The game of football has transformed from just being a game into a huge economic market attracting investors from all over the world. As clubs spend more and more money on player acquisitions, player registrations (considered intangible assets) now represent a significant part of the total assets of major European football clubs. Due to this, treatment of player registrations has become a significant accounting issue. The purpose is to analyze and compare from the perspective of an investor, how a sample of European football clubs account and disclose values of player registrations. The purpose aim to answer the questions how and what kind of information each club discloses on their financial statements. Also, are current accounting procedures and disclosure harmonized, and do they present a true and fair view of top European clubs financial status. A descriptive case study was the most appropriate as it aims to answer the questions “how” and “why”. A sample selection filter was set in the beginning of the process together with the research questions. The final sample was set to be: Arsenal FC, Manchester United, Borussia Dortmund, Juventus FC and FC Porto. The purpose of the selection filter was to get a study both fair on economical as well as competitive sports level. Primary data consist of information from annual financial reports, and in order to enhance validity, interviews with professionals have been conducted and used.  Findings show similarities as well as differences in disclosure and treatment of football player registrations. All clubs meet the minimum requirements from IAS 38 and UEFA. However, how and what kind of information each clubs disclose differ substantially and due to lack of valuation models and the possibility to capitalize home-grown players and free agents, the value of player registrations is not presented in a true and fair view.

With the recent financial crisis that have happened and the global move towards fair value accounting financial institutions such as the IASB saw fit to increase the mandatory disclosure requirements by implementing IFRS 13 to regulated fair value accounting in IFRS. The implementation of IFRS 13 means that many of the old standards in regards to fair value will be replaced, for example investment properties reporting under IAS 40. Furthermore IFRS 13 redefines the classification system for assets and liabilities.   The purpose of this study is to investigate whether these changes have any influence on investment decisions. This has been done by adopting a qualitative abductive descripto-explanatory approach to our research, and our empirical data was gathered through semi-structured interviews with academics and audit professionals.   The analysis of our empirical data suggests that the implementation of IFRS 13 and its increased disclosure requirements have been useful to investor’s decision making. IFRS 13 accomplishes this through its increased clarity in financial reporting. However investors should be mindful whilst investing in companies utilizing Level 3 valuation techniques because they use estimates of unobservable inputs and because such estimates are hard to control they are prone to bias, error, and manipulation.

[Truncated abstract] Following the introduction in 1999 of Australian Accounting Standard Board (AASB) 1041: 'Revaluations of Non-Current Assets' (Australian Accounting Standards Board 2001a), this study set out to examine the impact of the introduction of this new standard on: the number (percentage) of Australian firms revaluing various classes and submajor classes of non-current assets; and the value relevance and reliability of the information provided with respect to various sub-major classes of non-current assets. The study also set out to examine the apparent motivations for Australian companies electing the fair value (FV) basis, rather than the historic cost (HC) basis, for reporting property, plant and equipment (PP&E). The sample analysed in this study consisted of Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) listed firms that were included in each of the Connect4, Aspect Financial and Core Research Data (CRD) databases. After excluding firms not covered by all three databases and firms where there were missing data problems, 398 and 424 firms were left in the 1999 and 2002 samples, respectively. Of the 398 and 424 firms, there were 194 firms that were common to both sample periods and a separate analysis of these 'common' firms allowed a 'like-for-like' comparison to be made. The financial year ending June 30, 1999 provides data under the previous standard AASB 1010 (Australian Accounting Standards Board 2000) before the introduction of AASB 1041, while the financial year ending 30 June 2002 provides data under AASB 1041 (the new standard). ... At the disaggregated level (that is, for various sub-major classes of non-current assets), it appears that there was a decline in the number (percentage) of firms choosing to revalue investment property, property, and plant and equipment, while there was no change in the number (percentage) of firms choosing to revalue listed or unlisted investments. It appears that AASB 1041's requirement to revalue frequently when the FV basis was adopted discouraged firms from choosing the FV basis for some asset classes, presumably because the costs associated with frequent revaluations outweighed the perceived benefits. In terms of value relevance, the results suggest that where the variables of interest are scaled there was no improvement in the value relevance of the information provided by Australian companies following the introduction of AASB 1041. However, the results from the unscaled regressions do not support this conclusion and instead suggest that the introduction of AASB 1041 was associated with an overall improvement in the value relevance of the information provided with respect to the various sub-major classes of non-current assets investigated in this study. Resolution of this conflicting result is beyond the scope of this dissertation and is an issue worthy of future research. In terms of reliability, the results suggest that the introduction of AASB 1041 was generally associated with: an improvement in the reliability of information reported with respect to non-current assets reported at FV; and a deterioration in the reliability of information reported with respect to non-current assets reported at HC. Finally, with respect to the potential motivations behind a company's choice of the FV basis for reporting PP&E, the results suggest that firms are motivated to revalue PP&E to: improve their borrowing capacity; for signalling purposes; and to reduce information asymmetry.

