The broad aim of this research was to assess the decision-usefulness of environmental reports produced by South African companies that are listed on the Johanessburg Securities Exchange (JSE) to users of the reports. The study was motivated by a lack of research on the decision-usefulness of environmental reports in South Africa. The study was conducted in two phases. The first phase in form of a content analysis evaluated the decision-usefulness of the environmental reports of top 100 JSE-listed South African companies using a control list and a judgement scale. The second phase in form of a questionnaire survey was aimed at determining, the information needs of users of environmental reports produced by South African companies (that are listed on the JSE), the extent to which they read and employ the reports for making decisions. In addition, this phase was meant to ascertain the degree of users' satisfaction with the decision-usefulness of the environmental reports as well as elicit their suggestions on ways of improving the reports. Furthermore, the second phase was aimed at determining the users’ perception of the relative importance of environmental reports as well as ascertaining whether there was an expectation gap between the users and the preparers of the reports with regard to their decision-usefulness. The results of the content analysis phase of the study indicate that the environmental reports of the sampled companies were decision-useful, however their decision-usefulness varied widely. Although decision-useful, the environmental reports of the sampled companies were not comparable. In addition, the environmental reports of companies from sectors with a significant impact on the environment, and those of large companies were more decision-useful than the reports of companies from sectors with an insignificant impact on the environment and those of smaller companies. The results of the questionnaire survey phase of the study indicate that users prefer balanced environmental reports that disclose both negative and positive aspects that identify and describe key relevant issues, that are specific and contain accurate information, and that provide future oriented information. In addition, users prefer environmental reports that identify and address key stakeholders and their concerns, demonstrate the integration of environmental issues into core business processes, and that compare quantitative impacts against best practice. Furthermore, the results also indicate that users do read environmental reports, mostly from companies’ websites Portable Document Format (PDF) annual reports and that they mostly use the environmental reports for research, their own knowledge, and to hold companies accountable. However, users are not fully satisfied with the decision-usefulness of the environmental reports as they feel that there is a need to improve the reports in order to make them more decision-useful. The results also indicate that users perceive environmental reports to be more important than any other type of reports, most notably the financial reports. Comparing the responses of the users to those of preparers on various issues pertaining to the decision-usefulness of environmental reports, significant differences were found between the views of the two groups. These differences provide ample evidence that is consistent with the existence of an environmental reporting expectation gap in South Africa. This study makes several original contributions to environmental reporting literature, most notable of which is that, it is the first study in the South African context to empirically evaluate the quality (decision-usefulness) of environmental reports in line with the accounting conceptual frameworks and the GRI guidelines combined. By so doing, the study introduces to the academic literature an extensive five dimensional qualitative characteristic framework for evaluating the quality (decision-usefulness) of environmental reports. In addition, the study uniquely employs the decision-usefulness theory to provide insights into the environmental reporting practices of South African companies that are listed on the JSE. In so doing, it re-contextualises the theory that is typically employed in explaining financial reporting, and demonstrates its applicability in explaining the decision-usefulness of the environmental reporting practices of South African companies that are listed on the JSE. / Accounting / D. Com. (Accounting)

Recent corporate reporting history is well–known for its corporate failures and questionable accountancy practices, many of which caused the profession to be frowned upon. However, the splodge on the accounting profession?s reputation goes deeper than its corporate reporting failures. The scientific foundation thereof is also being questioned in academic circles. Even though accounting scholars have been trying to formulate foundational accounting theories, it has been the accounting regulators that have been more successful in promoting their versions of what accounting theory should be, which place a question mark on the legitimacy of current day accounting theory. This thesis aims to delve deeper into the foundational philosophies of accounting and its impact on the practice of accounting. With the current accounting globalisation efforts, the profession?s stewardship function is becoming less prominent in its promulgated