Reporting on software development projects to senior managers and the board

It is contended that the scale of some in-house software projects (and the potential impact of project failure on an organization's operating capabilities and reputation) is such that the progress of those projects warrants the concentrated attention of senior managers (and possibly, the Board). The article utilizes a case study to illustrate how the adoption of key proposals outlined in the business information systems and software engineering literatures for the management of these projects may not necessarily be effective. This work augments Walker and Oliver (2005 ), which examined the options when accounting for software expenditure and recommended expensing for consistent treatment. This article then reviews the 'information needs' of senior managers, and presents a set of six reporting templates to facilitate the effective monitoring of progress of software projects (including post-migration expenditure on system enhancements and maintenance, and efforts to capture planned benefits). In some circumstances, the scale and risks associated with software development projects warrant oversight of these projects by the Board, possibly through the establishment of specialist 'IT governance' subcommittees. Accordingly, a model charter for an IT governance committee is presented in an appendix.     

合并会计的经济学思考

在合并会计的研究中引入现代经济学理论 ,可以使我们以开阔的理论视野 ,重新审视合并会计的理论和实务问题。本文在这方面进行尝试 ,以现代经济学为指导 ,重点讨论了合并会计的目的——原则和合并会计制度等问题。     

医保医疗款会计核算方法探讨

现阶段,我国基本医疗保险覆盖率达95%,全民医疗保险的制度框架已经建立,医保业务收入占业务收入的实际比重越来越大,未来或将取代现金医疗收入成为医院医疗收入核算的主体,因此,对这部分医保医疗款如何更清晰地核算成为了医院财务管理工作中一个重要的环节,正确、清晰地对这部分医疗收入进行会计核算,会有利于加强医院对医保医疗款的管理。     

The impact of the new Accounting Standards for Business Enterprises (ASBE) on financial results of mainland Chinese listed companies

Effective 1st January 2007, 38 new Accounting Standards for Business Enterprises (ASBE) had become applicable to listed companies in mainland China. Research based on these latest standards will help us understand the current accounting harmonisation process in China. Previous studies, though rather scarce, had compared financial statements of companies simultaneously being listed on the mainland and Hong Kong. However, the very recent impact of the new ASBE has not been taken into account. Therefore, the present study focuses on domestic Chinese companies after implementation of the new ASBE. The financial figures of each item reported under the old Chinese Accounting Rules and Regulations and the new ASBE were collected in pairs and were analysed. Except for the test results on total assets and shareholders' equity, the other results revealed no significant differences between the paired figures of net assets per share, operating revenue, profit before tax, net profit, net profit after extraordinary gains and losses, basic earnings per share, net cash flow from operating activities and the per share value.     

我国推行物价变动会计的思考

物价变动是世界各国普遍关心的问题,针对目前我国市场存在的通货膨胀问题,物价变动会计的研究提上了日程。文章分析了我国推行物价变动会计的客观要求,分析了我国物价变动会计的现状,提出了我国发展物价变动会计的难题,并讨论了相关的对策。     

Analysing the role of sustainable development indicators in accounting for and constructing a Sustainable Scotland

The main objective of this paper was to analyse how sustainable development indicators impacted upon the integration of sustainable development into the governing of Scotland. A major concern was whether an accounting technology could represent this complex multi-dimensional and interdisciplinary concept. We analysed the relationship between the official sustainable development strategy of the Scottish Executive and the associated indicator set using an analytics of government framework (Dean, M. (1999). Governmentality: Power and rule in modern society. London: Sage Publications. Dean, M. (2007). Governing societies. Berkshire: Open University Press). We observed a lack of alignment between these sustainable development indicators and the visions, fields of visibilities, forms of knowledge and techniques of government contained in this strategy. Critical aspects of this strategy were omitted from the indicator set and we argue that these indicators did not to effectively measure progress towards a Sustainable Scotland but that they could calculatively capture and distort the sustainable development governing process. The analytical framework used allowed us to problematise these indicators and contribute to a wider discourse on the composition and nature of sustainable development indicators.     

Using photographs in interpreting cultural and symbolic meaning: A reflection on photographs of the Korean Association for Government Accounting

Building on a sociological tradition of using photographs as a methodology, we suggest that accounting researchers more fully utilize photographs to understand accounting actors’ everyday lives. While most accounting studies have focused on the photographic imagery in published documents, such as corporate annual reports, a few authors found photographs can highlight how physical artefacts can deliver symbolic messages. We explored photographs drawn from the Korean Association for Government Accounting (KAGA) to illustrate how social actors used physical artefacts. To guide our analysis, we relied on Bourdieu’s theorization of how physical artefacts reflect forms of capital. We argue that the use of photographs as a methodology provides a deeper insight into the cultural and social meanings of physical artefacts as a form of language open to multiple interpretations by both the author and the reader.     

The impact on stock prices of deferral and elimination of internal control audit requirement for small firms

This paper examines the cumulative market reaction to the events related to deferral of internal control audit requirement under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and its elimination under the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010 for nonaccelerated filers (small firms). We document that small firms experienced negative cumulative abnormal returns around these events; and the differences between the cumulative abnormal returns for small firms and the two control groups (accelerated and large accelerated filers) were negative and significant at the 1% level. These results support the notion that market participants value the reliability of financial information irrespective of the firm size. Within the small firms, we find no firm characteristic significantly explains the market reaction to the events considered. That is, all small firms lost market value in reaction to the events that delayed and eliminated their internal control audit requirement.     

我国中小产险公司发展模式研究

近些年来,我国中小产险公司虽然发展很快,但是仍然面临着诸多困难。本文从市场份额、盈利能力、偿付能力和经营稳健性几个方面分析了我国中小产险公司的发展状况,并探讨了掣肘其发展的因素。笔者认为,中小产险公司要真正壮大,在发展模式上可以根据自身的情况采取专业化、建立战略联盟、引进战略投资者和并购等战略。