This thesis aims to describe the system of financial reporting in the UK, certain aspects of the preparatory phase of the IFRS implementation process, main problems related to the implementation and impact of IFRS implementation on british companies.

Företag blir allt mer globala och investeringar i utländska företag blir allt vanligare. Att investera över gränserna kan vara komplext då redovisningsreglerna länge skiljt sig åt i olika länder. Behovet av att reducera skillnader som finns i redovisningen har länge varit stort. För att komma till rätta med detta tog Europaparlamentet år 2002 ett beslut om att införa International Accounting Standards/International Financial Reporting Standards (IAS/IFRS) inom EU och en process inleddes som innebar att alla medlemsländer ska redovisa enligt IAS/IFRS. I och med att Sverige är med i EU ska alla noterade företag i landet upprätta sin koncernredovisning enligt IAS/IFRS-standarderna från och med början av år 2005.Vårt syfte med denna uppsats är att beskriva hur redovisningen av svenska bankers finansiella instrument har förändrats i och med införandet av IASB:s redovisningsstandarder. Vårt syfte är även att undersöka hur tillämpningen av IASB:s standarder har påverkat redovisningen av finansiella instrument hos banker i Storbritannien.Då syftet med vår forskning är deskriptivt passar kvalitativa metoder väl in i vår forskningsprocess. Vårt material består av lagtexter och intervjuer vilket medför att vi har tolkat mer än statistiskt analyserat och jämfört.Vi har kommit fram till slutsatsen att de nya reglerna gällande finansiella instrument främst påverkar klassificering och värdering av dessa. Resultatet har inte påverkats nämnvärt utan det är balansomslutningen som står för skillnaderna. Vi har även kommit fram till att banker i Storbritannien har påverkats på liknande sätt som de svenska av införandet av IAS/IFRS-standarderna. / Uppsatsnivå: C

Diplomová práce se zabývá vybranými položkami účetních výkazů v porovnání dvou účetních systémů ? UK GAAP a České republice. Hlavním cílem je poukázat na rozdíly v obou systémech, a to jak v postupech účtování, tak i ve způsobu vykazování a sestavování finančních výkazů. V závěru práce jsou některé rozdíly prezentovány na praktických příkladech.

This diploma thesis deals with the preparation of consolidated financial statements in accordance with UK GAAP rules after the reform, with effect from 1 January 2015. The subject of investigation is primarily a process of preparation of consolidated financial statements in the UK, especially the full consolidation method and the equity method. The fundamental standard upon which this work is based is FRS 102. The work should also, on the practical examples, compare the process of preparation of consolidated financial statements in accordance with UK GAAP and IFRS, since one of the main objectives of the reform of 2015 ws the progress in the implementation process to IFRS. To assess whether this objective is successfully implemented, the work also includes comparisons with previous UK GAAP standards, particularly FRS 2 and FRS 6. The results show that although the reform of the UK Accounting standards should be based ont he principles of IFRS, final form does not correspond to this aim. In the process of preparation of consolidated financial statements, there had been almost no progress and there are still many different approaches.

This thesis deals with consolidated financial statements prepared in accordance with UK GAAP and compares selected areas with the approach according to IFRS. The thesis describes development of UK accounting legislation from its beginnings to its current form focusing mainly on consolidation. It also outlines content of the key accounting standards that are relevant for the subject. The emphasis is put on use of the full consolidation method in preparing consolidated financial statements. The thesis also deals with accounting for investments in associates and joint ventures. Therefore it is necessary to define the criteria according to which it can be assessed whether an entity controls another entity. Another field of study is dedicated to new standards coming into effect for accounting periods commencing on or after January 1st, 2015. Benefits of changes that are incorporated in the new standards are subsequently evaluated. The aim of this thesis is to describe development of rules for preparation of consolidated financial statements in accordance with UK GAAP and to assess to what extent is UK GAAP affected by global convergence of accounting systems.

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.

This thesis investigates whether IFRS adoption has led to an increase in the relevance of accounting information for investment decisions. Furthermore, the effects of IFRS are implicitly compared across accounting traditions. As such,  the effects of IFRS on the “quality” of financial reporting are measured based on the cases of listed firms in Germany and listed firms in the UK. This study approaches the effects of IFRS on the quality of financial reporting from two angles. First a review of the academic literature is done to determine whether there has been a general consensus about the effects of IFRS adoption on financial reporting of listed firms in Germany and the UK. As a result of this literature study, a number of propositions are deduced about the effects of IFRS. Subsequently, the investigation of the effects of IFRS takes a statistical perspective. Financial and accounting data are obtained for two samples, one of German listed firms and another of UK listed firms. A number of empirical models are used to determine the quality of financial reporting, including the earnings-returns association (Lev ,1989; Lev & Zarowin, 1999), asymmetric sensitivity of earnings and asymmetric persistence of earnings (Basu, 1997), and the market-to-book ratios (Roychowdhury & Watts, 2003). Additionally, a new tool is introduced for a joint interpretation of the econometric test results, leading potentially to a new method of financial report analysis under dynamic regulatory conditions. Significant statistical evidence is found suggesting a drastic reduction (to the point of complete elimination) in income smoothing in Germany corresponding to the transition from the German national GAAP to IFRS. Additionally, with the introduction of IFRS, the information content of accounting earnings in German firms appears to have increased substantially, while market-to-book ratios have converged towards “1”. On the other hand, the introduction of IFRS in the UK corresponds to statistical evidence consistent with a shift from asymmetric timeliness of earnings under UK GAAP to a significant downward bias in earnings under IFRS. The study also shows significant inter-industry differences in the effects of IFRS that suggest that the inconsistencies in the results of previous studies may have been due to the significant noise created by diverse samples, or due to biased industry representations in the data.

This study examines changes in British financial reporting that are in the progress with the focus on the year 2012. The subject of the analysis are the differences in selected areas between the new proposals (FREDs 46-48) and current FRSs, former proposals (FREDs 43-45), IFRS for SME, and "full" IFRS. The results suggest that Britain continues to preserve some particular treatments, even though those are not fully in line with IFRS for SME or "full" IFRS. In addition to this, formats of the financial statements according to UK GAAP were examined. The result suggests that the current formats defined by the company law will be preserved. The popularity of vertical balance sheet, which is typical for the UK, is illustrated by examining financial statements of selected companies.