A Governança Corporativa, por meio de um conjunto de mecanismos, representa uma ferramenta poderosa capaz de alavancar, satisfatoriamente, o desempenho econômico-financeiro das empresas, bem como o caminho pelo qual os fornecedores de recursos financeiros dessas empresas se asseguram de que terão retornos de seus investimentos. Porém, o aprimoramento dos padrões legais de governança corporativa de um país, geralmente, enfrenta obstáculos que o torna moroso diante do dinamismo e exigências do mercado atual, razão pela qual alguns mercados foram obrigados a criar mecanismos de adesão voluntária a melhores práticas de governança por parte das empresas. Seguindo uma tendência mundial, o mercado brasileiro implantou, em dezembro de 2000, os contratos privados entre a BOVESPA e as companhias abertas, contemplando compromissos de práticas adicionais de governança corporativa, o que representa uma alternativa às reformas legislativas pertinentes ao assunto. Nesse sentido, o objetivo desta pesquisa concentra-se em analisar se houve mudança significativa na rentabilidade e valor total de mercado das companhias, após adesão ao Novo Mercado, Nível 2 ou Nível 1 de Governança Corporativa da BOVESPA. Trata-se de um estudo empírico-analítico, em que três variáveis foram testadas estatisticamente: Retorno do Ativo (ROA), Retorno do Patrimônio Líquido (ROE) e Valor Total de Mercado da Empresa (TQ), utilizando-se do Teste t (paramétrico) e do Teste de Wilcoxon (não-paramétrico) para teste de significância de médias. Os resultados indicaram que, quando analisadas em conjunto, verificou-se uma mudança significativa positiva no retorno médio do Ativo, retorno médio do Patrimônio Líquido e valor médio das empresas, após a referida adesão. Por outro lado, quando analisadas individualmente, 63,64% dos casos convergiram para aceitação da hipótese de que houve mudança significativa positiva no valor da empresa; entretanto, para o retorno do Ativo e do Patrimônio Líquido, apenas 27,27% e 31,82% dos casos individuais foram convergentes com a análise conjunta, respectivamente. Ressalte-se, porém, que existem outras variáveis micro e macroeconômicas que impactam na rentabilidade e no valor das companhias, e não apenas o motivo da adesão, conforme ratificado por uma análise comparativa realizada com um grupo de controle. Todos os resultados desta pesquisa consideraram um nível de confiança de 95% e respectivo nível de significância de 5%. Contudo, tendo em vista os testes estatísticos terem uma amostragem não probabilística subjacente, os resultados encontrados são extensivos, apenas, às companhias listadas nos três níveis de governança corporativa da BOVESPA. / By means of a set of devices, corporate governance represents a powerful instrument, capable of satisfactorily enhancing the economic and financial performance of enterprises, as well as the way through which suppliers of financial resources to these enterprises make sure they will have return on their investments. However, the refinement of the legal patterns of corporate governance of a country are usually faced with many obstacles, what slows the process that cannot meet the demands of the modern and dynamic market, which in turn urges some markets to create mechanisms of voluntary compliance of enterprises with the best practices of governance. Following a world trend, in December 2000 the Brazilian market implemented the private contracts between the São Paulo Stock Exchange (BOVESPA) and the quoted companies, which referred to agreements on further practice of corporate governance by the enterprises; this represents an alternative to the legislative reform on the subject matter. Thus, the aim of this research focuses on analyzing whether there has been a significant change in the profitability or in the market value of these companies after compliance to the New Market (Novo Mercado), Level 2 or Level 1 of Corporate