The aim of this diploma thesis is to describe the process of outsourcing of accounting from the initial steps, when the companies decide whether to use the outsourcing of accounting, through collaboration with the outsourcing provider to the eventual termination of cooperation. In the practical part you can find the description of the selected companies using information technology to provide outsourcing of accounting, that enables the most efficient course of action.

The theoretical part of the diploma thesis is focused on the definition of accounting information, namely the financial statements and annual reports. Attention is also paid to the accounting principles and requirements which are placed in preparation and publication of financial statements, then the possible sanctions threatened in the event of default this legal responsibility. The practical part is focused on companies that the financial statements and annual reports not published. The practical part is based on own research of the commercial register and the questionnaire research.

Stock market investors are making investment decisions in an information-rich environment. In their attempt to afford investors all the decision-relevant information, standard setters are continually adding to the already weighty load seemingly oblivious to the cognitive limitations of humans. Information overload has long been recognized as a problem to decision-makers. The information overload literature is robust with studies supporting the inverted U hypothesis: Decision accuracy will increase with additional information to the point of maximum processing capability, then decline. The decision style literature has supported the theory that individuals can be classified according to the quantity of information that they are able to process effectively. This study combined the two theories to develop hypotheses about how investors with differing decision styles might behave differently in an information-rich environment. The hypotheses were tested in an internet-based stock market investment experiment. In general, the study did not find significant differences in the decisions of investors with different decision styles. Though the results of the experiment failed to support most of the hypotheses, the study revealed some interesting facts about the investors who participated in this study. There was an unusually high concentration of the analytic decision style in this group. This style, according to the theory, is the one best able to manage high information processing demands. A further analysis of the respondent style dominance reveals that all of the styles had significant analytic influence. This could explain the lack of variation in the decision accuracy of the respondents. It is also possible that the respondents in this study did not reach a point of information overload. Based on prior literature, the study incorporated ten information items. However, the particular items selected may not have created a sense of information overload for the respondents. Future research should increase the information available to respondents and observe whether differences in decisions can be explained by differences in decision styles in an information overload situation. This study provides a baseline for future studies examining how investors make decisions when so much information is available.

This thesis is concerned with the classification of accounting information from the recording phase through to the reporting phase. Various criticisms on the way information is presented in financial statements, especially in the balance sheet and income statement ware found in the literature. Classification models for accounting information have been proposed in the literature but the main disadvantages of these models are that they are inherently static in nature and do not embed the notion of time. To further test the various criticisms of present classification structures, 1) a comprehensive literature survey of the criticisms of present accounting classification structures as presented by researchers in the literature was conducted, 2) a questionnaire was prepared and sent out to companies in industry, academics as well as analysts in order to test these criticisms, and 3) an analysis of the financial statements (balance sheet and income statement) of 93 companies listed on The JSE Securities Exchange South Africa (JSE) was undertaken. The outcome of the above three (3) actions led to the following hypothesis: The current classification of accounting information, from the recording phase to reclassification in the reporting phase, does not supply users of such information with the necessary information for decision-making purposes. In this regard a comprehensive classification framework for accounting information is proposed, with the following properties: • A well-defined set of attributes will be used, ultimately to classify a transaction into a static sub-framework to aid decision-making. • Time will be used to classify a transaction at the time of recording and later to reclassify it at the time of reporting. • The proposed framework will guide the classifier as to how an item finds its way into a static structure. Classification has as its step the identification of all the attributes known at the time of recording and reporting of the items implicitly involved in a transaction. These attributes in essence define the items that are to be classified into a structure as well as allowing for relationships to be drawn among the said items. One of the advantages of classification is the creation of (new) knowledge or information. The utility of such information depends on the quality of the classification performed. Normally the responsibility for classification at both the recording and reporting phases rests with the accountant. The resultant classification should provide enough information to users of financial statements, especially financial managers, to allow them to reclassify the given information to suit their own needs. An important influence on a classification framework for accounting information is the various requirements put forward by a variety of users of such information. Some of these requirements may conflict with one another. It is proposed in this thesis that a distributed union of all requirements of users be taken and all conflicting requirements be removed from the union (i.e. simply put all requirements into one group and remove all those that conflict with one another). Classification is then performed for the result. Additional information may be supplied in the statements to cater for the requirements outside the result. The classification framework for accounting information proposed in this thesis is made up of three (3) sub-frameworks as follows: • A normative sub-framework that defines a number of attributes for a transaction and which is based on the recording (past) and reporting (present) phases of accounting information. This framework also takes transactions with future aspects into account • A decision sub-framework which follows directly on the normative sub-framework and which directs the classifier as to where a transaction should be classified in a final, static sub-framework. • A static sub-framework which shows where items implicitly involved in a transaction are finally classified. Classification frameworks are proposed for both the balance sheet and the income statement. The balance sheet framework embodies a temporal component, a decision component and a static structure. A different classification layout for the income statement, including a temporal component and a static structure, is also proposed in this thesis. / Thesis (DCom (Financial Management Sciences))--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Financial Management / unrestricted

