Cultural Relevance of Western Accounting Systems to Developing Countries

It has been suggested recently that the accounting systems used in developing countries may be irrelevant to their needs because they originate in Western countries with different cultural values. The accounting literature on this point, however, is vague in its assessment of exactly what aspects of Western accounting systems fail to meet the test of relevance. Furthermore, it is not clear whether the differences between the needs of users in various countries are differences in kind or only differences in degree. This article analyses these issues by introducing technical considerations in addition to the behavioural ones usually discussed and by separating out problems of accounting measurement from problems of accounting disclosure. This distinction is used to argue that it is the specific disclosure rules of particular calculations inherent in Western accounting systems rather than the transaction cost database that are most likely to fail to satisfy the needs of users in developing countries. The effect of the importation of the French Unified Accounting System to Lebanon is examined and an amended version of the Hofstede-Gray cultural accounting framework is used to clarify the concept of cultural relevance.     

Philanthropic women and accounting. Octavia Hill and the exercise of 'quiet power and sympathy'

Philanthropic work involved large numbers of middle-class women in the performance of accounting functions during the nineteenth century. This hitherto 'hidden' group of women accountants is explored through a biographical study of housing reformer Octavia Hill. It is revealed that in her early life Octavia Hill practised accounting as the manager of a craft workshop, college secretary and manager of a household. She also taught bookkeeping. Octavia Hill's application of accounting in housing management was founded on contemporary notions of order, hierarchical accountability, debt avoidance, the importance of detail and accuracy, and concepts of stewardship and trust. The manner in which Octavia Hill employed accounting as a technique of watching, disciplining and improving her tenants is also examined. There follows an analysis of the relationship between Octavia Hill's accounting and prevailing concepts of domesticity and gendered spheres. The importance of accounting in the feminised profession of housing management during the interwar period is also discussed. Other examples illustrative of the importance of accounting to women's philanthropic endeavour are alluded to.     

The Italian economia aziendale and chambers' CoCoA

At first glance the Italian accounting tradition of Economia Aziendale and Chambers’ system of Continuously Contemporary Accounting (CoCoA) appear extreme opposites. The ex ante financial calculation of distributable income drawing on the net present values of the aggregative net assets in the former, and in the latter a system of accounting for an all‐inclusive income with the separable assets measured in terms of their current cash equivalents, appear irreconcilable, unlikely bedfellows. But the International Financial Reporting Standards present a system using separable and aggregative assets’ fair values and calculations of their net present values in assessing asset impairment. Whether Economia Aziendale and CoCoA are indeed so opposed deserves renewed examination. Anglo‐American accounting, of which expositions of CoCoA are part, is said to lack a business economics tradition of the kind said to justify Economia Aziendale. This stands in stark contrast with European traditions manifested in the Dutch Bedrijfseconomie, the German Betriebswirtschaft, and the Italian Economia Aziendale. This article seeks to understand that absence by contrasting—the Economia Aziendale framework and accounting theory developed in the Anglo‐American tradition. The primary elements of space and time coordination—the lynchpins of the pure theory of the azienda (the core of Economia Aziendale)—are generally regarded as missing in the Anglo‐American tradition. But the original construction of Economia Aziendale leads to the generalization that any attempt to determine a firm's value or to measure and analyse its performance during its lifetime would result in an unacceptable interruption of the space and time coordination, and yield unreliable results. Curiously, the analysis here exposes an unexpected complementarity of Chambers’ CoCoA and some postulates of the pure theory of Economia Aziendale. The theory that has been only partially acceptable to the Anglo‐American profession (namely its use of market [fair] values) emerges as highly compatible with the most theoretically extreme in the Italian tradition.     

The Genesis of the 2007 Conseil National de la Comptabilité: A Case of Institutional Isomorphism?

This article puts forward an interpretation of the reform of the French accounting standard-setter initiated by Decree no. 20076629 of 27 April 2007 relating to the national accounting standards board, the Conseil National de la Comptabilité (CNC). This reform, if it goes to term, will give birth to a French accounting standards authority, the Autorité des Normes Comptables (ANC). The proposed interpretation fits within a neo-institutionalist framework. In particular, it uses the notions of path dependency and institutional mimetism. The new CNC is first put into context as an institution in relation to its predecessors. It is then compared with two institutions, the architecture of which may have inspired its conception, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF). It would appear that the new CNC clearly departs from the historical path traced by French accounting regulation and tends to mimic French autorités administratives indépendantes (independent administrative authorities) of the AMF type. However, such ‘authorities’ are strongly inspired by the American Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). So paradoxically, the model of the new French Accounting Standards Authority would be a SEC rather than an FASB.     

