both relevance and reliability.     

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.     

Accounting history and theorising about organisations

Historical accounting research has a substantial track record of using a variety of theoretical insights to better understand how and why accounting has contributed to, and been affected by, organisational change and development. The article outlines the emergence of a range of theories that have been employed by accounting historians, against the background of the development of accounting history as a significant disciplinary field within accounting research. From its investigation of accounting historians’ approaches to studying accounting as a central practice in organisational processes, it reveals how historical accounting studies have been informed by and contributed to theorisation of such organisational phenomena. The article concludes that theory is largely used to provide conceptual frameworks for historical narratives, with historical accounting research often focused on case studies of single organisations or organisational settings. However, theory has also been mobilised at more general levels, to provide meta-narratives of the rise of capitalism and the emergence of managerialism. Far from treating accounting as technical practice, accounting historians are revealed as conceiving accounting as social practice, impacting both human behaviour and organisational and social functioning and development. As social practice, accounting emerges deeply embedded and pervasive in organisations and societies.     

武警部队会计的发展过程与展望

武警部队会计作为一种特殊会计种类,其产生发展与国家经济和社会全面发展密切相关。通过回顾26年来武警部队会计的发展过程,分析其前进的推动力量,可以为持续进行武警部队会计改革提供利器。武警会计制度、武警会计机构和会计人员、武警会计信息化、武警会计理论构成了武警会计的整体框架,这正是所要分析的对象。     

Accounting curriculum responses to the 150-hour requirement

Since the 1959 American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Council resolution on the standards of accounting education, a 5-year post-secondary educational requirement for CPA licensing has been deemed important. Twenty-three states have enacted legislation requiring 150 hours of education before a person may take the national CPA exam. Within these states, many colleges and universities have both graduate business administration or accounting programs to prepare their accounting students for the certification exam. The American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) member schools in these 23 states were surveyed to determine the curriculum in their graduate business administration and accounting programs. A significant number (31%) of the schools have installed a 30semester-hour or more accounting post-baccalaureate program. The trends in state licensing and the academic responses have been: 1. An undergraduate concentration in accounting, 2. A graduate degree granted at the completion of the post-baccalaureate hours, 3. Most state legislatures select the state boards of accountancy to determine specific courses of advanced study, 4. Most state boards of accountancy specify broad areas of subject categories, 5. Most surveyed AACSB member schools with advanced accounting programs specify over 60% of their hours in accounting subjects, 6. A majority of surveyed MBA programs with an accounting concentration (72%) required less than 40% of their total graduate credit hours in accounting courses, and 7. A higher percentage of surveyed nonaccredited advanced accounting programs (72%) required 60% of their graduate requirements in accounting courses compared to advanced accounting degree programs with both business and accounting AACSB accreditation (58%).     

会计史研究三十年

改革开放30年来我国会计史研究有着长足的发展,取得了一批高水平、为世界认可的研究成果,开展了会计史教育,形成了会计史研究的组织机构。但当前我国尚未形成完整的会计史学,历史研究对现实的促进作用不够明显,会计史研究人员亦较缺乏。我国会计史研究今后将朝着形成科学的会计史学,突出近现代会计史研究的地位和采用现代历史研究方法的方向努力。     

A Possibilitarian History of Price Change Accounting in the UK: 1971-1985

This paper offers a 'possibilitarian' analysis of the history of price change accounting in the UK, exploring how events might have turned out differently at a number of key nodal points. It argues that a stable current cost accounting regime could have been established significantly before SSAP16 was in fact adopted or, alternately, that the retreat from SSAP16 could have been managed in a way that would have maintained compliance with current cost accounting. Had a substantial period of widespread compliance within a stable regime eventuated, a quite different dynamic might have emerged, including significant user pressure to maintain current cost accounting, thereby underpinning the regime and leading to its long-term survival.     

An historical perspective on governmental accounting education

This paper presents a senior governmental accounting educator’s perspectives on how governmental accounting education has changed over the past 35 years and what we can expect for the future. Having begun my academic career during the 1970s, a period of turmoil and debate about the deficient state of governmental accounting, I look at how events of this period influenced my personal decision to specialize in governmental accounting education and how those events led to a path of dramatic improvement in governmental accounting standards, practice, and education. Key trends in governmental accounting education are discussed along with major changes in practice guidance over the years that have challenged textbook authors and faculty in staying abreast of change. The paper identifies many governmental accounting educators who have made significant contributions to governmental accounting and auditing policy and encourages current educators to seek ways to participate in the policy-making process. Finally, the paper discusses the future outlook for governmental accounting education and concludes that governmental accounting educators are well positioned to contribute to achieving the recently released recommendations of the Pathways Commission (2012).     