The financial information is the document that the administration of a juridical entity issues to know his financial situation. The financial information is useful and confiable for the users of the financial information when this has been prepared under conditions of certainty. This certainty is provided by the administration when it establishes political and procedures of internal control, as well as the surveillance in the accomplishment of the internal control. This control incides in the financial information since it is inherent to the operative flow and extends itself in relevant information, veracious and comparable. This is important for users of the financial information, due to the fact that they take timely and objective decisions. / La información financiera es el documento que la administración de una entidad jurídica emite para dar a conocer su situación financiera. Esta es útil y confiable para los usuarios cuando es preparada bajo condiciones de certeza. La seguridad de que esta sea un documento confiable la proporciona la administración cuando establece políticas y procedimientos de control interno, así como su cumplimiento. A su vez, el control interno incide en la información financiera ya que es inherente al flujo operativo y trasciende en información relevante, veraz y comparable, lo cual es importante para los usuarios de la información financiera, pues les permite tomar decisiones oportunas y objetivas.

A questão se a informação contábil é relevante para o mercado de capitais tem sido investigada, predominantemente, por meio dos pressupostos da Hipótese de Eficiência de Mercado (HEM). Para a HEM, toda informação relevante é refletida nos preços das ações de forma integral e instantânea, a partir da consideração de que as informações são analisadas e interpretadas por indivíduos plenamente racionais. Contudo, a literatura relacionada às áreas de Finanças Comportamentais e de Processos Decisórios tem indicado que os indivíduos, mesmo em condições de interação e de competição, como verificado nos mercados financeiros, são melhor caracterizados como detentores de racionalidade limitada ao tomar decisões. Nesse sentido, o objetivo deste estudo foi examinar a relevância da informação contábil para o mercado de capitais brasileiro sob o pressuposto da racionalidade limitada dos investidores. Para tanto, foram desenvolvidas escalas de complexidade específicas para as ações ordinárias e preferenciais. As escalas foram utilizadas como parâmetros para testar se níveis distintos de incertezas na estimação dos fluxos de caixa futuros estão associados à utilidade da informação contábil para o mercado de capitais. Além disso, no estudo, segregou-se a tomada de decisão nas dimensões dos ganhos e das perdas, tendo como objetivo identificar a relevância da informação contábil, segundo essa classificação. A amostra foi composta por informações de 232 empresas listadas na Bolsa de Valores, Mercadorias e Futuros de São Paulo (BM&FBOVESPA) no período de 2000 a 2015. Os resultados encontrados apontaram evidências de uma associação inversa entre os níveis de complexidade na avaliação das empresas e a relevância da informação contábil para os investidores. Foi identificado, também, que os preços das ações tendem a incorporar as informações contábeis relevantes de forma apenas gradual em condições de maiores níveis de incertezas. Esses resultados mostraram-se robustos para a dimensão dos ganhos. Além disso, os resultados obtidos sugerem que as normas contábeis do International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) reduziram os níveis de complexidade na avaliação das ações, o que resultou em um aumento da relevância da informação contábil para os investidores. De forma geral, as evidências obtidas corroboram a ideia de que os limites cognitivos dos indivíduos em processar informações pode ser um fator relacionado à magnitude com que os preços das ações refletem as informações contábeis. / The question whether accounting information is relevant to the capital market has been investigated predominantly through the assumptions of the Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH). For EMH, all relevant information is reflected in stock prices in an integral and instantaneous way, considering that information is analyzed and interpreted by fully rational individuals. However, the literature related to the areas of Behavioral Finance and Decision Making has indicated that individuals, even in conditions of interaction and competition, as verified in financial markets, are better characterized as having limited rationality when making decisions. In this sense, the objective of this study was to examine the relevance of the accounting information to the Brazilian capital market, under the assumption of investors\' bounded rationality. Therefore, specific complexity scales were developed for common and preferred stocks. The scales were used as parameters to test if different levels of uncertainties in the estimation of future cash flows are associated with the usefulness of the accounting information for the capital market. In addition, the study segregated the decision making in gains and losses dimensions, aiming to identify the relevance of accounting information according to this classification. The sample consisted of information of 232 companies listed on the Brazilian Securities, Commodities and Futures Exchange (BM&FBOVESPA), from 2000 to 2015. The findings brought evidence of an inverse association between levels of complexity in the evaluation of the stocks and the relevance of accounting information to investors. It was identified that stock prices tend to incorporate the relevant accounting information only gradually in conditions of higher levels of uncertainties. These results were robust for the gain dimension. Furthermore, the results suggest that the accounting standards of International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) reduced complexity levels in stock valuation, which resulted in an increase in the relevance of accounting information for investors. In general, the evidence obtained corroborates with the idea that cognitive limits of individuals in processing information may be a factor related to the magnitude in which stock prices reflect the accounting information.