Accounting and the Economic Reforms in New Zealand: A Study of the State/Profession Relationship

This paper examines some aspects of the developing relationship between the state and the accounting profession in New Zealand focusing on a period when a major programme of economic reform was implemented. The paper suggests that accounting facilitated the macro-micro interface by providing the link between the set of values highlighted through the reform process and the internal workings of organisations while benefiting from the involvement in the reform process. It also points out that the ideological shift and the associated values entrenched in the reform programme provided the environment that motivated and enabled the profession to introduce significant strategic and structural changes. Through the reform process, the accounting profession in New Zealand has changed from the traditional ideal type of established profession to a profession that can adapt to a changing environment. This strategy suggests the emergence of the accounting profession as a new group of "organic intellectuals", that is responsive to the needs of its members and the ever changing surroundings.     

A colonial “social experiment”: Accounting and a communal system in British-ruled Fiji

There is now an emerging literature that focuses on accounting practices in colonial processes of imperialism. This historical study theorises accounting's involvement in collectivistic social arrangements within a colonial regime. It analyses the colonial functions of accounting in British-ruled Fiji. We define colonialism by an official emphasis on the customary in 19th century utopian community-type ideas. The paper focuses on the moments and processes including that of accounting that produced such an expression of cultural difference. Rather than taking the communal division as given, this paper analyses the construction of such an identity and the role played by accounting from a political economy perspective. It examines the complex negotiations that sought to define a utopian communal arrangement that exploited, inter alia, the generation of much needed revenue for the state coffers.Archival documents highlight the emphasis on revenue that led to exploitative colonial labour policy for indigenous taxation and its attendant requirement for exacting unremunerated labour from the indigenous population. The paper also shows how accounting calculations were indiscernible from exploitative and oppressive acts of organising indigenous labour for colonial taxes as well as for the collaborating Chiefs’ personal services.     

The role of disaggregation of earnings in stock valuation and earnings forecasting

This paper compares and contrasts two accounting information systems, the aggregate earnings system and the disaggregated cash flow/accrual system, examining their relative performance in stock valuation and in forecasting of earnings. It finds, in general, that the forecasts of earnings and predicted market values from the cash flow and accrual system have smaller forecasting errors than those from the aggregate earnings system. The adjusted R-squareds from the disaggregated system are in the main higher than those from the aggregated system when considering the explanatory power of the model-predicted values. The results also show that the cash flow and accrual system forecasts dominate the aggregate earnings system forecasts in a large majority of industries.     

Colliding Worlds: Issues Relating to Language Translation in Accounting and Some Lessons from Other Disciplines

This paper explores the implications of language translation in accounting. It draws on research on translation in other disciplines, and on insights from applied linguistics. It examines practical problems and solutions explored in other disciplines that we deem relevant to accounting. The paper also examines the ideological, cultural, legal, and political consequences of translation. We find that the ambiguity inherent in translation is, on the one hand, relevant for the translation of accounting principles and can contribute to accounting convergence. We show, on the other hand, that it has the potential to be exploited in ideologically or pragmatically motivated distortions in the implementation of accounting regulation. We further argue that the importance of translation in accounting is underestimated or disregarded, inter alia because it has limited effect on the culturally and economically most dominant stakeholders. We finally examine the implications of translation problems for less powerful stakeholders and smaller language communities.     

Accountability and the New Commercial Agenda

Accountability is examined in the light of an emerging commercial agenda. Specific to this agenda are new business strategies which involve a loosening of accounting controls. It is this loosening of accounting controls which presages some shift away from hierarchical accountability and opens up the opportunity for lateral accountability. However, the authors show how hierarchical accountability orientates managers towards surveillance of "decisions" within a dyadic structure of superior-subordinates. It is argued that, given this orientation, managers are likely to subvert practices which develop in the name of lateral accountability into acting as a "supplement" for more intensive surveillance. To guard against this danger the authors explore an "image" of business drawn from concepts of community, affiliation and self-audit to replace the prevailing "stakeholder-decisions" model.     