Governance of BOVESPA. It is an empirical-analytical study, in which three variables were statistically tested: Return on Assets (ROA), Return on Equity (ROE), and Enterprise Total Market Value (TQ). The study used Test t (parametric) and Wilcoxon (non-parametric) for the test of average significance. The results show that, after compliance, once analysis was carried out taking into account the group, there was a significant positive change in the average return on Assets, average return on Equity and average value of enterprise. On the other hand, when analyzed individually, 63,64% of the cases revealed an agreement with the hypothesis that there was significant positive change in the value of the company, however, as far as return on Assets and on Equity go, only 27,27% and 31,82% respectively of the individual cases were in agreement with the group analysis. It is important, though, to call the attention to the fact that not only compliance, but also micro and macroeconomic variables place an impact on the profitability of enterprises, as shown in the comparative analysis carried out with the control group. All the results in this research took into account reliability level of 95% and significance level of 5%. However, taking into consideration that the statistic tests have an underlying non-probabilistic sample, the results refer solely to the companies listed in the three levels of corporate governance of BOVESPA.

Este trabalho propõe um modelo com o objetivo de contribuir para o estudo de gestão baseada em valor aplicado a bancos pelas métricas do Economic Value Added (EVATM) e do Shareholder Value Added. (SVA). Para tanto, será desenvolvido um conteúdo teórico que contempla relatos e experiências de autores, proveniente de pesquisa bibliográfica, além de um exemplo numérico baseado na experiência do autor deste trabalho. O embasamento teórico utilizado contempla uma revisão dos principais aspectos da gestão baseada no valor, da conciliação de métricas de mensuração de valor de banco, das suas adequações às peculiaridades dos bancos múltiplos e das suas aplicabilidades aos controles gerenciais em bancos múltiplos que envolvem conceitos, significado econômico e formulações. Além disso, alguns aspectos da gestão bancária são apresentados: a abordagem envolve a gestão da margem financeira, a alocação de capital a unidades de negócios com base no risco, a aplicação de métricas ligadas ao valor para o acionista no controle gerencial e a avaliação de desempenho dos gestores das áreas de negócios. A apresentação do modelo proposto contempla tanto o cálculo do EVATM do banco quanto de suas unidades de negócios, bem como sua utilidade para fins gerenciais. / This paper proposes a model with a view to contributing to the study of value-based management applied to banks through the Economic Value-Added (EVATM) and Shareholder Value-Added (SVA) metrics. To this end, a theoretical content will be developed based on bibliographical survey of the accounts and experiences of various authors, as well as a numerical example based on the experience of the author of this paper. The theoretical basis employed includes a review of the main aspects of value-based management, of the conciliation of bank value measurement metrics, of their adjustment to the peculiarities of all-purpose banks and their applications to management controls in all-purpose banks that involve concepts, economic meaning and formulations. In addition, some aspects of banking management are presented: the approach involves financial margin management, risk-based capital allocation to business units, application of metrics related to shareholder value in management control, and performance evaluation of the managers of the business areas. The presentation of the proposed model includes both the calculation of EVA TM for the bank and its business units, as well as its usefulness for management purposes.

