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The function of accounting is to provide users with useful information in making economic decisions. Information regarding goodwill, a major constituent of the value of many listed companies, is likely to be useful in making decisions relating to those companies. A historical review of accounting literature, including professional standards, relating to methods of accounting for purchased goodwill showed that none of them has stood the test of time. The current trend towards an impairment paradigm will not resolve the issue satisfactorily because it produces, at best, a partial solution. The difficulty in accounting meaningfully for goodwill is compounded because, given its foundation in historical cost principles, accounting has been unable to present any information at all with regard to internally generated goodwill within the confines of the traditional Balance Sheet. This, in turn, has led to the evasion of the reality that the two forms of goodwill are inextricably merged. Trying to account satisfactorily for goodwill has been a prime example of R.R. Sterling�s �issues conceived in a way that they are in principle unresolvable�. The problem was accordingly redefined as being to find a method by which the current level of information relating to goodwill in the financial statements contained in a company�s Annual Report could be improved. This thesis seeks to identify a logically defensible method of accounting for goodwill which addresses the redefined problem. It builds upon the historical research undertaken, combined with a priori reasoning, to propose an additional financial statement which is a modification of nineteenth century �double accounting� in a modern context. This statement, which goes far to solve the redefined problem, also furnishes information regarding the company�s market capitalization at balance date and is termed the Market Capitalization Statement (�MCS�). While the idea of furnishing market capitalization data to readers of the Annual Report is not new, it is believed that this is the first time such data has been systematically linked with the Balance Sheet to provide an objective, integrated and meaningful view of goodwill in the financial statements. The practical application and simplicity of the MCS are illustrated by a range of examples drawn from Australian �dot-com� companies over a period of time which saw considerable fluctuation in both goodwill and market capitalization, supplemented by examining data relating to some of Australia�s largest listed companies over the same period. These examples demonstrate that the MCS has the potential to provide significant information not available in conventional financial statements, while freeing the traditional Balance Sheet and Profit and Loss Account to present information in a more meaningful and less distorted way. Finally, the MCS is noted as still being subject to certain problems and distortions in the context of the historical cost basis of the remaining financial statements. It is shown that, if used in the context of an exit price based system, Chambers� CoCoA, many of these distortions are removed. The MCS also complements the information provided by CoCoA as originally formulated.

This study exploits the recently-issued Uncertain Tax Position Statement (Schedule UTP) to examine the effect of mandatory disclosures of tax uncertainty to tax authorities on firms' reporting decisions. Schedule UTP requires firms to disclose federal income tax positions to the Internal Revenue Service that have been classified as 'uncertain' for financial reporting purposes. In showing how Schedule UTP disclosure requirements affect private and public reporting decisions, I provide insights into the usefulness of these disclosures. Using confidential tax return data and public financial statement data, I find that after imposition of Schedule UTP reporting requirements, firms report lower financial reporting reserves for uncertain income tax positions, but do not claim fewer income tax benefits on their federal tax returns. These findings suggest some firms changed their financial reporting for uncertain tax positions to avoid Schedule UTP reporting requirements without changing the underlying positions. The effect is concentrated among firms with greater business complexity, whose business operations facilitate tax planning strategies that are more difficult for the IRS to identify. More broadly, my results imply private disclosures of tax uncertainty can affect the informativeness of public disclosures of tax uncertainty. / text

The function of accounting is to provide users with useful information in making economic decisions. Information regarding goodwill, a major constituent of the value of many listed companies, is likely to be useful in making decisions relating to those companies. A historical review of accounting literature, including professional standards, relating to methods of accounting for purchased goodwill showed that none of them has stood the test of time. The current trend towards an impairment paradigm will not resolve the issue satisfactorily because it produces, at best, a partial solution. The difficulty in accounting meaningfully for goodwill is compounded because, given its foundation in historical cost principles, accounting has been unable to present any information at all with regard to internally generated goodwill within the confines of the traditional Balance Sheet. This, in turn, has led to the evasion of the reality that the two forms of goodwill are inextricably merged. Trying to account satisfactorily for goodwill has been a prime example of R.R. Sterling�s �issues conceived in a way that they are in principle unresolvable�. The problem was accordingly redefined as being to find a method by which the current level of information relating to goodwill in the financial statements contained in a company�s Annual Report could be improved. This thesis seeks to identify a logically defensible method of accounting for goodwill which addresses the redefined problem. It builds upon the historical research undertaken, combined with a priori reasoning, to propose an additional financial statement which is a modification of nineteenth century �double accounting� in a modern context. This statement, which goes far to solve the redefined problem, also furnishes information regarding the company�s market capitalization at balance date and is termed the Market Capitalization Statement (�MCS�). While the idea of furnishing market capitalization data to readers of the Annual Report is not new, it is believed that this is the first time such data has been systematically linked with the Balance Sheet to provide an objective, integrated and meaningful view of goodwill in the financial statements. The practical application and simplicity of the MCS are illustrated by a range of examples drawn from Australian �dot-com� companies over a period of time which saw considerable fluctuation in both goodwill and market capitalization, supplemented by examining data relating to some of Australia�s largest listed companies over the same period. These examples demonstrate that the MCS has the potential to provide significant information not available in conventional financial statements, while freeing the traditional Balance Sheet and Profit and Loss Account to present information in a more meaningful and less distorted way. Finally, the MCS is noted as still being subject to certain problems and distortions in the context of the historical cost basis of the remaining financial statements. It is shown that, if used in the context of an exit price based system, Chambers� CoCoA, many of these distortions are removed. The MCS also complements the information provided by CoCoA as originally formulated.

