The factors determining the formation of accounting principles in different countries have long been studied. Cultural conditions have been identified as one of the reasons for national variations. This issue is particularly important when there is an effort to harmonise and standardise accounting principles, in order to create a uniform system, which may be adopted globally. This book explores the impact of cultural conditions on the financial reporting quality of public companies preparing financial statements according to International Accounting Standards (IAS) and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). It discusses the main trends in the theory of capital and earnings in the economy. The book focuses on the relationship between the cultural dimensions under analysis, such as power distance, individualism/collectivism, masculinity/feminity, strong uncertainty/weak uncertainty, short/ long time orientation and indulgence/restraint, and the properties of the financial results; persistence, predictive value, accrual adjustments and earnings smoothing. It identifies the determinants - cultural conditions that have a statistically material impact, either positive or negative, on various attributes of the quality of the financial results of public companies. The book contains an up-to-date, in-depth description of the financial statements of public companies, across of variety of countries and sectors. The publication is addressed to researchers and students concerned with the functioning of capital markets and financial reporting quality and those who would like to expand their knowledge in the field of behavioural finance, as well as investors in capital markets.

The second edition of "Count Down" is revised to include and discuss developments affecting the Big Four and their business model since the December 2015 release of the first edition. Brought into this updated narrative, for example, are: The Big Four's growth to collective global 2016 revenue of $ 128 billion, and the continued disparities in growth between their Audit and Advisory practices. The imposition of mandatory auditor rotation by legislation and regulation in the European Union, and in the US, the PCAOB's requirement to name lead partners on public company audits. New examples of corporate financial malfeasance and potentially disruptive auditor litigation, involving clients of each of the Big Four. In addition, this new edition expands in scope and details the required re-engineering by which - with the necessary mutual cooperation among financial statement issuers and users, the accounting profession, legislators, regulators and agencies of law enforcement - a sustainable structure for financial reporting and assurance might emerge -- that is, a Big Audit model truly fit to serve today's global capital markets.

Introduction to the Accounting Process brings clarity to to the process of setting up an accounting system, including a basic explanation of how to enter numbers into the system manually. The clear structure of the book provides students with good insight into the basics of accounting.

The book consists of four parts:

• designing an accounting system
• special entries and frequently occurring themes such as VAT, clearing of invoices and discounts
• international aspects of accounting, including ratio analysis
• an integrated case enabling students to show their knowledge in practice

The simple structure and concise nature of the book, combined with a useful companion website, will help students to improve on any deficiencies in the subject.

The Routledge Companion to Accounting History presents a single-volume synthesis of research in this expanding field, exploring and analysing accounting from ancient civilisations to the modern day. No longer perceived as the narrow study of how a mysterious technique was used in past, the scope of accounting history has widened substantially. This revised and updated volume moves beyond the history of accounting technologies, accounting theories and practices and the accountants who applied them. Expert contributors from around the world explore the interfaces between accounting and the economy, society, culture and the polity. Accounting history is shown to offer important insights into such disparate phenomena as the evolution of capitalism, control of labour, gender and family relationships, racial exploitation, the operation of religious organisations, and the functioning of the state. Illuminating the foundation and development of accounting systems, this updated, classic book opens the field to a new generation of accounting scholars and historians around the world.

By January 2012 all major economies, apart from the US, will provide financial reports using International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). This book sets out the key differences between IFRS and US GAAP from a practitioner's perspective, although financial analysts will also benefit from the material presented. The financial crisis has been attributed to, among other things, a perceived lack of transparency in the financial markets. In general, transparency implies an ability to see the reported results of an entity's financial activities clearly and to use these results in making investment decisions. At question is the belief that transparency in financial reporting will lead to transparency in financial markets. Unfortunately, this link may be more subjective than most of us wish. Ruth Ann McEwen presents an analysis of reporting issues affecting transparency under IFRS, compared with US GAAP, and suggests areas of concern for preparers and users of financial reports. Providing an invaluable guide for all accountancy professionals, the book also contains a technical analysis of major accounting issues raised by convergence, and indicates areas of interest during initial adoption of IFRS by US entities. This authoritative book provides all the essential information required for advanced practitioners and analysts at this critical juncture.

Fundamentals of Entrepreneurial Finance provides a comprehensive introduction to entrepreneurial finance, showing how entrepreneurs and investors jointly turn ideas into valuable high-growth start-ups. Marco Da Rin and Thomas Hellmann examine the challenges entrepreneurs face in obtaining funding and the challenges investors face in attracting promising ventures. They follow the joint journey of entrepreneurs and investors from initial match to the eventual success or failure of the venture. Written with the goal of making entrepreneurial finance accessible, this book starts with the basics, develops advanced topics, and derives practical insights. Da Rin and Hellmann build on academic foundations from several disciplines and enrich the text with data, mini-cases, examples, and exercises.