Esta tese tem como objetivo principal verificar a validade teórica e empírica dos modelos operacionais para mensurar os accruals discricionários utilizados na detecção de gerenciamento de resultados contábeis. Inicialmente, é apresentada e discutida a informação contábil e sua importância na avaliação do desempenho empresarial e no estabelecimento das relações contratuais, o processo de mensuração contábil e as características institucionais e organizacionais que afetam as escolhas contábeis, características e conseqüências da qualidade das informações contábeis, a discricionariedade dos gestores em relação às perspectivas oportunística e de eficiência das informações contábeis. Por último, é examinado o processo de desenvolvimento e de validação dos modelos teóricos e operacionais na pesquisa analítico-empírica na pesquisa contábil. A seguir, é realizada uma análise teórico-crítica sobre a especificação do modelo geral para detecção de gerenciamento de resultados através das escolhas contábeis e dos modelos operacionais presentes na literatura para a estimação dos accruals discricionários, com base na fundamentação teórica subjacente. Com base nas observações sobre a construção dos modelos analítico-empíricos e evidências empíricas dos trabalhos anteriores, propôs-se um novo modelo para análise do comportamento dos accruals e estimação dos accruals discricionários. Adicionalmente, também se apresentou um modelo para detecção de gerenciamento de resultados que considera os incentivos simultâneos e os custos associados à prática oportunística sobre números contábeis. Este trabalho enquadra-se como uma pesquisa empírico-analítica, utilizando, também, as pesquisas bibliográfica e descritiva. A amostra, neste estudo, é formada pelo conjunto de companhias abertas do mercado de capitais brasileiro, norte-americano e dos demais mercados latino-americanos, compreendendo o período entre 1996 a 2005. A análise da especificação e do poder preditivo dos modelos é desenvolvida por diversos procedimentos estatísticos. Todos os modelos operacionais para mensurar os accruals discricionários utilizados na detecção de gerenciamento de resultados contábeis são estimados através da abordagem pooling of independent cross sections para todos os ambientes econômicos. A escolha do modelo com melhor poder preditivo é realizada pela análise do R2 ajustado, critérios de Akaike e de Schwarz e Teste Voung. Os resultados desta pesquisa sugerem que os modelos operacionais de estimação dos accruals discricionários presentes na literatura corrente, de modo geral, não apresentam fundamentação teórica adequada e alguns desses modelos são fracamente especificados e têm baixo poder preditivo, sendo significativamente afetados pelo ambiente econômico. Além disso, os resultados comprovam que o modelo operacional proposto neste trabalho para estimar os accruals discricionários para detecção de gerenciamento de resultados tem maior poder explicativo do comportamento dos accruals em todos os ambientes econômicos analisados. / This research aims to investigate the theoretical and empirical validity of operational models to measure discretionary accruals used in the detection of earnings management. Initially, accounting information and its importance in business valuation and in the establishment of contractual relations are presented and discussed, as well as the accounting measurement procedure and the institutional and organizational characteristics that affect accounting choices. The characteristics and consequences of accounting information quality and the discretionarity of managers with respect to the opportunistic and efficiency perspectives of accounting information are also addressed. Next, the development and validation process of theoretical and empirical models in analytical and empirical accounting research is examined. This is followed by a theoretical and critical analysis about the specification of the general model to detect earnings management by accounting choices and operational models in literature to estimate discretionary accruals, founded on underlying theoretical premises. Based on observations about the construction of analytical and empirical models and empirical evidence from previous studies, a new model is proposed to analyze accruals behavior and estimate discretionary accruals. Additionally, the study also exhibits a model for earnings management detection that considers the simultaneous incentives and costs associated with the opportunistic practice on accounting figures. This analytic and empirical study also uses bibliographic and descriptive research. The sample, in this study, is composed of public companies from Brazilian, North-American and other Latin-American capital markets, in the period from 1996 to 2005. The models\' specification and predictive power is analyzed through different statistical procedures. All operational models for measuring the discretionary accruals employed in earnings management detection are estimated through the pooling of independent cross sections for all economic environments. The model with the best predictive power is selected by adjusted R2, Akaike\'s and Schwarz\' information criteria and the Voung test. The research results suggest that the operational estimation models of discretionary accruals present in current literature do not exhibit adequate theoretical foundations. Some of those models are poorly specified and have low predictive power, besides being significantly affected by the economic environment. Moreover, the results proved that the operational model proposed in this study to estimate discretionary accruals for the detection of earnings management has larger explicative power of accruals behavior in all analyzed economic environments.