My dissertation thesis provides a comprehensive analysis of the principles of securitization techniques, of their attendant shortcomings, their regulatory treatment and the recent proposals for reducing complexity in accounting standards with relevance for securitizations. The explosion of securitization and related innovative credit risk transfer products largely expanded the magnitude and diversity of issuers, investors and securities. With this expansion numerous market participants began to wrongly believe that risk was not only shared more widely, but also that it disappeared from the system altogether. The application, or to be more precise, the misapplication of securitization in the mortgage market had fatal consequences for the financial sector worldwide. Before securitization, sub-prime mortgage lenders retained the loans that they originated on their balance sheets and therefore cared about their credit quality. Securitization techniques and related innovative financial instruments enabled the export of sub-prime mortgage structural problems from the United States globe-wide via the financial intermediaries. More over, securitization techniques and related credit risk transfer products enabled single banks to reduce their individual risk while at the same time transferred new and greater risks to the financial system. Meanwhile a lot was written on the causes for the recent financial crisis. In most cases inadequate ratings provided by the credit rating agencies and different principal agent problems were addressed. I present both for completeness in my work. However, I argue that not only the credit rating agencies are to blame for the inadequate reflection of securitization and related financial innovations and subsequently for the financial turmoil. The international and national financial supervisors in fact supported the credit rating agencies to further establish their businesses. What turned obvious during and after the financial turmoil started mid-2007 is that financial regulation failed to reach its main goal - ensuring stability of the financial system. It failed despite of the "regulatory achievements within Basel II" elaborated over the past ten years. In particular, securitization and related credit risk transfer products were not adequately treated in Basel II. Securitization-related products such as Credit Derivatives on Securitization Underlyings and numerous other complex financial innovations, as presented in my thesis, were not even thought of in Basel II. In fact, Basel II turned to do little to make the financial system more resilient. The need for further revisions in banking regulation is currently more than obvious. Furthermore, it is time to ask if the developments in Basel II are the right way to address the current risks within the financial system and hence if Basel II is the right way of banking regulation and supervision altogether. With the development of both Basel Accords (Basel I and Basel II) capital ratios became the center of banking regulation. However, capital ratios are obviously not sufficient as a measure for a systemic financial stability. These questions arise at least when financial stability and soundness are still the intended objectives and believed to be ensured through Basel II. My merits in this dissertation work root in the multi-facet analysis of securitization techniques that I provide. Up to date a comparable analysis of securitization techniques which addresses the wide spectrum of securitizations' issues - such as (i) their treatment and the related attendant flaws within the regulatory framework Basel II, (ii) the various microeconomic deficiencies related to securitizations, and (iii) the implicit macroeconomic threads of exporting credit risk and de-balancing financial stability through securitization techniques - has not been provided in the comprehensive way I built up my analysis. As a basis for my analysis, I provide a new classification of the characteristics of securitization techniques which were pre-crisis wrongly perceived as benefits. I analyze the reasons for the turmoil in the financial markets in their interplay and complexity and consider securitization techniques as a key driver for the financial crisis. I comprehensively criticize the current regulatory treatment. I present in detail why the recent financial crisis should be considered a clear regulatory failure due to the up to date short-sightedness of financial regulation. Through providing partial solutions and professional author's assessment of selected regulatory and accounting changes to securitizations I deliver an expert's contribution to the topic. My conclusions are that securitization markets, as they have been operating until today, brought a negative net macroeconomic effect which has been largely damaging to the global economy. I argue that international and national financial supervisors established an inadequate framework for financial regulation and supervision, and among other failures, even supported credit rating agencies to further establish their businesses. Further on, I show that early warning indicators of systemic risk in the financial sector and signs of the coming turmoil were irresponsibly ignored at the time they were perceived. What turned obvious during and after the recent financial turmoil is that capital regulation failed to reach its main goal -- ensuring stability of the financial system. In particular, securitization and related credit risk transfer products were adequately treated neither in Basel I nor in Basel II. Finally, I conclude that capital ratios as established with the development of both Basel Accords are not sufficient as a central measure for banking regulation and ensuring systemic financial stability.

