This dissertation investigates the interrelationships between a client's non-GAAP earnings disclosures, financial health (profit and loss status), and the external auditor's assessment of the client's going concern status. This dissertation comprises two essays. Essay 1 examines the informativeness and the quality of non-GAAP earnings disclosures in profit and loss firms separately. Using a large sample of non-GAAP earnings voluntarily disclosed by managers, I find that the informativeness and the quality of non-GAAP earnings vary in firms cross-classified by GAAP loss status and non-GAAP loss status. I also find that loss firms have higher quality non-GAAP exclusions relative to profit firms, although the expenses excluded by both profit and loss firms are associated with firms' future performance. Further, I posit and find that profit firms which voluntarily disclose non-GAAP losses have high-quality exclusions, while other non-GAAP reporting profit firms have low-quality exclusions. Having found that non-GAAP earnings in loss firms is opportunistic to some extent, I next study, in Essay 2, whether auditors understand the implications of low-quality non-GAAP reporting in these firms. Specifically, I examine 1) whether non-GAAP earnings disclosures are associated with the propensity of the auditor's going concern issuance to loss firms, and 2) whether non-GAAP earnings disclosures affect the accuracy of the auditor's going concern assessment. This is important because auditors often conduct audits of loss firms that disclose non-GAAP earnings, and the consequences of issuing wrong audit opinions can be severe. I find that the propensity of the auditor's going concern issuance is negatively associated with the magnitude of expense exclusions in loss firms, after controlling for determinants of going concern opinions that are derived from GAAP earnings. This finding suggests that auditors take into account information embedded in non-GAAP earnings when assessing clients' going concern status. Using bankruptcy outcome as a benchmark, I find that non-GAAP earnings disclosures could increase type II errors in auditors' going concern reporting. I further find that small size auditors and non-specialist auditors are more likely to be misled by non-GAAP reporting when making going concern decisions. In sum, my dissertation furthers our understanding of non-GAAP reporting and its implication for auditors' decision making for issuing going concern opinions.

Thesis advisor: Amy Hutton / While the implementation of new accounting standards requires significant firm resources, the literature is largely silent on how firms allocate resources to comply with new accounting standards. I investigate whether firms make information systems (IS) investments to comply because IS are the primary means through which firms’ economic activities are captured, aggregated, and summarized for managerial decision-making. I use a requirement that firms disclose factors that materially affect their internal controls to identify IS investments. I find that—despite the large direct and indirect costs of IS investments and alternatives to comply with GAAP changes—new accounting standards lead to significant IS investments for the firms most affected by the GAAP changes. Moreover, the IS investments improve firms’ internal information environments. The results suggest that the IS investments and IIE improvements extend beyond the scope of the GAAP changes. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2022. / Submitted to: Boston College. Carroll School of Management. / Discipline: Accounting.

In this dissertation I investigate and compare the impairments of long-lived operating assets under US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (US GAAP) and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) from different perspective, including the informativeness, determinants, and market valuation of asset impairments. A firm invests in long-lived operating assets with the expectation of generating future benefit. The decision or recognition of asset impairments implies such future benefit is expected to be lower than originally estimated. US GAAP and IFRS both require the recognition of impairment losses but their standards and accounting approaches are different in several ways. These distinctions raise the question whether the reported long-lived asset impairments under US GAAP and IFRS are comparable and motivate this dissertation. I investigate the predictive ability of reported asset write-offs for firms' future performance and find negative associations suggesting the informativeness of impairment losses. But such informativeness depends on the type of assets impaired, the accounting standards adopted, and the institutional characteristics. In general, aggregate impairments are persistently associated with future performance under IFRS but not US GAAP. The impairments of tangible assets have more predictive ability than those of intangibles. For IFRS adopters, enforcement takes a more important role in determining the informativeness of asset impairments than legal origins. I also examine the determinants and attributes of asset impairments under US GAAP and IFRS. I find both of them reflect certain economic factors and reporting incentives. Under US GAAP asset impairments strongly reflect GDP growth, unemployment rate, industry-trend and reporting incentives, including taking a big bath and income smoothing. Under IFRS the impairments reflect most economic factors but less reporting incentives. However, when enforcement is low in IFRS countries, firms tend to manage earnings through asset write-offs. I further address the market valuation of asset write-offs under US GAAP and IFRS. The reporting of asset impairments improves the explanatory power of accounting information for equity prices under IFRS but not US GAAP, especially when enforcement is high. The associations between asset write-offs and equity prices under IFRS in high enforcement countries are significantly different from those under US GAAP, implying investors weigh reported impairments under IFRS. I also use stock returns as an alternative metric of market valuation. Under US GAAP, asset write-offs are negatively associated with past, current, and future stock returns. Under IFRS in high enforcement countries the effects of impairment loss concentrate on past and current stock returns. The results of comparisons suggest asset write-offs under US GAAP and IFRS are not totally comparable from a market perspective. This dissertation contributes to literature on special items, impairment accounting, and reporting under IFRS. It is also related to the comparability of financial reporting under US GAAP and IFRS. While studies have compared overall properties of the two standards, examining the differences in a specific accounting area is also important as U.S. SEC express concern about the convergence of different accounting standards and whether U.S. should incorporate IFRS into its financial reporting systems. / Business Administration/Accounting