CLASS REPRODUCTION IN PROFESSIONAL RECRUITMENT: EXAMINING THE ACCOUNTING PROFESSION

This paper argues that the application forms of the ‘big-five’ accounting firms discriminate against applicants from working-class communities. While issues of discrimination in relation to race and gender have been considered in the accounting literature, discrimination and class in a contemporary setting is relatively under-explored. A historical analysis of the formation of the accounting profession in Scotland serves to illustrate the historical importance of class in controlling entry to the profession. During this period professions such as accounting came to play an increasingly important role in the reproduction of class from one generation to the next. However, in a contemporary setting processes of class reproduction are subtler. Initially access to university education was a key way of controlling access to professions. However, with the growth of a mass education system other strategies of reproduction have emerged. These are commonly based on an emphasis of charismatic qualities, also known as generic or transferable skills. This paper presents an analysis of the application forms of the big-five accounting firms and argues that the selection of future employees on the basis of these forms will favour applicants from the middle-class.     

Interventionist research in accounting: reflections on the good,the bad and the ugly

Our paper advances understanding of interventionist research (IVR) as a qualitative accounting research approach. It reflects on the potential value, challenges and key issues, as manifested by the good, the bad and the ugly. The reflection contributes towards clarifying the IVR landscape, thereby forging a future path for IVR as a legitimate qualitative methodology, to enthuse qualitative researchers to produce accounting research relevant to theory, practice and society. The primary contribution is synthesising the interventionist theory and practice literature encompassing a view of the good, the bad and the ugly in interventionist accounting research.     

Value Relevance of Fair Values—Empirical Evidence of the Impact of Market Volatility

This study examines empirically the effects of market volatility on the value relevance of fair values. Using the modified Ohlson model ( 1995 ) and a sample of U.S. financial companies for the period of 2008 to 2013, this study shows that fair values are priced at a significant discount when market volatility is high. Song ( 2013 ) shows analytically that the effectiveness of fair value accounting is negatively affected by market volatility. Findings of the current study suggest that investors understand the effects of market volatility on fair values and price them accordingly. The study extends the research on the determinants of the usefulness of fair values by looking beyond factors associated with the reliability of estimated fair values (Level 2 and Level 3 fair values). This study has practical implications: current accounting standards for fair value measurement acknowledge the limitations of the market as a source of fair values by offering a three‐level fair value hierarchy with provisions for fair values to deviate from market prices. Findings of this study shed light on a previously little studied factor, that is, market volatility, on the usefulness of fair values.     

Accounting and Auditing at the Time of Blockchain Technology: A Research Agenda

Blockchain is a distributed ledger technology expected to have significant impacts on the accounting and auditing profession. This study, applicable and timely for both accounting and auditing scholars and practitioners, explores blockchain technology and its main implications for the accounting and auditing profession. The research question addressed in this study is: What are the major themes emerging from academic research and professional reports and websites debating blockchain technology in the accounting and auditing context? A literature review of academic literature and professional reports and websites is performed to identify a taxonomy of emerging themes. The study finds that the most discussed themes in scholarly works and professional sources are governance, transparency and trust issues in the blockchain ecosystem, blockchain‐enabled continuous audits, smart contract applications and the paradigmatic shift in accountants' and auditors' roles. Based on these four themes, practical implications for accountants and auditors on how to approach the blockchain development are provided. Moreover, this study offers suggestions for future research on accounting and auditing in the blockchain era.     

Extending the Classification of European Countries by their IFRS Practices: A Research Note

Abstract

This paper expands the IFRS accounting systems’ classification proposed by Nobes [(2011). IFRS practices and the persistence of accounting system classification. Abacus, 47(3), 267–283] to a broader set of European countries. The results suggest a classification distinguishing between four groups of European countries, and add to the evidence, reported by Kvaal and Nobes [(2010). International differences in IFRS policy choice. Accounting and Business Research, 40(2), 173–187] and Nobes (2011)., that pre-IFRS accounting differences influence the options adopted by firms. This study contributes to the literature suggesting that the widespread adoption of IFRS has not eliminated the differences between national accounting practices and that accounting systems classification did not lose its relevance.     

