...DO ACCOUNTANTS NEED TO CONSIDER THE ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES OF FINANCIAL STATEMENTS? Table of Contents Introduction……………………………………………………………………...................1 Accountants and the Statements They Produce…………………………………………...1 Users of Financial Statements……………………………………………………………..2 A Key Starting Point for Users……………………………………………………………4 Economic Consequences through Adopting New Accounting Standards…………………6 Accounting Regulation and Its Purpose……………………………………………………7 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………8 References………………………………………………………………………………….9 Introduction Economic consequence is a concept that asserts, despite the implications of efficient securities market theory, choices of accounting policies can affect a firm’s value. In William Scott’s writing, he states “Zeff defines economic consequences as “the impact of accounting reports on decision-making behavior of business, government and creditors.” The essence of this definition is that accounting reports can affect real decisions made by managers and other users rather than simply reflecting the results of these decisions.” Every accounting rule puts some parties related to an enterprise at an advantage over another. If accounting standards can be used to give advantages to managers of an enterprise, they will be more likely to choose standards that benefit themselves more. This can lead to investors of the enterprise to a disadvantage as managers may have different objectives. Firm’s accounting policies matters...
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...Relevance Concept: Information should be relevant to the decision making needs of the user. Information is relevant if it helps users of the financial statements in predicting future trends of the business (Predictive Value) or confirming or correcting any past predictions they have made (Confirmatory Value). Same piece of information which assists users in confirming their past predictions may also be helpful in forming future forecasts. Reliability Concept: Information is reliable if a user can depend upon it to be materially accurate and if it faithfully represents the information that it purports to present. Significant misstatements or omissions in financial statements reduce the reliability of information contained in them. Matching Concept: Matching Principle requires that expenses incurred by an organization must be charged to the income statement in the accounting period in which the revenue, to which those expenses relate, is earned. Prior to the application of the matching principle, expenses were charged to the income statement in the accounting period in which they were paid irrespective of whether they relate to the revenue earned during that period. This resulted in non recognition of expenses incurred but not paid for during an accounting period (i.e. accrued expenses) and the charge to income statement of expenses paid in respect of future periods (i.e. prepaid expenses). Application of matching principle results in the deferral of prepaid expenses...
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...regulations. There are many advantages that accounting concepts have on financial statements. Four important accounting concepts that underpin the preparation of any sets of accounts one of which is going concern that helps an account to assume for any future problems that occur in a business. This helps companies to make future plans and gives them time to gather money to sort out any financial problems. Consistency also has an advantage in helping in accounting by users of accounts can make more meaningful comparisons of financial performance. Prudence helps investors sort out financial performance such as future problems and cost of the business before recognising any signs of profits. Accruals also help financial data to be useful for users by all business revenues and cost are recorded in the appropriate statements and at the appropriate time. Conventions also have many advantages in influences financial statements to be useful for investors. Separate entity is one example this convention seeks to ensure that all private transactions and matters relating to the owners are segregated from transactions that relate to the business. This is an advantage because owner’s transactions are kept private. Also they are not mixed with the business finance so that users can clearly see the business financial state. Also materiality is also an important convention in a business financial statement use for users. The preparation of accounts involves a high degree of judgment where decisions...
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...are: i. To identify the users of accounting information ii. To discuss how the users use the accounting information iii. To figure out the various uses of accounting information iv. To figure out the uses of accounting information in various sectors. Limitations of the Study: 1. Time constraint 2. Resource constraint Users of Accounting Information: The differences in the decisions divide the users of accounting information into two broad groups. They are: a. Internal Users b. External Users External users can further be divided into two subgroups: 1. “those with direct financial interest” in a firm 2. “those with indirect financial interest” Users of Accounting Information Internal Users External Users With direct financial interest With indirect financial interest External Users of Accounting Information: “This group is made up anyone outside an organization that uses accounting information to make financial decision.” The external users would receive limited financial information from the target company, such as general purpose financial statements; these statements have just enough information to inform external users of the company’s economic position. General purpose statements are in the area of financial accounting, which is the type of accounting aimed at supplying information to users not directly affiliated with the target company. External Users and their ways to use Accounting...