Accounting System Reform in Japanese Local Governments

The New Public Management (NPM), of which the change from cash accounting to accrual accounting is considered an important tool, has been in fashion in many developed countries. Japanese governments, however, have preserved control of expenditures on a cash basis, though recently financial management reforms in local government have begun to adopt NPM ideas. Using a contingency framework which views the reform of accounting sub-systems (management accounting, financial accounting and auditing) as stimulated by a combination of internal and external pressures, this paper explores why Japanese local governments managed to survive without accrual accounting and the prospects for further reform in the future. It is suggested that system change itself can be accomplished by internal pressures, in the form of mandated policies, alone but that sustained external pressures by citizens are required in order to achieve the intended outcomes of accounting reform.     

Depreciation Need Not Be Arbitrary

Following Thomas (1969, 1974) the depreciation adjustment charged against accounting earnings is nowadays commonly presumed to be entirely arbitrary when it is viewed from a measurement perspective. This paper develops a statistical interpretation of accounting measurement to show that the depreciation calculation need not necessarily be viewed as incorrigible in Thomas's sense. A probability modelling approach is adopted to illustrate how the depreciation adjustment can be used to smooth accounting earnings over time. Depreciation is thus shown to have potentially useful estimation properties. The results have obvious policy implications regarding the objectives that depreciation and other accounting allocations might serve. They also have a bearing on fundamental questions regarding the nature of accounting measurement.     

会计目标与会计环境逻辑关系剖析

本文在剖析了政治、经济、文化、教育、法律等几大环境因素对会计目标的具体影响后指出 ,会计环境对会计目标的影响是分层次、分程度的 ,政治因素和法律因素主要影响会计目标的存在 ,经济因素主要影响会计目标的定位。当一个国家决定构建本国的会计目标时 ,应主要考虑经济因素。本文在最后粗犷地勾勒了会计环境因素与会计目标之间的逻辑关系 ,并简要描述了我国经济环境的特征及我国会计目标的定位     

论我国政府财务会计信息质量特征

政府财务会计作为政府会计的重要组成部分,其职能主要是对外提供满足各利益相关者进行决策所需的会计信息,从而解除政府的受托责任。作为对外会计,其所提供的产品即会计信息必须严格遵循相关准则制度的要求,并符合相应的质量标准。本文认为政府财务会计信息质量特征具有多维性,首先受成本收益的约束,只有在成本小于收益的前提下提供会计信息才是可行的,提供的所有信息从总体上要求具有可理解性,在内容上要满足可靠性和相关性,在会计信息的口径和方法上应遵循可比性,同时应保持一定程度的谨慎性,而在信息的取舍上主要取决于重要性特征。     

Governmental Accounting in Spain and the European Monetary Union: A Critical Perspective

During the last twenty-five years, the changes in Spanish accounting have been radical and significant, especially since 1986 when Spain joined the European Union. Those changes were first introduced in business accounting, following the patterns of the Fourth Directive, but governmental accounting has also been affected by structural reforms that have modified the financial reporting system, the accounting standards and the accounting principles to be applied. However, the governmental accounting system needs further improvement, particularly given the EMU framework and the relationship between governmental accounting and national accounting.     

环境会计:理论与实务的发展与创新

随着人类社会可持续发展观念的形成,环境会计于20世纪70年代开始成为会计科学一个新的分支,西方发达国家的会计界积极开展这一领域的研究并逐渐形成了具有特色的理论和方法,有关国际经济组织和会计职业组织也采取了多种措施以推动其研究与实践。十多年来中国环境会计研究与实践也取得了长足进步,但在新的经济环境下其信息披露的模式需要创新。     

Financial Accounting Research,Practice, and Financial Accountability

Financial accounting is essential to financial accountability, which is essential to a prosperous society. There are many examples of how improvements to financial accounting, supported by research, have enhanced financial accountability. Such research requires a strong relation between accounting academics and practice; this relation has ebbed and flowed during the life of Abacus. The relation seems to ebb when accounting academics embrace related fields and flows when the relevance to accounting practice emerges. Economics and finance have provided new perspectives and meaningful insights about the information investors need to make informed decisions. Regardless, there are many intriguing and open questions awaiting accounting research that can provide insights into how financial accounting—and thus financial accountability—can be improved. The future is bright for financial accounting researchers who do research relevant to accounting practice and want to contribute to a prosperous society.     