ACCOUNTING FOR DERIVATES: BACK TO BASICS

Public accountants have had a hard time deciding how to account for derivatives that are used to hedge risks, which in turn has given derivatives users and others a hard time. For about six years, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has struggled with several, often diametrically opposed procedures, ranging from showing all derivatives at “fair” values to deferring realized losses or gains on derivatives until related gains or losses on the hedged transactions have been realized (a practice known as “hedge accounting”). What is behind the FASB's inability to come up with a decisive and authoritative ruling? Although the politics of self-interest has fueled much of the debate, there is more to the problem than politics. The author argues that the underlying cause of the FASB's inability to reach a satisfactory and acceptable solution is not politics, but rather a flawed basic concept of how financial accounting should be done. In this article, the author recommends a procedure for derivatives accounting that was endorsed by the Financial Economists Roundtable in its 1995 “Statement on Accounting Disclosure about Financial Derivative Instruments.” The proposal, in brief, is this: Provided a company can satisfy its auditors that it is using derivatives primarily to hedge an offsetting price exposure, the firm should be given the option to use hedge accounting for that part of its derivatives position that is functioning as a hedge. All other investment or speculative uses of derivatives should be treated like other financial instruments and marked to market or fair value. Such a procedure, the author argues, is far more consistent than the FASB's recent proposals with fundamental principles of accounting that have been developed by accounting practitioners and scholars over several centuries.     

Accounting and organizational cultures: A field study of the emergence of a new organizational reality

Organizations have long been known to have cultural properties. A more recent innovation is the study of organizations as cultures: systems of knowledge, beliefs and values in which action and artifact are vested with expressive qualities. We know little about the way in which accounting is implicated in organizations' cultures. This paper reports a longitudinal field study of organizational change, tracing out the way in which new accounting practices were implicated in an emergent reconstruction of the organization's culture.     

试论构建会计诚信体系若干问题

会计诚信是会计核心价值体系中的精髓。在构建会计诚信体系过程中,应将社会主义核心价值体系贯彻其全过程,同时也应注重发挥市场机制的作用,善于运用物质利益原则引导会计人员行为,培育会计人员的法律意识、客观公正意识、竞争意识和创新意识。本文论述了会计诚信体系应遵循的原则、会计诚信体系的内容,提出了会计诚信实施机制的意见和建议。     

The relevance of history in accounting education: Some observations

This paper was commissioned by the Journal of Accounting Education in order to provide our readers with an assessment of the relevance of history in accounting education. Based on over 40 years of accounting experience, the author contends that accounting curricula should be broadened to include the teaching of accounting history. It is suggested that valuable insights can be gained from the study of how accounting has developed and changed in response to environmental changes (economic, political, social). Without such a historical perspective, accounting graduates will not have the necessary background to critically evaluate current accounting practices or be in a position to contribute significantly to our constantly changing profession.     

On the intertemporal value relevance of conventional financial accounting in Australia

This paper examines whether the relevance of conventional (earnings focused) accounting information for valuation has declined in Australia over a recent period of 28 years. Motivation is provided by the anecdotal concerns of financial analysts, accounting regulators, and a cluster of US centric academic research papers that conclude that the relevance of financial accounting (and earnings in particular) has declined over time. After controlling for nonlinearities and stock price inefficiencies, we find that the value relevance of core accounting earnings has not declined. A possible exception is found for small stocks. We also observe that net book values are relatively less important in Australia when compared to the USA. Our results are informative for investors who require feedback on valuation issues and the International Accounting Standards Board regulators in any further moves towards a balance sheet focus.     

Getting management accounting off the ground: post-colonial neoliberalism in healthcare budgets

Taking Modell's [(2014) The societal relevance of management accounting: an introduction to the special issue. Accounting and Business Research, 44 (2), 83–103] ‘societal relevance of management accounting’ agenda forward, and based on a cost accounting initiative in a Sri Lankan hospital, this paper examines how management accounting is implicated in societal relevance. It reports on a post-colonial neoliberal state's use of cost-saving experiments and the resultant emancipation of the individuals involved. It conducts a bottom-up analysis, from micro events in the hospital to policymaking at the level of the Provincial Council. This analysis suggests that cost accounting acts as a mediating instrument: it begins to loosen the old Keynesian post-colonial bureaucratic budget confinements, creates a social space for individuals to consider cost-saving experiments, and addresses wider policy concerns about hospital resource management. The story is illuminated by Gilles Deleuze's and Zigmund Bauman's ideas on post-panoptic societies: old confinements are being problematised and new flexible, ‘liquid’ spaces created, in which individuals are emancipated in terms of their ability to influence resource management within and beyond the organisational constituency.