Abstract Background Oil and gas is a main source of revenue for many countries. Norway is one of them. Several companies operate in these countries. The companies demand accounting to communicate to their stakeholders. The two biggest accounting regimes, IASB and USA have their own standards for the upstream activities of those companies. The standard setting bodies mandatorily require companies to comply. Norwegian listed companies, as they are in the IASB regime, must comply with the IASB standard, IFRS 6. Problem  The IASB standard has a problem of addressing the entire upstream activities of the companies Moreover, the standard has conceptual flaw. However, these oil and gas firms are required to follow it. As a remedy, the entities fill the gap by using the US GAAP, if they are listed, as the regulation requires them to follow IFRS. Thus, using these two standards coupled with the defect of the IASB standard is affecting them. Purpose The purpose of this thesis is to explain the effects of IFRS 6 on companies by comparing it with the US GAAP standard. In doing so, theories relevant to the issue are described and the technical gaps between the two standards are elaborated. Method  This thesis uses mixed method. The research design followed is concurrently mixing quantitative and qualitative methods. However, qualitative method dominates in the mixing. As a data collection mechanism, interview, questionnaire and documentation i.e. the annual reports of the companies are used. In the study both deductive and inductive reasoning are used. Conclusion Subsequent to making the study, the author concludes that the surveyed companies have used the US GAAP to fill the gap that IFRS possess. However, retaining two sets of accounts has economic effect and the companies are paying for that. Moreover, they expend costs for adopting the IFRS when they change their standard from US GAAP to IFRS. Moreover, it is difficult to make conclusion about diffusion of accounting method due to contagion effect. Similarly, although previous studies show that size of a firm is a determinant factor, it is tricky to make conclusion on the studied companies.

Thesis deal with problems of inventories with from two different looks, namely in light of Czech accounting recipes and International Financial Reporting Standards IAS/IFRS, including the completion of the audit inventories. Attention is devoted to the status of stocks owned enterprise, the definition of the term, the fundamental characteristics of stock, Czech legislative adjustments, and adjustments according to IAS/IFRS, inventory systems, methods and techniques of valuation, audit procedures and specific audit procedures of supplies.

Submitted by Mariana Dornelles Vargas (marianadv) on 2015-03-20T16:56:17Z No. of bitstreams: 1 impactos_decorrentes.pdf: 940610 bytes, checksum: 7e73e51eadcb0e1963d6ea26a8cdb6be (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-20T16:56:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 impactos_decorrentes.pdf: 940610 bytes, checksum: 7e73e51eadcb0e1963d6ea26a8cdb6be (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-08-24 / Nenhuma / Este estudo busca identificar qual o tratamento contábil dado às gratuidades praticadas pelas entidades beneficentes de assistência social, mediante pesquisa documental de trinta e seis demonstrações contábeis publicadas no Jornal do Comércio, veiculadas no mês de abril do ano de 2009. Concomitantemente, analisaram-se dezessete recursos administrativos emitidos por auditores da Receita Previdenciária do Brasil, onde foram apontadas inconformidades contábeis, as quais resultaram no indeferimento do Certificado de Entidade Beneficente de Assistência Social. Para a fundamentação teórica deste estudo, buscou-se o conceito de gratuidades a partir da ciência social e do histórico da prática da assistência social no Brasil. Sob o ponto de vista da teoria contábil, a gratuidade foi analisada como sendo uma despesa, uma dedução de receita, pela confrontação da receita com a despesa e seu registro em conta do grupo de compensado. Da análise dos dados obtidos nas demonstrações contábeis, se tem que o cumprimento da legislação fiscal está presente na maioria delas, enquanto que a norma contábil emitida pelo Conselho Federal de Contabilidade não foi cumprida em sua integralidade em nenhuma das demonstrações publicadas. / This study aims at identifying the accounting approach given to gratuities granted by nonprofit organizations of social welfare through the documented survey of thirty-six financial statements published on "Jornal do Comércio", in the edition of April, 2009 .At the same time, seventeen administrative appeals issued by the Brazilian Welfare Revenue auditors were analyzed and accounting discrepancies were appointed, causing the Certificate of Beneficial Institution of Social Welfare to be dismissed. The concept of gratuities seen from the Social Science point of view, as well as the path of social work practice in Brazil was sought for the theoretical underlying of this study. From the accounting theory viewpoint, gratuity was analyzed as an expense - a revenue deduction - by comparing revenue and expense, as well as accounting it for in the compensating group. Analyzing the data obtained from the financial statements, one can see that most of them comply with the fiscal law, whereas the accounting standard fulfillment, issued by the Federal Council of Accounting, has not been fully carried out in any of the published statements.

