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.     

Accounting for Public Hospitals: A Case Study of Modified GAAP

Public hospitals in the U.K. apply GAAP as modified by the Treasury, the Financial Reporting Advisory Board (FRAB) and the Department of Health. Individual National Health Service (NHS) Trusts apply their interpretation of the accounting manuals with further guidance and scrutiny from oversight bodies such as the Audit Commission. This article uses a case study approach to investigate how GAAP is modified and to outline the consequences of the constructed reality. The modifications are layered and often opaque. The accounts are constructed according to accounting requirements stipulated by Government and the account preparers adapt the requirements at Trust level. The accounting statements play a part in constructing a reality ( Hines, 1988 ) that has consequences through the NHS control regime and in how the financial position is portrayed to the public. It appears that GAAP is used to legitimate the NHS as a modern organization applying commercial accounting practice, but the accounting statements provide a distorted view of GAAP compliant statements. The accounting, while not itself real, is real in its consequences and can lead to biased decision‐making, service closures and job losses. The planned compliance of NHS Trusts with international GAAP may provide further scope for modification and manipulation in constructing NHS accounting reality.     

我国会计基础工作改革研究——基于英美法系角度

本文研究了英美法系的代表国家美国、英国与加拿大会计的基本特征,提出完善我国会计基础工作的相关建议.研究发现,英美法系国家会计的共同特征是,“真实与公允”是会计核算的最基本要求,会计准则的制定高度专业化、职业化,并考虑到了国际财务报告的要求;会计核算和信息披露与企业规模和性质存在相关性;会计人员管理市场化,民间组织在会计市场的资源配置中起到了重要的作用;原始凭证民主管理,没有统一规范的标准样式;内部控制成为法定要求.英美法系国家会计工作的这些经验值得我们吸收借鉴.     

会计信息不实的行政法律规制研究

1929年-1933年席卷欧美的经济危机和2008年世界金融危机本质上是会计信息不实孕育的“恶果”,证明会计信息不实具有严重的社会危害性。为把不实会计信息的状况限制在低水平,保护相关利益主体的权益,防止信息障碍累积,构建有效经济社会信用体系,避免经济发生重大病变,需要实施全过程一般会计信息问题的有效行政法律监管。如何实施会计信息不实的行政监管,关键是从操作层面完善现有行政法律规制内容.     

The Case for Simplicity in Accounting

The past fifty years have seen a surge of accounting novelties without parallel in its prior history. Yet countless tradespeople and firms have survived and prospered under the guidance of persons of modest education and a measure of commonsense, while many 'high-fliers' around the world have crashed spectacularly to the dismay of those who trusted in their acumen. One reason for this conjunction seems to be the reliance of segments of the financial community on apparently sophisticated but quite naive innovations in accounting practice. It suggests reform of accounting ideas and practices by recourse to the essential simplicity of commercial intercourse.     

The effect of government industrial policies on corporate accounting conservatism

This study examines whether and how firms adjust their accounting conservatism in response to government support through industrial policies, which reduce firms’ dependence on external financing from the capital market. Based on China’s unique economic programme called ‘Five-Year Plan’ from 1991 to 2015, we observe a decline in accounting conservatism among firms covered by government industrial policies. The decline is more pronounced in covered firms, which face higher ex-ante financial constraints, and in the subsample of firms which receive higher government support. These findings are robust to alternative specifications of accounting conservatism and policy timing. Our evidence implies that government industrial policies can have unintended consequences for corporate financial reporting.     

Accounting for Public Policy Actions: The Case of Motor Carrier Deregulation

An important concern of accounting policy is the provision of guidance for the reporting of relevant information related to economic events including public policy actions. In the case of motor carrier deregulation, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued a specialized accounting standard which required all regulated motor carriers to write off as extraordinary losses the intangible assets associated with their interstate operating rights. The specific focus of the present research was to investigate the extent to which these reported accounting losses reflect real economic losses. The findings provide evidence that industry-wide economic losses are unsubstantiated. The study concludes that a requirement that all firms involved in a regulatory reform to report write-offs which are unsupported by entity-specific transactions or events can result in serious economic consequences. Also discussed are the more general issues relevant to the promulgation of specialized accounting standards, the impact of accounting policy on public policy formulations, and accounting treatments for politically sensitive issues.     