standards, which in turn brings the focus on the many questionable ethical practices found in the profession. Even though the regulatory bodies require their members to commit themselves to professional codes of conduct, which entails competency, integrity, objectivity and confidentiality, the 1st article in this thesis claims that ethical conduct is more than mere adherence to rules and regulations. It is also about the image of not only the profession, but also accounting research and education. Accounting is broadly practised, researched and taught within its so–called conceptual framework, of which a key objective is to guide and inform accounting practice. The conceptual framework became the basis upon which accounting theory is based. However, many accounting scholars are openly critical of presenting accounting theory as a set of practical guidelines. The 2nd article in the thesis concludes that, from an academic perspective, accounting theory should be based on three quintessential guidelines. The first of which is its primary purpose of reporting on the historic economic events, secondly the provision of useable and comparable information about these events and finally, the facilitation of business decisions based on relevant and reliable information. In the above mentioned business decisions, the concept of value is often taken for granted and many accounting techniques? effectiveness is judged on how well it approximates an item?s value. The 3rd article argues that the multiple purposes for which accounting information is used complicates the issue of value, as reported by accounting. Two key conflicting valuation perspectives are the so–called decision–usefulness and true income perspectives. The current drive towards fair value accounting, as opposed to historic cost accounting, cast doubts on the reliability and relevance of accounting information. Even though it may be argued that value–based techniques are more relevant because it is a better reflection of the current business conditions, the mere subjective nature thereof and the accountant?s objective valuation skills make the true relevance of this information questionable. Furthermore, mixed model valuations found in financial statements makes cross–company information unreliable. Accountancy research of the past four decades focussed on the concept of user decision–usefulness. The user is also pre–eminent in the globalisation of accounting standards of the FASB and the IASB, where users are specified as the equity investors, lenders and capital providers. The 4th article acknowledges that although these user categories are important consumers of the financial data, there are other users which are also impacted by the financial information and the company?s operational performances. There are also concerns over accounting?s key assumptions, such as its quantification and predictive abilities, which are fundamental to the decision–usefulness objective. Furthermore, there are questions around how the regulators decided what information is suppose to be useful and what type of utility is being sought. In summary, the focus on the vocational aspects of accountancy stands in contrast to claims of accounting as an academic discipline in the social sciences. The reality is that the practices of the profession will probably always play a central role in what is taught at university level, and the regulators, as the final authority on accounting standards, will probably remain dictatorial in promulgating their versions of accounting theory. Yet, accounting and its wide spread impact on society, makes it a key discipline within the economical and management sciences. It is therefore essential for the resurrection of accounting as a social scientific discipline that there is a return to foundational accounting research that will prepare (and enable) prospective practitioners and academics to question the status quo and push back on accounting practices that are threatening to extinguish the flame of accounting scholarship. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Accounting))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

Recent corporate reporting history is well–known for its corporate failures and questionable accountancy practices, many of which caused the profession to be frowned upon. However, the splodge on the accounting profession?s reputation goes deeper than its corporate reporting failures. The scientific foundation thereof is also being questioned in academic circles. Even though accounting scholars have been trying to formulate foundational accounting theories, it has been the accounting regulators that have been more successful in promoting their versions of what accounting theory should be, which place a question mark on the legitimacy of current day accounting theory. This thesis aims to delve deeper into the foundational philosophies of accounting and its impact on the practice of accounting. With the current accounting globalisation efforts, the profession?s stewardship function is becoming less prominent in its promulgated standards, which in turn brings the focus on the many questionable ethical practices found in the profession. Even though the regulatory bodies require their members to commit themselves to professional codes of conduct, which entails competency, integrity, objectivity and confidentiality, the 1st article in this thesis claims that ethical