Corporate governance and corporate reporting are closely linked to each other, and their respective evolutionary patterns are mutually influencing. Along with the recent expansion of company disclosure, a growing attention is being paid to corporate governance determinants and mechanisms underpinning the decision to voluntarily adopt non-financial disclosure formats, such as integrated reporting. At institutional level, several national corporate governance codes have been changed towards the recognition and inclusion of this innovative, non-financial language. In academic research, the influence of corporate governance variables vis-a-vis the choice to embrace such reporting practices has been subject to a long scrutiny. However, only a little inquiry has so far analysed the influence of corporate governance factors on integrated reporting adoption, quality, and credibility. Accordingly, the aim of the book is to investigate if, and to what extent, corporate board composition and characteristics can affect, at the same time, the decision to voluntarily adopt integrated reporting by companies as well as their financial performance. The study carries out an empirical analysis of the professional features of board members at the time of their decision to implement integrated reporting as a new form of company accountability. The work provides innovative insights into the articulated relationships between the quantitative and qualitative composition of corporate boards and the latter's choice to uptake this advanced form of reporting to represent the wider value creation processes of their organisations.

In this essential handbook-a blend of Rich Dad, Poor Dad and The Happiness Project-the co-host of the wildly popular InvestED podcast shares her yearlong journey learning to invest, as taught to her by her father, investor and bestselling author Phil Town. Growing up, the words finance, savings, and portfolio made Danielle Town's eyes glaze over, and the thought of stocks and financial statements shut down her brain. The daughter of a successful investor and bestselling financial author of Rule #1, Phil Town, she spent most of her adult life avoiding investing-until she realized that her time-consuming career as lawyer was making her feel anything but in control of her life or her money. Determined to regain her freedom, vote for her values with her money, and deal with her fear of the unpredictable stock market, she turned to her father, Phil, to help her take charge of her life and her future through Warren Buffett-style value investing. Over the course of a year, Danielle went from avoiding everything to do with the financial industrial complex to knowing exactly how and when to invest in wonderful companies. In Invested, Danielle shows you how to do the same: how to take command of your own life and finances by choosing companies with missions that match your values, using the same gold standard strategies that have catapulted Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger to the top of the Forbes 400. Avoiding complex math and obsolete financial models, she turns her father's investing knowledge into twelve easy-to understand lessons. In each chapter, Danielle examines the investment strategies she mastered as her increasing know-how deepens the trust between her and her father. Throughout, she streamlines the process of making wise financial decisions and shows you just how easy-and profitable-investing can be. Capturing a warm, charming, and down-to-earth give and take between a headstrong daughter and her mostly patient dad, Invested makes the complex world of investing simple, straightforward, and approachable, and will help you formulate your own investment plan-and foster the confidence to put it into action.

Sustainability Accounting and Integrated Reporting deals with organizations' assessment, articulation and disclosure of their social and environmental impact on various groups in society. There is increasingly an understanding that financial information does not sufficiently discharge organizational accountability to members of society who are demanding an account of the social and environmental impacts of companies' and other organizations' activities. As a result, organizations report ever more social and environmental information, and there are simultaneous movements towards providing the information in an integrated fashion, showing how social and environmental activities influence each other, members of society and the financial aims of the organization. The book Sustainability Accounting and Integrated Reporting provides a broad and comprehensive review of the field, focusing on the interconnection between different elements of these topics, often dealt with in isolation. The book examines the accounting involved in the collection and analysis of data, control processes over the data, how information is reported to external parties, and the assurance of the information being reported. The book thereby provides an overview useful to practitioners (including sustainability managers, consultants, members of the accounting profession, and other assurance providers), academics, and students.

As the monetary cost of fraud escalates globally, and the ensuing confidence in financial markets deteriorates, the international demand for quality in financial statements intensifies. But what constitutes quality in financial statements? This book examines financial statement fraud, a topical and increasingly challenging area for financial accounting, business, and the law. Evidence shows that accounting anomalies in an organization's financial statements diminish the quality and serviceability of financial information. However, an anomaly does not necessarily signal fraud. Financial statement fraud is intended to mislead shareholders and other stakeholders. In this book, elements that underpin diversity of accounting anomalies likely found in fraudulent financial accounting statements are revealed. Multiple research methods are used in the analysis of selected international fraud cases, each illustrating examples of financial statement fraud, including: revenue recognition, overstatement and/or misappropriation of assets, understatement of expenses and liabilities, disclosure fraud, bribery and corruption. Additionally, the phoenix phenomenon with regard to fraud in financial accounting is investigated. Drawing on documented observations of commercial and legal cases globally this study highlights the necessity for continued development of financial audit practices and other audit services.