Research horizons for public and private not‐for‐profit sector reporting: moving the bar in the right direction

The examination of public and private not‐for‐profit sector financial reporting has been a topic of interest on a cyclical basis in Australia over the last 30 years. Traditional topics have included examinations of the intended and unintended consequences of specific standards, the accountability value of financial reports, transaction neutrality, compliance with the accounting standards, and more recently, the prospective implications of new, differently focused reporting standards considering such issues as income measurement and outcomes reporting. With increased recent attention from standard setters and regulators, and greater data availability, the opportunities for undertaking impactful research in these and related areas are increasing. In this paper, we focus on research that has examined the following questions: (i) Which private and public NFPOs lodge financial reports and what is reported; (ii) Who are the users and what are their information needs? (iii) Which private and public NFPs should lodge financial reports and what should be included in them; and (iv) How should the accounting frameworks for NFP sector reporting be set? For each of these issues, we identify the research gaps and opportunities for further research.     

财务精细化：政府会计改革的突破点之一

现阶段,我国政府会计改革已进入到了深水区,众多专家学者结合国内外的相关经验,提出了包括采用基金会计核算法,重视资产及负债的确认、计量、记录等应对措施。作为政府会计改革最急需解决的问题之一——政府资产及负债如何精确得确认、计量、记录,政府在日常管理服务过程中的业绩如何确认已成为政府会计改革过程中必须逾越的一道鸿沟。本文通过引企业财务精细化管理理念于政府财务管理过程中,并通过分析政府财务精细化管理中的关键点,结合A政府机关的探索实践,拟对我国政府会计改革提出探索性的应对措施。     

论财务会计与管理会计的整合

文章主要就财务会计与管理会计整合的必然性及可能性（基础与条件）两方面进行了阐述。认为两者本质的同一性和目标的一致性是走向整合的必然。随着信息技术的不断发展,财务会计与管理会计的界限越来越模糊,整合的条件越来越成熟,整合的趋势日益明显。     

From Accounting to “Forecounting”*

Using Ross Skinner's 1995 CA Magazine article, “Judgment in Jeopardy", as a stepping stone, we revisit the meaning of professional judgment in accounting in light of developments in standard setting, financial markets, and business operations that have taken place over the past two decades. We argue that it is time to change the view that accountants' professional judgment is the application of accounting‐based knowledge and experience in the selection of an appropriate accounting method. Accountants now face a standard‐setting context that emphasizes the estimation of future cash flows as well as new business and financial realities. This context implies that, in exercising their professional judgment to choose between forecast alternatives, accountants must rely on knowledge and experience from other disciplines (even though this is not well integrated into accounting). Hence, accounting must evolve from its traditional stewardship role to the new role of “forecount‐ing” (the estimation of future cash flows). The implications as well as the challenges of that evolution are discussed.     

The Role and Current Status of IFRS in the Completion of National Accounting Rules – Evidence from Austria and Germany

Abstract

Austria and Germany share similar accounting traditions. International harmonization in both countries has mainly focused on group accounting. In contrast, single financial statements give rise to legal and tax consequences and, thus, are still tied to the traditional principles of orderly accounting. Recent regulatory changes confirmed this dual role of accounting in both countries, while moving local accounting rules closer to IFRS, although to different extents. We illustrate how recent regulations in the two countries made reference to IFRS, how IFRS was considered during the law-making process and outline major differences that remain between domestic and international accounting standards.     