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...Chapter 1 The Canadian Financial Reporting Environment Prepared by: Dragan Stojanovic, CA Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto The Canadian Financial Reporting Environment Role of Financial Reporting • Financial statements and financial reporting • Accounting and capital allocation •Stakeholders Objective of Financial Reporting •Management bias •Users’ needs Standard Setting • Need to develop standards • Parties involved in standard setting • Standard setting in a political environment GAAP • GAAP hierarchy •Professional judgement • Role of ethics Challenges Facing Financial Reporting • Globalization of companies and capital markets • Impact of technology • Changing nature of the economy • Increased requirement for accountability 2 The Canadian Financial Reporting Environment Role of Financial Reporting • Financial statements and financial reporting • Accounting and capital allocation •Stakeholders Objective of Financial Reporting •Management bias •Users’ needs Standard Setting • Need to develop standards • Parties involved in standard setting • Standard setting in a political environment GAAP • GAAP hierarchy •Professional judgement • Role of ethics Challenges Facing Financial Reporting • Globalization of companies and capital markets • Impact of technology • Changing nature of the economy • Increased requirement for accountability 3 Characteristics of Accounting 1. Identification, measurement, and communication of financial information about; 2...
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...Financial Accounting and Reporting March 2015 Maldives Business School Cover Page ASSIGNMENT BRIEF BTEC HND/Associate Degree in Business (Management/HR/Marketing) The student must fill the relevant parts of the following table. Student Date Student First Name Student Last Name ID Task No. submitted Date issued Mohamed 1 8th March 2015 Statement of authenticity I, the above named student, hereby confirm that this assignment is my own work and not copied or plagiarized. It has not previously been submitted as part of any assessment. All the sources, from which information has been obtained for this assignment, have been referenced in the Harvard format. I further confirm that I have read and understood the Maldives Business School rules and regulations about plagiarism and copying and agree to be bound by them. Assignment summary information Unit 10 Financial Accounting & Reporting Unit Assignment reference 1 Assignment type This is an individual assignment. Task Submit on Do on Task 1: LO1, LO3, LO4, M1, M2, D1, D2, D3: Report 11 April 2015 NA Task 2: LO2, M3: Class assessment NA 23 March 2015 An extension must be applied for in writing by individual students and will only be granted Extensions for valid reasons. Late submissions Late submissions will be marked for all grades but will incur a fine of MVR 500. Assessor(s): Internal verifier: Assessor(s) please fill the table below AFTER the evaluation. Assessment Feedback ...
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...The four major financial statements are the balance sheet, income statement, statement of retained earnings and statement of cash flows. The balance sheet shows the financial condition of a company. It reports the company's assets, liabilities and net equity. The income statement shows the profit and loss of a company. It reports the company's income, expenses and profits over a period of time. The statement of retained earnings shows the changes of a company's retained earnings over a period of time. It shows how much income was given to owners and how much was used for growth in the future. Lastly, the statement of cash flows shows the company's operating, investing and financing activities. Internal users are a variety of managers who create, organize and oversee a business. The types of managers included under this category are, marketing managers, production supervisors, finance directors and company officers. It is important for these managers to know the all around financial condition of a company so that they have the answers to many important questions. There are many important questions such as which marketing strategies will help maximize profit and successful sustainability of a business. There are human resource questions that need answers such as can a company afford to give paid vacations to their employees. There are also management questions like which products are more profitable and which can be removed due to lack of profit. This is why...