Although the need to expand the boundaries of financial reporting has been discussed since the mid-1990s, little consideration has been given to the evolution and discourses of integrated reporting of non-financial aspects. Yet by investigating how and why an organisation defines and its reporting boundaries, it is possible to understand what is truly "valued" (or not) in its business model. This innovative book reviews the guidelines and frameworks from the major relevant international organisations including: the International Accounting Standards Board, Global Reporting Initiative, Sustainability Accounting Standards Board, International Integrated Reporting Council, Carbon Disclosure Standards Board, and the World Intellectual Capital Initiative, and analyses their development and impact on the boundaries of financial and non-financial reporting. Illustrated with case studies and interviews with representatives of these organisations, this concise volume makes a significant contribution to the future of reporting theory and practice. It will be of great interest to advanced students, researchers, practitioners and policy makers.

This book focuses on the way in which businessmen responded to the new problem of accounting for fixed assets when measuring periodic profit. The book is divided into four sections: the first embraces items that examine asset valuation procedures in general use during the nineteenth century. The second focuses on the particular practices that became popular among public utility companies. The third comprises studies on influences, particularly legal ones on the treatment of fixed assets in company accounts. The final section examines the likely economic effect of using particular valuation procedures and is another area where available material is scarce. Of the twenty-seven items included, seven were written during the nineteenth century and the remainder during the twentieth. Their emphasis is practical rather than theoretical: they set out the various ways in which companies accounted for fixed assets and provide some explanation for the choices made.

Financial accounting theory has numerous practical applications and policy implications, for instance, international accounting standard setters are increasingly relying on theoretical accounting concepts in the creation of new standards; and corporate regulators are increasingly turning to various conceptual frameworks of accounting to guide regulation and the interpretation of accounting practices. The global financial crisis has also led to a new found appreciation of the social, economic and political importance of accounting concepts generally and corporate financial reporting in particular. For instance, the fundamentals of capital market theory (i.e. market efficiency) and measurement theory (i.e. fair value) have received widespread public and regulatory attention. This comprehensive, authoritative volume provides a prestige reference work which offers students, academics, regulators and practitioners a valuable resource containing the current scholarship and practice in the established field of financial accounting theory.

Integrating Performance Management and Enterprise Risk Management Systems offers a novel understanding of the multifaceted shades that surround the long called-for and yet not realised integration between performance management and enterprise risk management systems. Spano and Zagaria depart from the idea that the main limitations so far refer to the jeopardization of extant contributions, the lack of a fully holistic perspective of analysis and interpretation, and the need to closely consider potential opportunities and threats in the current VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous) world - issues concerning ethical concerns and accountability pressures, power dynamics, social and sustainability implications, and technological impacts. Their study supports a substantive integration of performance management and enterprise risk management systems encompassing the current theoretical debates and the multiple practical and policy interventions, highlighting overlaps and gaps, and fostering a more systematic approach towards the embeddedness of unified routines and behaviours. The authors suggest looking at performance management and enterprise risk management systems as logics rather than functions, as languages rather than tools, and devoting major attention to soft variables in addition to hard ones, towards a novel comprehension of timely dynamics paramount for academics, practitioners and policy makers.

The definitive guide to all things IFRS

"IFRS Made Easy" provides complete, easy-to-navigate coverage of all International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) with concise explanations and hundreds of supporting examples. This reference tool goes anywhere you go-to a client's office, on a business trip, or to an important lunch meeting, with on-the-spot answers to any questions that arise.Practical, plain -language explanation of the international financial accounting and reporting standardsSummarizes International Financial Reporting StandardsLiberally sprinkled with definitions and examplesNotes applicable IFRS source documents

Written for every company struggling with the impact of convergence, "IFRS Made Easy" clearly explains how IFRS will impact your company, how you will need to account for various specific items, and more. This book is filled with practical techniques and rules of thumb for understanding the day-to-day IFRS issues every accountant, controller or CFO is sure to face-and puts all the answers you need at your fingertips.