论企业合并理论框架对会计实务的影响

随着全球经济一体化和资本国际化的不断发展，我国也随之发生大量企业合并案例。企业合并带来了一系列的会计问题。本文就目前会计界处理企业合并业务普遍采用的购买法和权益法，从会计实务处理、对财务报表分析的影响、对投资者的影响等几个方面进行了对比分析，最终得出选择合并会计方法对经济后果影响极大的结论。     

Inconsistency in U.S. Accounting Standards: The Treatment of Interest

Consistency is an essential part of financial reporting: it applies both to the continuous use of the same accounting principles by an entity from period to period, and to consistency between various accounting principles used by the same entity. In the development of accounting standards, risks to users of inconsistencies can be reduced by good disclosure requirements, particularly so between various pronouncements. A study examining the treatment of interest found inconsistencies in two-thirds of the relevant U.S. GAAP pronouncements.     

财会“主体”类型及其关系

基于会计主体假设中对“会计主体”的质疑、财务主体研究中对“财务主体”的争议，理财主体假设中“理财主体”的悄然出现，分析了财会“主体”的三个类型及其三者之间的交叉关系和主客体关系。     

Revenue Recognition in the Construction Industry: An Experimental Study

There have been suggestions that loan officers do not consider there is a problem in the availability of alternative revenue recognition methods, provided that sufficient disclosure of recognition procedures is made to enable adjustment of financial statements. On the other hand, the accounting literature on'functional fixity' suggests such adjustments are not made. The functional fixity literature has relied exclusively on testing for an accounting method effect on user predictions and decisions. As a result, the evidence can be interpreted as users being fixated on earnings and ignoring information about accounting methods or alternatively they may have given attention to that information and attempted a transformation although the extent of the adjustment was'inadequate'. This paper suggests that the previous evidence on functional fixity is inconclusive about lenders' suggestions that they adjust financial statements and that different actions may be required by lending institutions depending on which interpretation of the functional fixity literature is made. This study uses the joint methodologies of analysis of variance and protocol analysis to focus on both whether adjustments are made as well as whether alternative methods of recognizing profit from longterm contracts affect the judgements of experienced lenders. The results show that the majority of subjects did not attempt to adjust for alternative methods of recognizing revenues.     

Accounting development in Pakistan

This paper examines the origins, growth, and the development of accounting practices and disclosures in Pakistan and the factors that influenced them. We trace the early days of accounting in the Indian subcontinent and discuss the British colonial influence. We examine the development of accounting in Pakistan through three eras: Independence through 1971, Post 1971-1984, and 1984 to present. We describe how the colonial past and later the international financial institutions such as the Asian Development Bank and the International Monetary Fund played key roles in shaping accounting and reporting practices of the country. Pakistan's adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards as national standards has not led to improvement in the quality of financial reporting. We argue that Pakistan, even though classified as a common law country in literature, exhibits most of the properties of code law countries. We conclude that lack of investor protection (e.g., minority rights protection, insider-trading protection), judicial inefficiencies, and weak enforcement mechanisms are more critical to explaining the state of financial reporting in Pakistan than are cultural factors. This insight has policy implications for developing countries that are making efforts to improve the quality of the financial reporting of their business entities.     

财务会计与税务会计分离的系统性评价研究

伴随经济的市场化和全球化水平不断发展,经济增长方式与产业结构面临转型升级.基于此,财务会计和税务会计作为服务于企业和国家的重要经济活动,其关系模式的分离又重新被提上研究日程,企业建立税务会计,有利于进行纳税筹划,保障企业和投资者利益.对于国家而言,税务会计从财务会计中分离出来,也有利于国家加强宏观调控和促进税收.本文在回顾已有国内外财、税会计分离的研究基础上,全面评价我国财务会计和税务会计分离的可能性与必要性,并针对性地提出了适用于我国财务会计和税务会计适度分离的有效途径.     

高等学校会计制度改革探析

随着近年来我国各项财政预算改革的不断推进、高校管理体制改革的不断深化,现高校会计制度己严重滞后于公共财政改革和高校改革与发展的需要,不能满足新形势下高等学校加强会计核算、提升内部管理水平的需要,迫切需要进行改革,以推动高等学校会计制度的改革,进一步提升高等学校的财务管理水平.