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...The Four Basic Financial Statements By Stain Baba [Course] [Instructor] [Due Date] The Four Basic Financial Statements Managers of businesses can be considered as stewards who have been entrusted with the responsibility of the day to day running of business activities. In this regard, they are expected to report back to those who appointed them and to other relevant stakeholders on how well they have executed their assigned task(s). One of the established ways of reporting to owners of the company and other stakeholders is through the use of financial statements, which can be used to ascertain the level of effectiveness and efficiency with which the managers have handled the affairs of the company and at the same time, give a concise view of the financial health of the company. Financial statements are records of the financial activities of the of a business enterprise or any other entity (Kimmel, Weygandt & Kieso, 2010). The aim of a preparing a financial statement is to track and present the financial activities of a business entity in a way that enables users of such records to as much as possible, understand the financial position of the of the company at any given time.Financial statements include; the balance sheet, income statement, cashflow statement and statements of shareholders equity. These four set of financial statements are considered to be the basic financial statements typically produced by profit making companies (U.S...
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...B2C01T1Q001eng In financial accounting, the information reported is expected to have which of the following attributes? | |Presented in |Financial statements are | | |a standard format |prepared on a regular basis | |A. |No |Yes | |B. |Yes |Yes | |C. |No |No | |D. |Yes |No | Answer: B B2C01T1Q002eng Financial statements A. are a process of recording daily transactions. B. are one of the two major branches in accounting. C. report past results. D. do not involve personal judgements. Answer: C B2C01T1Q003eng Which of the following is/are not (a) financial statement(s)? i) Bookkeeping ii) An income statement iii) A tax return iv) A balance sheet A. (i) B. (i) and (iii) C. (i) and (iv) D. (ii) and (iii) Answer: B B2C01T1Q004eng A person who studies the financial statements of a business and decides whether the business should continue to operate is A. the owner of the business. B. a potential investor. C. the auditor of the business. D. a teacher or student. Answer: A B2C01T1Q005eng An income statement provides financial information on i)...
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...(1): Understand the regulatory framework for financial reporting User needs: Accounting standards Board (ASBs) Statement of Principles INTRODUCTION This section of the unit discusses the qualitative characteristics of the financial statements and how it relates to the content and presentation of a financial statement. The second part of this paper sets out to assess the difficulty preparing a useful set of financial statements that exhibits the qualitative characteristics mentioned in the first part. Defining a financial report: A financial report is a written report which quantitatively describes the financial health of a company. Financial statements are usually compiled on a quarterly and annually basis . According to the Accounting Standards Board (1999), the objective of financial statement is to provide information on the reporting entity's financial position and performance that is useful to a wide range of users to assess the management and for decision making. Composition of a complete financial statement As per IAS 1 (international Accounting Standard), a complete set of financial statement comprises of: * A statement of financial position (balance sheet) * A statement of comprehensive income for the period (income statement) * A statement of cash flow * A statement of changes in equity * Notes comprising a summary of significant accounting policies and other explanatory information. * A statement of financial position (Balance sheet) as at the beginning...
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...interested parties such as managers, investors, bankers and creditors to make important business decisions. The final product of accounting is a set of financial statements comprising at least Balance Sheet and Profit & Loss Statement. These statements are useful to different users for different reasons. Accounting may be divided into financial accounting and management accounting. Financial accounting is the field of accounting that provides financial information for potential investors, creditors and other external users. Management accounting provides financial information for managers and other internal users. There are different kinds of users of financial statements. The users of financial statements may be from inside or outside of the business. They use financial statements for a large variety of business purposes and their ability to understand and analyse financial statements helps them to succeed in the business world. The various users of financial statements are classified and detailed as internal users and external users. Those who lack direct access to the financial information generated by the internal operations of a business are considered as external users. They rely on the financial accounting reports that management has prepared according to financial accounting regulations. These external users include investors group, lenders, suppliers, competitors, customers, public and the government. The investors group comprises both existing and potential...