The main theme of this thesis is the isue of leases and its treatment in International Financial Reporting Standards. The thesis is devided into five parts. The first part is devoted to basic characteristics of the lease, its structure and historical development. The third part focuses on convergence of IFRS and US GAAP in leases. This section contains a summary of the opinions contained in Discussion Paper and decisions made at meetings of the IASB and the FASB after publishing of Discussion Paper. The fourth part deals with practical application of the rules contained in IAS 17 at real lease contract. The last part is devoted to research of implementation of disclosure requirements specified in IAS 17.

Background: With an increased global market, where companies seek capital abroad, the demand for a more uniform accounting standard has been raised. This uniform accounting standard is not yet available, differences between accounting standards still exists. Several Swedish companies seek risk capital in the USA and some are part of a concern that is listed on the American stock exchange. This means that the Securities and Exchange Commission requires the companies to do a reconciliation to US GAAP on those items that are considered material. This can be an extensive work for the companies if the knowledge about the differences between Swedish GAAP and US GAAP does not exist. Purpose: The purpose with this essay is to describe Swedish GAAP and US GAAP and experienced differences between them, and identify items that should be taken into consideration at a reconciliation. Further we have the purpose to examine the meaning of the expression material and how that affects what items that are chosen for reconciliation, and to create a model for analysis of what items are material. Accomplishment: We have done a research among an assortment of Swedish companies that do a reconciliation of their reports to US GAAP. The purpose of the research have been to identify differences between Swedish GAAP and US GAAP and which ones that are considered material and therefore should be reconciled. We have then described the identified differences and what effect those differences have from the view of a case company. The case company is Sydkraft ÖstVärme that are part of a German group that are listed on the American stock exchange and therefore are affected by US GAAP accounting. Results: Through the information from the research we have created a guideline that could be used as help when doing reconciliation. This guideline consists partly of a model of how an analysis of material items could function when choosing reconciliation items and partly of a compilation of the differences that have been identified and how they should be treated.

<p>Background: With an increased global market, where companies seek capital abroad, the demand for a more uniform accounting standard has been raised. This uniform accounting standard is not yet available, differences between accounting standards still exists. Several Swedish companies seek risk capital in the USA and some are part of a concern that is listed on the American stock exchange. This means that the Securities and Exchange Commission requires the companies to do a reconciliation to US GAAP on those items that are considered material. This can be an extensive work for the companies if the knowledge about the differences between Swedish GAAP and US GAAP does not exist. </p><p>Purpose: The purpose with this essay is to describe Swedish GAAP and US GAAP and experienced differences between them, and identify items that should be taken into consideration at a reconciliation. Further we have the purpose to examine the meaning of the expression material and how that affects what items that are chosen for reconciliation, and to create a model for analysis of what items are material. </p><p>Accomplishment: We have done a research among an assortment of Swedish companies that do a reconciliation of their reports to US GAAP. The purpose of the research have been to identify differences between Swedish GAAP and US GAAP and which ones that are considered material and therefore should be reconciled. We have then described the identified differences and what effect those differences have from the view of a case company. The case company is Sydkraft ÖstVärme that are part of a German group that are listed on the American stock exchange and therefore are affected by US GAAP accounting. </p><p>Results: Through the information from the research we have created a guideline that could be used as help when doing reconciliation. This guideline consists partly of a model of how an analysis of material items could function when choosing reconciliation items and partly of a compilation of the differences that have been identified and how they should be treated.</p>

Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka om det finns ett negativt samband mellan hållbarhetsredovisning och skatteaggressivitet.     Metod: Studien har utgått ifrån en positivistisk forskningsfilosofi och har antagit en hypotetisk-deduktiv ansats. Studien är av en kvantitativ art där en tvärsnittsdesign används och där det data som använts varit sekundär. Studiens urval har bestått av totalt 120 företag efter bortfall där Sverige och Schweiz har 60 företag var. All data har samlats genom användandet av Thomson Reuters Datastream och har därefter behandlats i statistikprogrammet SPSS för att kunna göra en logistisk regressionsanalys.   Resultat &amp; slutsats: Studiens resultat visar inte på något negativt samband mellan hållbarhetsredovisning och skatteaggressivitet. Tvärtom ser vi ett positivt samband men inte på en statistisk signifikant nivå för att kunna förkasta noll-hypotesen.   Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Då denna studie är av tvärsnittsdesign ger resultatet endast en insikt om läget i dessa länder under det aktuella året. Ett förslag vi lämnar till fortsatta studier inom ämnet är därför att göra en studie över tid, för att få en tydligare bild över ett eventuellt samband mellan hållbarhetsredovisning och skatteaggressivitet.   Uppsatsens bidrag: Denna studie bidrar med ytterligare kunskap i forskningen kring CSR och skatteaggressivitet. Den bidrar framförallt med att fylla ett hål genom att titta på företag i europeiska länder, närmare bestämt Sverige och Schweiz. / Aim: The purpose of this study is to examine if there is a negative relation between sustainability reporting and tax aggressiveness.   Method: The study is based in a positivist research philosophy and adopts a hypothetical-deductive approach. The study is of a quantitative kind where a cross-sectional design and secondary data have been used. The study’s sample is 120 companies where Sweden and Switzerland has 60 companies each. All data has been gathered through the use of Thomson Reuters Datastream and have been processed in the statistic program SPSS in order to do a logistic regression analysis.   Result &amp; Conclusions: The result of this study does not show a negative relation between sustainability reporting and tax aggressiveness. On the contrary we can see a positive relation but not on a statistically significant level to be able to reject the null hypothesis.   Suggestions for future research: This study is using a cross-sectional design which means that the result in the study can only be applied to the year the data was collected. A suggestion for future research within the subject is to do a study over time, to be able to get a better picture of a potential connection between CSR and tax aggressiveness.   Contribution of the thesis: This study contributes with knowledge in the research field of CSR and tax aggressiveness. It especially contributes by filling a gap in the research area by looking at companies from European countries, more particularly Sweden and Switzerland.

Ekonomin blir allt mer global och redovisningsinformation analyseras av olika investerare över hela världen. Informationen som jämförs behöver vara jämförbar med varandra för att ge rättvisande vägledning i ett beslutsfattande. Börsnoterade företag inom Europeiska unionen ska upprätta sin redovisning enligt IFRS och företag som är noterade i USA ska upprätta sin redovisning enligt US GAAP. Det som skiljer regelverken åt är att US GAAP är mer regelbaserat och IFRS är principbaserat, vilket medför att företagsledningen har möjlighet att påverka redovisningen i viss utsträckning. Regelverken skiljer sig åt på en mängd olika punkter för att i vissa avseenden påminna om varandra. Men det är skillnaderna som skapar den informationsasymmetri som sedan kan vilseleda investerare som jämför bolag mellan de olika regelverken.Syftet med denna studie är att analysera om redovisning enligt IFRS eller US GAAP leder till signifikanta skillnader mellan olika nyckeltal. Genom att analysera detta vill vi belysa de eventuella skillnader som kan uppstå i de finansiella nyckeltalen vilket kan ändra investerares intresse för företaget.I studien har 21 stycken dubbelnoterade läkemedelsföretag ingått. Med dubbelnoterade innebär det i denna studie att företagen är noterade på börsen både i Europa och i USA. För dessa företag har två stycken mått för skuldsättning, två stycken mått för lönsamhet och två stycken mått för likviditet beräknats och analyserats. Komponenterna för att beräkna nyckeltalen har hämtats ur företagens egna årsredovisningar som upprättats enligt både IFRS och US GAAP. För att fastställa om regelverken har någon signifikant påverkan på nyckeltalen har vi analyserat våra nyckeltal genom en hypotesprövning. Genom denna studie har vi konstaterat att regelverken inte har någon signifikant påverkan på något av de undersökta företagens nyckeltal. / The economy is getting even more global and accounting information are analysed by several investors over the world. The information being compared has to be comparable with each other to give true guidance before decision-making. Companies listed on the stock exchange within the European Union shall establish their accounting in accordance with IFRS and companies listed on the American stock exchange shall establish their accounting in accordance with US GAAP. What sets the rules apart is that US GAAP is more rule-based than IFRS, which is principle-based, and the managers have an opportunity to influence the accounting to some extent. The frameworks differ in some points, while they in some respects remind of each other. However, it is the differences that create the information asymmetry which can mislead shareholders who compare companies that reports in accordance with both regulations. The purpose of this study is to analyse whether accounting according to IFRS or US GAAP leads to significant differences between different financial ratios. By analysing this, we want to shed light on the possible differences that may arise in the financial ratios, which can change the investor’s interest in the company. The study includes 21 cross-listed companies who are listed on a stock exchange both in Europe and in the US. Two ratios of debt, two ratios of profitability and two ratios of liquidity have been calculated and analysed for each of the companies. The components that have been used to calculate these ratios have been collected from the companies own annual reports that have been prepared in accordance with both IFRS and US GAAP. The study has used a hypothesis test to determine whether the regulations have any significant impact on the financial ratios. The result of this study shows that the regulations have no significant impact on the examined company’s financial ratios.