The focus of this doctoral research is on developing an enhanced understanding of the nature and operational significance of fair values by studying the organisational systems and processes through which such values are produced. The external reporting of fair values in corporate financial statements has created significant controversy and debate, particularly during the global financial crisis with various accusations and competing defences as to whether or not such a form of accounting caused or exacerbated the crisis. Fair value accounting has been debated mainly from a relevance and reliability perspective, with much attention paid to the relative usefulness of fair value accounting to investors and claims and counter claims relating to the reliability and subjectivity of fair values compared to historical costing approaches. Investigation into implementation issues affecting reliability, however, has been little studied. While an emerging strand of the literature has pointed to the importance of recognising fair value accounting’s social constructed nature, relatively few research papers have examined the construction of fair values and the ways in which such values are shaped by social and organisational contextual influences. This research contributes to such an emerging literature through a detailed case study of the construction of fair values in an international financial services organisation. The primary focus of analysis is the work of the organisation’s central governing body in this area, namely its Fair Value Committee (FVC). The work of the FVC provides a rich empirical base from which to examine the key factors and perspectives influencing the organisation’s approach to fair values. In particular, through a detailed analysis of its formal minutes and supporting interviews with senior members of the FVC and other key organisational actors, the research documents and reflects on the nature and direction of change that the organisation experienced during the global financial crisis with respect to the operation of its fair value system. The main research findings in relation to the nature of the fair value system are: Firstly, the operation of an organisational fair value accounting system emerges not as a demonstrative example of objective, arm’s length pricing but as a social, relational process influenced by the organisational context. Secondly, in studying the way in which fair values are made sense of or constructed to be market consistent, patterns of sensemaking generally invoke a rational and prudent view of the market, which stimulates questioning as to whether fair value accounting is inherently pro-cyclical and exacerbates swings in the financial market. Thirdly, ‘fair value’ pricing should not be seen as being without a semblance of order and routine. Fourthly, the observed growing dependency of fair value accounting on valuation experts provides confirmation of the weakening jurisdictional authority of auditors and their monitoring role in overseeing fair value accounting. Finally, the research reveals clear evidence of the constitutive effects of fair value accounting on the organisation’s investment policy and permitted investments. As such, the acceptance of specialist models to construct fair values should not only be seen as being reflective of the particular organisational context but also serving in part to permit (and encourage) investments in esoteric financial instruments - a constitutive impact on the organisation's investment strategy and risk profile. The study encourages a greater empirical analysis of the operational construction, development and utilisation of fair values so as to advance knowledge and move the debate beyond polemical debates on the status of fair value accounting.

Fair value accounting for investment property has been mandatory in the EU since the adoption of IFRS 13 and has been both heavily criticized and praised. Previous research suggests that there are some inherent issues with fair value accounting for investment property, such as lacking reliability and persistence of reported unrealized earnings. There is also evidence of unrealized earnings influencing dividends and share price development related to fair value accounting in a procyclical manner. The purpose of this study is to enhance knowledge about whether fair value accounting in listed Nordic investment property companies causes procyclical effects on dividend payout and stock market behaviour. To fulfil this purpose, a quantitative analysis of financial reports and share prices of listed Nordic investment property companies was conducted. This study confirms that fair value accounting has a strong influence on dividends and share price development.