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...------------------------------------------------- Investers Present and potential owners (investors) are prime users of financial statements. They continually assess and compare the prospects of alternative investments. The assessment of each investment is often based on two variables: expected return and risk. Expected return refers to the increase in the investor’s wealth that is expected over the investment’s time horizon. This wealth increase is comprised of two parts: (1) increases in the market value of the investment and (2) dividends (periodic cash distributions from the firm to its owners). Both of these sources of wealth depend on the firm’s ability to generate cash. Accordingly, financial statements can improve decision making by providing information that helps current and potential investors estimate a firm’s future cash flows. Risk refers to the uncertainty surrounding estimates of expected return. The term expected implies that the return is not guaranteed. For most investments, numerous alternative future returns are possible. For example, an investor may project that a firm’s most likely return for the upcoming year is $100,000. However, the investor recognizes that this is not the only possibility. There is some chance that the firm might generate returns of $90,000 or $110,000. Still other possibilities might be $80,000 and $120,000. The greater the difference among these estimates, the greater the risk. Financial statements help investors assess risk by providing information about the historical...
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...Financial Statements XXXXXXXXXXX ACC/290 DATE Instructor Financial Statements To understand the financial gains and needs of a company one must first comprehend the purpose of the four basic financial statements, how they are used by its employees and the valuable information they provide for its investors. The four basic financial statements are listed as income statements, retained earnings statements, balance sheets, and statements of cash flows. All four of these reports allow both their internal and external users to determine a wealth of information. The data collected from these reports can range from a corporation’s predicted future earnings to determining whether or not a company consists of sufficient funding to carry out its planned business operations. Breaking down the purpose for each of the four reports allows its users to gain a full comprehension regarding how these reports can be used effectively. The purpose of each of the listed financial statements is interrelated because each one supplements one another...
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...This paper is all about financial statements. An introduction to financial statements is presented to give a background to the reader. In the introductory part, the fundamental accounting concepts used in the preparation of financial statements are included together with the explanation of their basis. Examples are also given as an illustration of its application. This consist the first part. On the other hand, the second part is about the evaluation of the role of financial accounting in aiding the decision-making processes of the four different non-management stakeholder groups. An explanation of the nature of these decisions is also included. The paper ends with the issue on the conflicts arising from the diverse interest of the said entities to the financial statements. Introduction to Financial Statements One of the steps included in the accounting cycle is the preparation of the principal financial statements. They are the Income Statement and the Balance Sheet. These financial statements are a means by which the information accumulated and processed in financial accounting is periodically communicated to the users. Once the worksheet is completed, it is easy to prepare the financial statements as the necessary data have already been summarized. A third financial statement, which is the Statement of Cash Flows, provides information about cash receipts and cash payments into operating, investing, and financing activities. A Balance...
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...RUNNING HEAD: FINANCIAL STATEMENTS PAPER Financial Statements Paper ACC 290 Financial Statements Paper In this paper the four basic financial statements will be defined. Each of the four financial statements has its purpose for use. As part of the paper the description of the purpose of the four basic financial statements is acquired. The discussion of the financial statements would be useful to internal and external users is performed as well in this paper. The four basic financial statements are the balance sheet, income statement, retained earnings statement, and statement of cash flow (Kimmel, Weygandt, Kieso, 2011). The balance sheet is used to present a picture of what a company owns (Kimmel, Weygandt, Kieso, 2011). The balance sheet reports the amount of assets and claims to assets for a period of time (Kimmel, Weygandt, Kieso, 2011). Assets are items the company owns that could be used if needed to retain cash. The claims to assets are either creditor or owner. The creditor would be the individual or company that is using the asset as collateral to a debt. Once debt is paid the creditor releases asset back to owner. The income statement is used report the financial health of the company in a certain time frame (Kimmel, Weygandt, Kieso, 2011). The income statement provides the revenues and expenses in the time frame (Kimmel, Weygandt, Kieso, 2011). The revenue is the income funds, and expenses are the outgoing funds. The...
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