conduct is more than mere adherence to rules and regulations. It is also about the image of not only the profession, but also accounting research and education. Accounting is broadly practised, researched and taught within its so–called conceptual framework, of which a key objective is to guide and inform accounting practice. The conceptual framework became the basis upon which accounting theory is based. However, many accounting scholars are openly critical of presenting accounting theory as a set of practical guidelines. The 2nd article in the thesis concludes that, from an academic perspective, accounting theory should be based on three quintessential guidelines. The first of which is its primary purpose of reporting on the historic economic events, secondly the provision of useable and comparable information about these events and finally, the facilitation of business decisions based on relevant and reliable information. In the above mentioned business decisions, the concept of value is often taken for granted and many accounting techniques? effectiveness is judged on how well it approximates an item?s value. The 3rd article argues that the multiple purposes for which accounting information is used complicates the issue of value, as reported by accounting. Two key conflicting valuation perspectives are the so–called decision–usefulness and true income perspectives. The current drive towards fair value accounting, as opposed to historic cost accounting, cast doubts on the reliability and relevance of accounting information. Even though it may be argued that value–based techniques are more relevant because it is a better reflection of the current business conditions, the mere subjective nature thereof and the accountant?s objective valuation skills make the true relevance of this information questionable. Furthermore, mixed model valuations found in financial statements makes cross–company information unreliable. Accountancy research of the past four decades focussed on the concept of user decision–usefulness. The user is also pre–eminent in the globalisation of accounting standards of the FASB and the IASB, where users are specified as the equity investors, lenders and capital providers. The 4th article acknowledges that although these user categories are important consumers of the financial data, there are other users which are also impacted by the financial information and the company?s operational performances. There are also concerns over accounting?s key assumptions, such as its quantification and predictive abilities, which are fundamental to the decision–usefulness objective. Furthermore, there are questions around how the regulators decided what information is suppose to be useful and what type of utility is being sought. In summary, the focus on the vocational aspects of accountancy stands in contrast to claims of accounting as an academic discipline in the social sciences. The reality is that the practices of the profession will probably always play a central role in what is taught at university level, and the regulators, as the final authority on accounting standards, will probably remain dictatorial in promulgating their versions of accounting theory. Yet, accounting and its wide spread impact on society, makes it a key discipline within the economical and management sciences. It is therefore essential for the resurrection of accounting as a social scientific discipline that there is a return to foundational accounting research that will prepare (and enable) prospective practitioners and academics to question the status quo and push back on accounting practices that are threatening to extinguish the flame of accounting scholarship. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Accounting))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

Revenue recognition is one of the most crucial issues in financial reporting and the prevalent source for recent accounting scandals. International financial reporting standard setters are conducting a major project rethinking revenue recognition. Tentative proposals of the project Revenue Recognition feature an asset-liability approach relying on measurement at fair values or at allocated customer consideration amounts. This paper chooses construction contracts to illustrate and to evaluate the far-reaching changes implied by the proposals in a multi-period context. Main results suggest that the proposals are ambivalent in terms of relevance but critical in terms of reliability compared to the recent treatment under IAS 11. Particularly, a pure fair value approach yields irritating patterns of revenue recognition found inappropriate for stewardship purposes. While its adoption for revenue recognition under IFRSs is unlikely due to regulatory incompatibilities, measuring performance obligations at allocated consideration amount partly mitigates the concerns.

