<p>Background: In 2001 the European Commission presented legislation to require use of IASB standards named IAS/IFRS for all listed parent companies within the EU no later than 2005, to improve an internal market for financial services within the EU. This harmonisation of the accounting regulations answers to the social development of today with land-frontiers easier to cross, increased demands on an open financial market and the companies searching for risk capital outside the boundaries of the own country. International comparisons within accounting have consequently become more of current interest and necessary. When the requirement to use the IASB standards only is intended for the group accounting the remaining question is according to which regulations the parent companies will set up their annual financial reports. In Statens Offentliga Utredningar 2003:71(Swedish Government Official Reports) the parent companies are suggested to be given an opportunity to apply IAS/IFRS also in the annual financial report. </p><p>Purpose: The purpose of the investigation is to map how the listed parent companies will take advantage of the suggested opportunity to, from the year of 2005, choose set of accounting rules for their annual financial reports. We furthermore intend to explain and understand the attitude towards the current accounting and taxation debate of the parties concerned. </p><p>Delimitations: The investigation is delimited to concern Swedish parent companies listed on the Stockholm stock exchange. The investigation is furthermore excluding financial companies as banks and insurance companies while they are governed by their own law of annual financial report. We consequently have chosen to focus on those companies applying the law of annual financial report of 1995 (1995:1554). </p><p>Realization: The investigation was realized as a cross-section investigation where quantitative as well as qualitative data were collected with the intention of creating an on-the-spot account of the present situation. The quantitative data were obtained through a questionnaire investigation directed towards those in Swedish listed parent companies accountable for accounting and the qualitative data was obtained by interviewing experts. </p><p>Result: The majority of the companies participating in the questionnaire investigation have chosen to apply IAS/IFRS in their annual financial report, even though they have a negative attitude towards the regulations. Homogeneous regulations within the group are considered the most important reason for using IAS/IFRS in the parent company as well. A majority of these companies want to keep the link between accounting and taxation despite some negative fiscal consequences. Only less than one third of the representatives of the companies would choose to render account according to the IAS/IFRS regulations, if they had the possibility to choose by themselves, though. The regulations are furthermore by many representatives of the companies experienced as complex and hard to manage.</p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA/oai:DiVA.org:liu-2047 |
| Date | January 2004 |
| Creators | Andersson, Eva, Thapper, Marcus |
| Publisher | Linköping University, Department of Management and Economics, Linköping University, Department of Management and Economics, Ekonomiska institutionen |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, text |
| Relation | Magisteruppsats från Ekonomprogrammet, ; 2004:22 |
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