This timely handbook provides a current and comprehensive examination of integrated reporting, both practical and research-based. It offers insights and different perspectives from more than 60 authors, including representatives of the International Integrated Reporting Council, Integrated Reporting Committee of South Africa, professional bodies and audit firms, as well as leading academics in the fields of integrated reporting, sustainability reporting and corporate social responsibility. This collected work provides an in-depth review of the development of integrated reporting, with a focus on the interpretation and guidance provided by the International Integrated Reporting Council. It encourages the development of new thinking and research topics in the area of integrated reporting (such as links between integrated reporting and reports focused on financial and corporate social responsibility matters), as well as showcasing how integrated reporting issues are seen and practiced in different parts of the world. The chapters include reviews of the most recent research, practitioner viewpoints, conceptual pieces, case studies and disclosure analyses. Accessible and engaging, this handbook will be an invaluable overview for those new to the field or those who are interested in ensuring they are up to date with its developments, as well as those who are concerned with how to construct an integrated report.

The concept of "fair value" marked a major departure from traditional cost accounting. In theory, under this approach a balance sheet that better reflects the current value of assets and liabilities. Critics of fair value argue that it is less useful over longer time frames and prone to distortion by market inefficiencies resulting in procyclicality in the financial system by exacerbating market swings. Comprising contributions from a unique mixture of academics, standard setters and practitioners, and edited by internationally recognized experts, this book, on a controversial and intensely debated topic, is a comprehensive reference source which: examines the use of fair value in international financial reporting standards and the US standard SFAS 157 Fair Value Measurement, setting out the case for and against looks at fair value from a number of different theoretical and practical perspectives, including a critical review of the merits and arguments against the use of fair value accounting explores fair value accounting in practice, involvement in the Great Financial Crisis, implications for managerial reporting discretion, compensation and investment This volume is an indispensable reference that is deserving of a place on the bookshelves of both libraries and all those working in, studying, or researching the areas of international accounting, financial accounting and reporting.

Learn what to expect and what's expected as an expert witness Serving as a financial expert witness or consultant in lawsuits is a stressful, challenging, and tough business. In Financial Expert Witness Communication: A Practical Guide to Reporting and Testimony, financial forensic expert Bradley J. Preber leverages more than 30 years of experience to create a practical guide for financial expert witnesses as they face litigation reporting and testimony. Financial Expert Witness Communication covers all areas of financial litigation including accounting, financial forensics, forensic technology, and damages all from the point of view of an expert witness. The book is especially helpful for those who expect to be formally designated as an expert witness; however, it is also appropriate for financial forensic accountants, litigation consultants, and attorneys as they navigate the unique playing field of the financial litigation process. This book gives financial experts strategies to defend the analysis, conclusions, and expert opinions they have at their disposal. It also provides thorough explanations of compliance, data limitations, and due diligence as well as how to handle demanding legal counsel, with a goal of better preparing them for the entire legal process. The book is part of the Wiley Corporate F&A Series and was created as an educational resource for nonattorney financial experts involved with U.S.-based civil litigation or alternative dispute resolution proceedings. It takes a well-rounded approach by including special chapters on such concepts as retention, privilege, responsibilities, ethics, and testimony, all written by a nationally recognized expert. As a bonus, the companion website presents an additional expert witness case study and guidelines for fulfilling an expert witness role.

In the latest volume of Advances in Taxation, editor John Hasseldine includes studies from expert contributors to explore topics such as earnings repatriation elections, corporates' uncertain tax positions reported on Schedule UTP, tax audits, voluntary and enforced tax compliance, and tax evasion. Reporting peer-reviewed research contributions from North America and also including international studies from Indonesia, Bangladesh and South Africa, this volume is essential reading for those looking to keep abreast of the most recent research. The empirical research published by the authors of this volume include archival, survey, and experimental methods that have been applied to challenges facing tax systems around the globe. These challenges affect tax administrators, large corporates, and small and medium-sized enterprises. The studies contained in this volume will be influential and help direct future research around the globe.

Sustainability Accounting and Integrated Reporting deals with organizations' assessment, articulation and disclosure of their social and environmental impact on various groups in society. There is increasingly an understanding that financial information does not sufficiently discharge organizational accountability to members of society who are demanding an account of the social and environmental impacts of companies' and other organizations' activities. As a result, organizations report ever more social and environmental information, and there are simultaneous movements towards providing the information in an integrated fashion, showing how social and environmental activities influence each other, members of society and the financial aims of the organization. The book Sustainability Accounting and Integrated Reporting provides a broad and comprehensive review of the field, focusing on the interconnection between different elements of these topics, often dealt with in isolation. The book examines the accounting involved in the collection and analysis of data, control processes over the data, how information is reported to external parties, and the assurance of the information being reported. The book thereby provides an overview useful to practitioners (including sustainability managers, consultants, members of the accounting profession, and other assurance providers), academics, and students.