Diese kumulative Dissertation besteht aus drei eigenständigen Arbeiten aus dem Bereich der empirischen Rechnungslegungsforschung. In jeder Arbeit werden ökonometrische Methoden angewandt, um Hypothesen bezüglich bestimmter Wirkungen und Folgen von Rechnungslegung zu bestätigen oder zu verwerfen. Die erste Arbeit untersucht die freiwillige Anwendung von Rechnungslegungsstandards. Ausgehend von den besonderen institutionellen Begebenheiten Deutschlands werden Determinanten der freiwilligen Anwendung der Deutschen Rechnungslegungs Standards (DRS) identifiziert. Die Ergebnisse einer multinomialen logistischen Regression zeigen, dass die Anwendung getrieben wird durch die Unternehmensgröße, den Wirtschaftsprüfer sowie Fremdkapitalgeber-Agency Probleme. Die Anwendung wird nicht getrieben durch die öffentliche Wahrnehmung eines Unternehmens. Die zweite Arbeit untersucht die Auswirkungen der freiwilligen IFRS-Erstanwendung auf die Rückstellungsbilanzierung von deutschen börsennotierten Unternehmen. Die Änderungen in der Rechnungslegungsqualität durch den Wechsel der Rechnungslegung gemäß HGB zu den IFRS werden durch die Anwendung eines „same firm-year approach“ ermöglicht. Die Ergebnisse zeigen eine signifikant höhere Informationsdarstellung nach IFRS. Dies gilt besonders für Firmen, die typischerweise weniger Anreize für eine gute Rechnungslegungsqualität besitzen. Die dritte Arbeit untersucht den Effekt von Mehrfachmandaten auf die Firmenperformance von deutschen börsennotierten Unternehmen. Das Vorkommen von Mehrfachmandaten wird aus verschiedenen Blickwinkeln betrachtet, da die Wirkung auf die Firmenperformance nicht eindeutig vorhergesagt werden kann. Die Ergebnisse deuten auf einen negativen Zusammenhang zwischen Mehrfachmandaten und Firmenperformance. Positive Eigenschaften von Boardmitgliedern wirken diesem Ergebnis nur begrenzt entgegen. / This cumulative PhD-thesis consists of three papers within the field of empirical accounting research. In each paper established empirical methodology is applied in order to validate or reject predictions on certain accounting outcomes. The first paper deals with voluntary accounting compliance. Taking advantage of the institutional setting in Germany, the paper identifies determinants of voluntary compliance with German Accounting Standards (GAS). The results of an ordered logistic regression show that compliance is driven by size, the auditor’s affiliation to the institution that develops the GAS and debt agency problems. The results do not reveal a relationship between compliance and public exposure. The second paper investigates effects of voluntary IFRS adoption on accounting quality based on provision disclosure using a sample of publicly listed German firms. Changes in accounting quality measures resulting from the transition from German GAAP to IFRS are assessed using a same firm-year approach. Results show that disclosure level is significantly higher under IFRS. The results are consistent with the notion that IFRS adoption has a positive impact on the disclosure aspect of accounting quality regarding accounting for provisions. Positive changes are stronger for firms that typically have fewer incentives to provide accounting information for a broad investor base. The third paper investigates the effect of multiple board appointments on firm performance for a sample of publicly listed German firms. The incidence of multiple board appointments is investigated from several angles since multiple board appointments can be characterized along numerous dimensions and their effect on firm performance is not unequivocally predictable. The results indicate that multiple board appointments negatively affect firm performance. Director characteristics that are expected to have a positive influence on firm performance do not counteract this finding.

This study uses both basic and self-selection regression models to test three hypotheses about the effect of SFAS 87 disclosures on information asymmetry during 1985- 1987. Both types of models test the hypotheses after controlling for changes in the inventory holding and order processing costs of the spread, while the self-selection models also control for potential self-selection bias.