New Zealand High School Students’ Perception of Accounting: How and Why Those Perceptions Were Formed

Abstract

Attempts to change the negative perceptions high school students have of accounting appear to have been unsuccessful. Using the social psychology theory of stereotyping, this study explains why such attempts have been unsuccessful and proposes intervention strategies. Individual perception data were collected through questionnaires and focus groups with New Zealand high school students, half of whom had studied accounting and the other half who had not. The findings suggest that high school accounting students have a very narrow and specific perception of accounting based on their classroom experience. The non-accounting students, on the other hand, have a very abstract perception of accounting, which is devoid of specificity. Failure to address the issues identified may lead the stereotype to become self-fulfilling and result in the recruitment of future accountants who lack the required skills and capabilities required by the profession.     

The Use and Abuse of Accounting in the Public Sector Financial Management Reform Program in Australia

Accrual accounting has been central to financial management reforms designed to promote greater efficiency, effectiveness and accountability in the Australian public sector. This is the setting for the article; however, the issues covered apply to all nations that have reformed their public sectors over recent years. The results of the reforms have been mixed. While accrual accounting has had some beneficial results for the above purposes, the benefits have been offset by aspects of accounting misuse resulting largely from adoption of the business model of accrual accounting, termination of the former cash accounting system, and adoption of some questionable marketization reforms which appear to be more driven by the objective of reducing the size of government rather than enhancing efficiency of operations. Because Treasury believed that the business model was not appropriate for budget fiscal policy purposes, it introduced a second combined accrual and cash accounting system—the Government Finance Statistics system. The use of two accrual accounting systems reporting different results caused much confusion in parliament.     

National Accounting, Governmental Accounting and Cross-country Comparisons of Government Financial Condition

The assessment of the financial condition of governments within the European Monetary Union is based on the 'Deficit-to-GDP' and the 'Debt-to-GDP' ratios. Reliable judgements and cross-national comparisons require reconciliation of national accounting and governmental accounting as well as a certain degree of transnational standardisation of governmental accounting. Recent and current developments of national accounting and governmental accounting systems have not considered these aspects and have therefore contributed, whether deliberately or not, to a questioning of the usefulness of the above-mentioned ratios.     

Core theory and uniformity in accounting: Rationalizing the accounting rulemaker

If there are serious constraints on investors' abilities to process information, as well as to syndicate and share information, a uniform accounting system may convey substantial benefits to investors. After describing the potential benefits of a uniform accounting equilibrium, this article examines, using core theory, whether an unconstrained competitive environment with unrestricted coalition-formation possibilities amongst firms is likely to yield a uniform accounting equilibrium, or whether an accounting rulemaker is necessary for obtaining uniformity. It shows that an unconstrained competitive system may not yield a uniform accounting equilibrium even though it may be in every firm's (and security holder's) interest to have a uniform system. First, the core of the negotiations game among firms to set up a uniform system may be empty. That is, there may be no allocation of gains among firms resulting from an overall uniform accounting system which satisfies both individual and group rationality. Second, a uniform accounting system may have public goods characteristics which make a competitive uniform accounting equilibrium less likely. Both reasons serve to rationalize the accounting rulemaker.     

The Profits of the Dutch East India Company's Japan Trade

This article analyses the eighteenth-century accounting practices of the Japanese trading station or factory of the Dutch East India Company ( Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie or VOC). The factory's trade and its reported profits declined during the eighteenth century, but because of the complexity of the accounting issues involved, contemporaries held different views on whether the accounting data supported a continuation of the factory's operations. For similar reasons, some historians have argued that the maintenance of the factory in the face of declining profits illustrates the poor quality of the VOC's management, while others have argued in favour of the economic viability of the factory. The purpose of this article is to a more comprehensive analysis of the accounting issues facing the Japanese factory present in the eighteenth century than offered to date, in order to propose a way in which the accounting records may be approached as a source of data for historical research.
The conclusions are twofold. First, there were three main accounting issues facing the factory that should be considered when interpreting the accounting records. These issues can be summarized as transfer pricing, currency translation and overhead allocation. While all these issues have been recognized in the literature at some stage, they have never been considered in combination. Second, we tentatively conclude that if the recorded accounting figures are adjusted as proposed, they support the view that keeping the factory open was a correct decision from a commercial point of view.