Why stock-market short-termism is not causing severe damage to the American economy According to many political leaders, pundits, and corporate lawmakers, stock-market-driven short-termism - when corporations prioritize immediate results in the next quarter over their longer-term interests - is harming the American economy. This view, popular in influential circles, sees short-termism as causing sharply declining research and development (R&D), too many stock buybacks, and severe environmental harm. But the data fits badly with this black-and-white representation of short-termism. Mark J. Roe analyzes the best data on R&D, corporate borrowings and buybacks, and long-term investment trends to show that stock market short-termism is not at the root of these economic problems. The book shows that blaming short-termism overlooks the real causes of declining investment, R&D changes, and environmental deterioration. By pointing to other sources of tension like accelerating technological change, rising political uncertainty, and repeated economic disruptions, Missing the Target argues for a more nuanced understanding of the challenges to the American economy. Roe disproves many of the core claims against short termism. R&D spending, for example, is rising faster than the economy is growing. Its government R&D support that's been falling. Reversing that decline is the best first target for bettering American R&D. Missing the Target deepens the discussion of the American economy by analyzing the factors that contribute to current trends and by making a bold but straightforward claim: stock market short-termism is not the problem.

Get up to date on the latest FASB, SEC, and AICPA guidelines and best practices Fair Value Measurement provides hands-on guidance and the latest best practices for measuring fair value in financial reporting. The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) have all updated their guidelines for practitioners, and this book details the changes from a practical perspective. This new third edition includes a discussion on Private Company Council accounting alternatives for business combinations and impairment testing, with a detailed example of the Market Participant Acquisition Premium (MPAP), including European and Asian examples and expanded discussion of IFRS. Fair value measurement guidelines continue to evolve, and this comprehensive reference provides a valuable, up-to-date resource for preparers, auditors, and valuation specialists. Adopt the best practices for implementing the FASB's Topic 820 Learn the latest reporting requirements for fair value measurements Understand accounting alternatives for business combinations Examine the details of MPAP in Europe and Asia Applying fair value measurements to financial statements requires a move away from rules-based standards and toward application of professional judgment. This controversial shift has led to a reliance on valuation specialists, who face their own challenges in applying Topic 820 amidst an economic downturn and recovery, leading to an ever evolving set of best practices. Practitioners must stay up to date, and be aware of the changes as they occur. Fair Value Measurement provides the most recent information and a practical approach to this area of financial reporting.

This textbook provides a comprehensive overview of international corporate reporting which enhances students' understanding of diversity and convergence in the field. The authors discuss the institutional and cultural context in which international corporate reporting has developed over the years as well as the global reach of IFRS Standards from the IASB throughout and beyond the European Union, into interest groups and emerging economies. Other key elements explored throughout the book include assurance through auditing and corporate governance, narrative reporting, strategic and corporate social responsibility, group accounting, current accounting issues and taxation in corporate reports. Indicative research examples show how the methods used in research papers may be understood and applied. Case studies outline short projects based on corporate cases, with related links to material on corporate websites. Helpful and reliable sources of information and data are identified through hyperlinks to accessible websites. End-of-chapter questions encourage discussion of the main issues. Throughout there is a focus on accountability and the information needs of stakeholders. This new edition of a classic text is fully revised and updated in order to remain essential reading for students of international accounting and corporate reporting globally. The book will be an invaluable resource for postgraduate taught programmes and final-year undergraduate courses in accounting, finance and business studies.

In Audit Analytics in the Financial Industry, editors Jun Dai, Miklos A. Vasarhelyi and Ann F. Medinets bring together a cast of expert contributors to explore ways to integrate Audit Analytics techniques into existing audit programs for the financial industry. Separated into six parts, the contributors take a variety of approaches to this exploration. In Part One, the contributors present two articles illustrating the process of applying Audit Analytics to solving audit problems. Part Two contains four studies that use various Audit Analytics techniques to discover fraud risks and potential frauds in the credit card sector. In Part Three, the chapter focus on the insurance sector and show the application of clustering techniques in auditing. Part Four includes two chapters on how to employ Audit Analytics in the transitory system for fraud/anomaly detection. Finally, Parts Five and Six illustrate the use of Audit Analytics to assess risk in the lawsuit and payment processes. For students, researchers, and professionals in the accounting sector, this is an unmissable read exploring the latest research in Audit Analytics.