Abstracts in English, Afrikaans and Xhosa / Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) play an important and growing role within the global economy and towards public good. Given the escalating economic and social significance of NGOs, the practical importance of being able to demonstrate their accountability in a robust and comprehensive manner is increasingly being recognised. Perhaps surprisingly, the ability to demonstrate their non-financial accountability is also becoming increasingly important. However, various institutional logics have shaped the face of NGOs’ work, as well as their reporting and their accountability mechanisms. This study therefore examined annual reports of sampled NGOs within Namibia and analysed various institutional accountability logics that shape accountability and reporting in the sector. Extending the literature on accountability logics of NGOs to include local regulations logics, financial and non-financial logic and integrated reporting logic, the study adopted a qualitative illustrative case study of the HIV and AIDS sector in Namibia. To this end, it used 13 purposively selected NGOs, subjecting their documents to analysis and through the conducting of interviews to build both theory and practice. The data were then analysed using content analysis to theme the findings towards the novel contribution it was intended to make. The findings of the study are analysed and interpreted through the lens of the institutional logics theory. The findings indicated that, currently, NGOs do not disclose decision-useful information suitable for all major groups of stakeholders. It is clear from the study that funder and local context regulation logics are the dominant logics in shaping the accountability mechanisms of NGOs in Namibia. The results have an implication for understanding the reporting systems of NGOs, particularly in developing countries such as Namibia. It is argued that extended accountability logics, such as local accountability, financial and non-financial and integrated reporting, are emerging in the NGO sector. / Nie-regeringsorganisasies (NROs) speel 'n belangrike en groeiende rol in die globale ekonomie en in openbare belang. Gegewe die toenemende ekonomiese en sosiale rol van NROs, word hul praktiese belang en aanspreeklikheid meer prominent. Hul vermoë om nie-finansiële aanspreeklikheid te demonstreer, word ook toenemend belangrik. Institusionele logika het die werking, verslagdoening en aanspreeklikheidsmeganismes van NROs gevorm. Hierdie studie het die jaarverslae van NRO's in Namibië ondersoek en die institusionele logika wat aanspreeklikheid en verslagdoening in die sektor vorm, ontleed. 'n Kwalitatiewe illustrerende gevallestudie van die HIV en Vigs-sektor in Namibië bestaande uit 13 geselekteerde NROs is ingesluit om plaaslike regulasie-, finansiële- en nie-finansiële logika met verslagdoeningslogika in NROs te integreer. ‘n Ontleding en interpretasie, deur gebruikmaking van institusionele logika-teorie, het bevind dat NROs tans nie beslissingsinligting bekendmaak wat vir alle hoofgroep belanghebbers geskik is nie. Dit is duidelik uit die studie dat befondsings- en plaaslike konteksregulasie-logika die dominante invloede is wat die aanspreeklikheidsmeganismes van NROs in Namibië gevorm het. Die resultate het 'n invloed op die verstaan van verslagdoeningstelsels van NROs, veral in ontwikkelende lande soos Namibië. Die studie bevind dat uitgebreide aanspreekliksheidslogika, wat plaaslike aanspreeklikheid, finansiële en nie-finansiële asook geïntegreerde verslagdoening insluit, in die NRO-sektor na vore kom. / Zwiimiswa zwine zwa sa vhe zwa muvhuso (dzi NGO) dzi shuma mushumo wa ndeme na wa nyaluwo kha ikonomi ya ḽifhasi kha vhuḓi ha tshitshavha. Ho ṋetshedzwa u gonya ha ikonomi na ndeme ya matshilisano ya dzi NGO, ndeme ya nyito ya u kona u sumbedza vhuḓifhinduleli hadzo nga nḓila yo khwaṱhaho yo fhelelaho i khou engedzea na u dzhielwa nṱha. Ṱhaṅwe tshine tsha mangadza, vhukoni ha u sumbedza vhuḓifhinduleli hadzo hu si ha masheleni na hone ho engedza ndeme. Naho zwo ralo, zwiitisi zwo fhambanaho zwa zwiimiswa zwo fhaṱa mbonalo ya mushumo wa dzi NGO, na nḓila dzadzo dzou vhiga na vhuḓifhinduleli hadzo. Ṱhoḓisiso heyi nga zwenezwo yo ṱola mivhigo ya ṅwaha nga ṅwaha ya tsumbo dza dzi NGO kha ḽa Namibia na u saukanya zwiitisi zwo fhambanaho zwa vhuḓifhinduleli ha zwiimiswa zwine zwa fhaṱa vhuḓifhinduleli na kuvhigele kha sekithara. U engedza maṅwalwa nga ha zwiitisi zwa vhuḓifhinduleli ha dzi NGO u katela zwiitisi zwa ndaulo dzapo, zwiitisi zwa masheleni na zwi si zwa masheleni na tshiitisi tsha u vhiga ho ṱanganelaho, ṱhoḓisiso yo shumisa ngudo ya tsumbo ya khwaḽithethivi ya sekhithara ya HIV na AIDS kha ḽa Namibia. U swika zwino, yo shumisa dzi NGO dza 13 dzo nangwaho ho sedzwa vhukoni, u ṱana maṅwalo avho kha u saukanya na kha u ita inthaviwu u fhaṱa vhuvhili hazwo thyeori na nyito. Data yo ḓo saukanya nga murahu hu tshi khou shumiswa u saukanya zwi re ngomu kha u wana thero zwi tshi ḓa kha u bveledza phambano ine ya fanela u bveledzwa. Mawanwa a ngudo a saukanya na u ṱalutshedzwa nga kha kuvhonele kwa vhushaka ha tshiimiswa, maitele a matshilisano na zwine ha tendwa khazwo. Mawanwa o sumbedzisa zwauri, zwazwino, dzi NGO a dzi bviseli khagala mafhungo a tsheo a ndeme o teaho zwigwada zwoṱhe zwihulwane zwa vhadzhiamukovhe. Zwi tou vha khagala u bva kha ngudo uri vhalambedzi na zwiitisi zwa ndaulo ya nyimele yapo ndi zwiitisi zwihulwane kha u fhaṱa kuitele kwa vhuḓifhinduleli kha dzi NGO kha ḽa Namibia. Mvelelo dzo baḓekanywa na u pfesesa sisiṱeme dza kuvhigele kwa dzi NGO kha ḽa Namibia, nga maanḓa kha mashango ane a kha ḓi bvelela a nga ho sa Namibia. Ho rerwa nga ha u pfi zwiitisi nyengedzedzwa zwa vhuḓifhinduleli, zwi ngaho sa vhuḓifhinduleli hapo, u vhiga ho ṱanganelaho hu si ha masheleni na ha masheleni, hu bveledzwa kha sekhithara ya NGO. / Financial Accounting / D. Phil. (Accounting Science: Financial Accounting)