A research report submitted In partial fulfilment of the degree Master of Commerce (Accounting) University of the Witwatersrand / This research report evaluates the nature of, and gathers evidence of, the potential misuse of the non-GAAP 'adjusted earnings' by JSE-listed firms in South Africa. The prior literature is explored and applied to the South African context which is a unique environment due to the mandatory use of the non-GAAP Headline Earnings . The prior literature provides the grounding for the research methods which enhance the validity of the study. Adjusted earnings are analysed through 3 research questions and sub-questions. The first research question focuses on the nature of the use of adjusted earnings in South Africa, by examining the extent of use of adjusted earnings by a population of JSE firms, as well as the most common types of adjustments used. It is evaluated using descriptive statistical methods from data from databases and company annual financial reports. Research question 2 gathers evidence for misuse through the identification of 'valid' and 'invalid' adjustments made in the determination of adjusted earnings, as well as the identification of the repeated use of particular adjustments, which are indicators of misuse from the prior research of Bhattacharyaa, Black, Christensenb and Larsonc (2003) and Doyle, Lundholm and Soliman (2003). This question uses an ANOVA and repeated measure approach respectively using the same data from research question 1. The third research question examines whether there is an association between adjusted earnings and whether firms meet or beat analyst earnings forecasts more often (the dependent variable) as set out in Doyle, Jennings and Soliman (2013). This is assessed using logistic regression analysis using analyst earnings forecast data and company results data The results indicate that types of firms and adjustments made in South Africa are similar to U.S. literature. It raises questions around use of adjusted earnings as a performance metric and the use of Headline Earnings in South Africa. Evidence of misuse of adjusted earnings was found. In addition, a strong relationship similar to the Doyle et al. (2013) findings was found between the use of upwardly adjusted earnings and the propensity of firms to meet or beat analyst forecasts. Whether a firm s accounting earnings met or beat the forecast was also found to have significant influence on the dependent variable. It was also found that South African firms met or beat analyst forecasts significantly less often than U.S. firms, suggesting that there may be structural differences in the analyst forecasts environment in South Africa when compared to the U.S. The results suggest that adjusted earnings may be misused in South Africa, and one of the motivations to do so is to meet or beat analyst earnings forecasts. / MT2017

A contabilidade a valor justo tem sido discutida desde meados do século passado; porém, tomou força maior a partir de publicações recentes do FASB (Financial Accounting Standards Board) e do IASB (International Accounting Standards Board). Mais recentemente, em resposta à crise global de 2008, inicialmente chamada de crise do subprime, a SEC (Securities Exchange Comission), o FASB e o IASB rediscutiram exaustivamente este critério de mensuração, com o objetivo de detectar falhas que poderiam ter deflagrado ou agravado a crise, e também a fim de esclarecer como o valor justo deve ser estimado no caso de mercados ilíquidos ou ausência de um mercado ativo. Esta dissertação questiona se, na visão de especialistas em economia e mercado financeiro, a contabilidade a valor justo teve papel decisivo na deflagração ou agravamento da crise financeira mundial. A primeira parte deste trabalho se desenvolve primariamente com base nos pronunciamentos do IASB e do FASB sobre o valor justo na contabilidade, e tem por finalidade a revisão de alguns conceitos sobre mensuração e, principalmente, buscar o entendimento da teoria e da aplicabilidade da contabilidade baseada em valores de mercado. Na segunda parte, são estudadas diferentes teorias sobre a crise, culminando no assunto a contabilidade e a crise financeira mundial. A parte empírica do trabalho consiste na realização de entrevistas com grandes especialistas em economia e mercado financeiro. O estudo é concluído com base não só nas entrevistas, mas também nos estudos recentes da SEC, do IASB e do FASB, e na literatura sobre a crise, que evidenciam que, entre diversos fatores que podem ter levado o mundo a esta crise, a contabilidade a valor justo teve papel pouco relevante. Pelo contrário, ainda colaborou com um diagnóstico mais rápido. / The fair value accounting has been discussed since the middle of last century, however, it became stronger after recent publications of FASB (Financial Accounting Standards Board) and IASB (International Accounting Standards Board). More recently, in response to the global crisis of 2008, initially called as subprime crisis, SEC (Securities Exchange Commission), FASB and IASB have rediscussed a lot this measurement criterion, with the objective of detecting flaws that could have started off or worsened the crisis, and also explain how the fair value should be estimated in case of non-liquid markets or in the absence of an active market. This dissertation asks, from economy and financial market specialists point of view, if the fair value accounting had a decisive role in the explosion or in the aggravation of the global crisis. The first part of this job is developed primarily based on IASB and FASB pronouncements about fair value accounting, with the purpose of reviewing some concepts about measurement and, mainly, look for an understanding of the theory and applicability of an accounting based on market values. In the second part, different theories about crisis are studied, culminating in the subject fair value accounting and the global crisis. The empiric part of the job consists of interviews with great specialists in economy and financial market. The study is concluded based not only on the interviews, but also on the recent studies of SEC, IASB and FASB, and on the literature about crisis, that evidence that, among several factors that might have led the world to this crisis, the fair value accounting had a small relevant role. Instead, the fair value collaborated yet with a faster diagnosis.