yes / This paper uses panel cointegration with a corresponding vector error correction model (VECM) to investigate the changes in the value relevance of accounting information before and after the mandatory adoption of IFRS in Germany and the UK under three different valuation models. First, a basic Ohlson model, where our results indicate that despite the value relevance of the book values of equity has declined, it has been replaced by the increasing prominence of earnings in both Germany and the UK after the switch to the IFRS. Second, a modified model, which shows that the incremental value relevance of both earnings and book values are considerably higher in the long term for firms in the UK than in Germany. Third, a simultaneous addition of accounting and macroeconomic variables in an extended model, which indicates a significant rise in the relative predictive power of the book value of equity in the UK compared with the more noticeable impact on the value relevance of earnings in Germany. Collectively, the results of these models indicate that: (i) the explanatory power of linear equity valuation models is higher in UK than in the Germany, (ii) a long-run Granger-causal relationship exists between accounting variables and share prices in common law countries like the UK. Nevertheless, the implications of our findings lie in the knowledge that the potential costs of switching to the IFRS is completely nullified within three years by the benefits arising from a reduction in information asymmetry and earning mismanagement among firms which are listed on the stock exchanges of both common law and code law-based EU countries.

Leasing är en populär finansieringsmetod. Redovisningen av leasing har dock kritiserats för att inte redovisa en rättvisande bild. Åtgärder för att försöka förbättra leasingredovisningen var en av de punkter som stod på agendan för IASB och FASB konvergensprojekt. Den främsta kritiken riktas till företag som redovisar under US GAAP där standarden lätt låter sig kringgås. Detta eftersom de medvetet klassificerar leasingavtalen som operationella. De operationella leasingarna ger en missvisande bild eftersom de inte går igenom balansräkningen. Det blir missvisande om de produkter eller tjänster som finansieras genom leasing skapar intäkter för företaget och bör därför ses som en tillgång.Syftet med studien är att föra en fördjupad diskussion kring den kommande leasingstandarden och dess effekt. Eftersom standarden inte ännu införts bidrar studien till ökade kunskaper inom området inför kommande standard. Studien bygger på en kvalitativ ansats med såväl kvantitativ som kvalitativ data. Den omfattar flera olika tillvägagångssätt för information. Empirin behandlar beräkningar på den förväntade effekten av en ny standard samt diskussioner med respondenterna.Resultatet visar på att den nya standarden får en markant påverkan på de företag som har stor andel operationella leasingavtal som redovisar under US GAAP. Det visar även hur nyckeltal som soliditet och skuldsättningsgrad försämras vid en kapitalisering av operationella leasingavtal. Resultat visar på en mer rättvisande bild vid ny leasingsstandard. Däremot kan den rubbas om alternativa finansieringsmetoder uppkommer.Studien behandlar en fördjupad diskussion kring ett mycket omtalat ämne men det var först i januari i år som den nya standarden presenterades. Därför bidrar studien med relevant information om den slutliga produkten av konvergensprojektet för leasing och diskussion kring alternativa finansieringsmöjligheter. / Leasing is a popular financing method and has received a lot of criticism for its accounting because it is not representing a true and fair view. This problem was one of the things on the agenda of the convergence project between IASB and FASB. The prime criticism is aimed for those companies that report under US GAAP where the standard is easy to manipulate by classify the leases as operating. The operating contracts are providing a deceptive picture by avoiding the balance sheet. The reason way this is deceptive are because the leased asset generates income for the company.The purpose of the study is to conduct a deeper discussion about the future leasing standard and its impact. Since the standard has not yet been put into use, the study contributes to increase knowledge in the area for the future standard. The study is based on a qualitative approached with quantitative and qualitative data. Different approached has been considered when collecting empirical data. The empirical data process information about leasing and calculations on the expected impact of the new standard and also discussions with the respondents.The result indicates that the new standard have a significant influence on the companies that have a large proportion of operating leases. The outcome also indicates how the key figures solidity and debt to equity ratio is being impaired through a capitalizing of operating leases. The outcome gives an increased true and fair view of the leasing standard. However financial engineering can disrupt the true and fair view.The study covers a deeper discussion about a controversial subject, but it was not until January this year the standard was publicly presented. The study therefore contributes with relevant information to the final product of the convergence project for leasing and a discussion about alternative financial engineering.This thesis is written in Swedish.