Det finns oändligt med beslut som företag och dess ledning ställs inför varje dag. För att företagen ska lyckas väl och nå sin högsta lönsamhet är det viktigt att bra beslut fattas. För att göra det kan redovisningen och dess information få en viktig roll vid beslutsfattandet. Det finns ett teoretiskt tänk vilken roll redovisningsinformationen bör ha, dock är frågan hur det fungerar i praktiken. Är redovisningsinformationen av användning för ägarna och ledning vid beslutsfattande? Ovanstående fick vårt intresse och viljan att se hur redovisningen används i praktiken och undersöka hur användbar redovisningen uppfattas vara vid beslutsfattande. Tidigare forskning visade på att det fanns ett problem i SMF-företag, där ägare och ledning inte får redovisningen användbar vid beslutsfattanden och därmed blev vårt fokus i studien utifrån de företagen. Vi undersökte om faktorer som utbildning kan ha en påverkan på hur ägarna och ledning använder sig av redovisningsinformationen. Vår studie tillämpar en kvalitativ metod och genomfördes genom sex intervjuer med respondenter från olika företag. Från vårt empiriska material kunde vi se att redovisningsinformationen upplevs vara användbart för ägarna och företagsledningen vid beslutsfattande, dock fattas inte besluten enbart från den rationalitet som teorier kan antyda att det borde göras. Ägarna och företagsledningen försöker använda redovisningen som fakta vid sina beslutsfattanden men vid vissa tillfällen faller besluten mer på intuition. Vi kunde även se att ägarna och företagsledningen främst använde sig av extern redovisning samt att faktorer som utbildning kan ha en positiv inverkan på användandet av redovisningsinformationen hos ägaren och ledningen. / There are countless decisions that companies and their managers face every day. For the companies to succeed and reach maximum profitability, making good decisions is essential. To do that, accounting information can have an essential role in the decision-making. There is a theoretical idea of what role accounting information should have, but the question is how well it works in practice. Is the accounting information of use in the decision-making process? The following made us interested in seeing how accounting is used in practice and investigate how useful accounting information is perceived in the decision-making process. Earlier studies identified that a problem in SME companies was that owners and managers do not find the accounting information useful while making decisions. Therefore, our study focuses on if factors such as education influence owners and managers use of accounting information. The study applied a qualitative method and was implemented by six interviews with respondents from different companies. From our empirical material, the accounting information was found to be useful in the decision-making process. However, the decision made, cannot be described as rational as theories suggest it should be. Most owners and managers try to use accounting as facts in their decision but on some occasions, the decision is based more on intuition. We could also draw the conclusion that the accounting used most was external accounting and that factors such as education can have a positive effect on the owners and managers use of accounting information.

No description available.

The financial crisis of 2008 highlighted problems with the accounting standard IAS 39, with claims of high complexity, introduction of procyclicality in the financial statements and a proposed role of contributing to the financial crisis. The International Accounting Standard Board issued the predecessor, IFRS 9, which became effective on January 1st, 2018. IFRS 9 introduces a forward-looking Expected Credit Loss model, which significantly change the accounting of loss provisions. With the objective to provide high accounting quality, the International Accounting Standard Board and Financial Accounting Standard Board develop accounting standards based on the conceptual framework, consisting of qualitative characteristics. The study addresses the accounting quality of IFRS 9 through the research question; What implications does IFRS 9 have for equity analysts?  In order to capture the implications, a survey is designed, to reach out to accessible equity analysts of European banks. The results show that the Expected Credit Loss model under IFRS 9 implicate difficulties for equity analysts. Three themes of implications are identified, Time aspect, Complexity and Comparison. Although IFRS 9 provides useful information for the respondents, there are tendencies of a trade-off between relevance and faithful representation. The accounting quality of faithful representation is valued low due to high complexity and low comparability, which might be derived from that IFRS 9 is newly implemented. Despite the implications of IFRS 9, respondents find impairments, today, to be low and a non-vital part of the valuation process of the banking industry.

O objetivo desta pesquisa resume-se em investigar as implicações da adoção do padrão International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) no volume financeiro (valor total geral emitido) de debêntures emitidas pelas companhias brasileiras de capital aberto. Há o pressuposto de que a convergência às normas internacionais de contabilidade impacta na qualidade das informações contábeis divulgadas, portanto, a análise se concentrará em algumas características das debêntures atreladas às informações divulgadas ao mercado. As debêntures foram escolhidas para a investigação do problema proposto devido à expressiva evolução de emissões durante a última década, às vantagens frente a outros tipos de financiamento e por constituírem-se como principal instrumento de captação de longo prazo. A amostra foi elaborada pelas emissões constantes na base de dados do Sistema Nacional de Debêntures e por outras informações complementares localizadas nos sites da BM&FBOVESPA, da CVM, das agências de rating, das empresas emissoras de debêntures e da plataforma da Economática®. A pesquisa direciona-se, portanto, a analisar se houve maior volume financeiro de debêntures emitidas em três janelas temporais: janeiro de 2007 a dezembro de 2007 (período anterior à adoção das IFRS), janeiro de 2008 a dezembro de 2009 (período de adoção parcial das IFRS) e janeiro de 2010 a dezembro de 2013 (período de adoção obrigatória das IFRS). A análise será pautada pela inclusão da variável dependente sobre o volume financeiro; de três variáveis independentes referentes aos períodos de adoção anterior, parcial e obrigatório das IFRS; e das variáveis de controle rating, nível de governança corporativa, prazo, ativo, riscopaís, setor de atividade, e de dummies referentes à garantia das emissões e referentes à adoção voluntária das IFRS e à negociação de títulos em outros países pelas companhias emissoras. Como meio para a investigação do problema será utilizado o método estatístico de análise de dados em painel desemparelhado para analisar o impacto da convergência às IFRS no volume financeiro de debêntures emitidas. Os resultados do trabalho indicam que a adoção do padrão IFRS impactou no volume financeiro das debêntures emitidas pelas companhias de capital aberto brasileiras no período analisado. Foi verificada relação positiva e estatisticamente significante entre o volume financeiro emitido durante o período de adoção parcial e obrigatória das IFRS. Embora o impacto não tenha tido a mesma dimensão se comparado ao período de adoção parcial das normas internacionais, a tendência se manteve. Considera-se que a pesquisa contribui tanto para a literatura sobre os impactos do IFRS no mercado de debêntures, quanto para as empresas ao demonstrar as vantagens e a relevância das debêntures para o mercado de capitais brasileiro. / The aim of this research is summarized in investigating the implications of the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) on the financial volume (total value issued) of debentures issued by Brazilian publicly traded companies. There is the assumption that convergence to the international accounting standards influences the quality of accounting information disclosed, therefore, the analysis will focus on some features of the debentures linked to the information disclosed to the market. The debentures were chosen for investigation of the proposed problem due to the significant growth of issuance over the last decade, the advantages over other types of financing and be constituted as the main tool for raising long term financing. The sample will be drawn up by found issuances located in the data basis of the National Debenture System and other additional information found in BM&FBOVESPA, CVM, rating agencies and debentures issuers websites and Economatica® platform. The research is directed, therefore, to examine whether there was a greater financial volume of debentures issued in three time windows: January 2007 to December 2007 (period before the adoption of IFRS), January 2008 to December 2009 (partial adoption period of the IFRS) and January 2010 to December 2013 (mandatory adoption period of IFRS). The analysis will be guided by the inclusion of the dependent variable on the financial volume; three independent variables related to the previous, partial and mandatory IFRS adoption periods; and control variables rating, corporate governance level, term, asset, country risk, sector of activity, and dummies variables related to the emissions warranty and related to the voluntary adoption of IFRS and to the trading of securities in other countries by the issuing companies. As a means to investigate the problem, will be used the statistical method of unbalanced panel data analysis to analyze the impact of convergence to IFRS on the financial volume of debentures. The results indicate that IFRS adoption impacted the financial volume of debentures issued by Brazilian publicly traded companies during the period. Positive and statistically significant relationship was found between the financial volume issued during the partial and mandatory period of IFRS adoption. Although the impact has not had the same dimension compared to the partial period of IFRS adoption, the trend continued. We believe that this research contributes both to the literature on the impact of IFRS on the debenture market, and for companies to demonstrate the advantages and relevance of the debentures for the Brazilian capital market.