ACCOUNTANTS ABOUT ACCOUNTING POLICIES. AN EMIPRICAL INVESTIGATION OF SMES FROM BIHOR COUNTY

This paper examines the setting up of accounting procedures and policies in sampled SMEs from Bihor, county selected after criteria of size at the end of 2008. In order to conduct our research we have set up a questionnaire of 25 questions which has been applied to 100 SMEs. The obtained results showed that out of the 83 respondents, only 92,68% agree with the provisions of Article 10 of Order 3055/2009, according to which entities must develop their own accounting policies approved by the managers, only 75,60% of the respondents agree that the existence of written accounting policies at the enterprise level improves the quality of financial reporting and managers’ decision making process and a significant number of respondents (21,95%) do not know the fact that during a financial year, a firm’s accounting policies cannot be changed. The most relevant result of our investigative research consist in identifying the need to train the human resources involved in the process of writing and applying accounting policies and procedures in SMEs and the necessity to set up a manual of accounting department.accounting policies, financial reporting, disclosure, SMEs

AN INVESTIGATIVE STUDY REGARDING SMES SPECIFIC ACCOUNTING POLICIES

In this paper we intend to continue the research regarding the enterprise accounting policies and the manner in which these are perceived by the practitioner accountants, preparers of financial statements. This time, in order to carry out the research, we made up a new questionnaire applied to the same sample, containing a number of 100 SMEs in Bihor County, selected according to the criterion of the average number of employees and that of the level of net turnover at the end of 2008. Continuing previous conducted research we have investigated this time the specific accounting policies of the sampled SMEs from Bihor County and the way these policies are understood by practitioners and implemented in order to prepare financial statements. Surprisingly, we have found that only 93.33% of the respondents agree that the elements presented in the annual financial statements of the entity are evaluated in accordance with the general accounting principles stipulated in Order 3055/2009, according to the accrual accounting. Half of the people interviewed had in view all four qualities of accounting information (intelligibility, relevance, credibility, comparability) in drawing up the annual financial statements, and most of them (56.67%) are not aware of the possibility to use a significance threshold (10%-15%) of the total value of that particular category of assets, liabilities, expenditure, income and results for an as faithful as possible presentation of information in the balance sheet and in the profit and loss account.accounting policies, financial reporting, disclosure, SMEs

SWOT ANALYSIS ON SAMPLING METHOD

Audit sampling involves the application of audit procedures to less than 100% of items within an account balance or class of transactions. Our article aims to study audit sampling in audit of financial statements. As an audit technique largely used, in both its statistical and nonstatistical form, the method is very important for auditors. It should be applied correctly for a fair view of financial statements, to satisfy the needs of all financial users. In order to be applied correctly the method must be understood by all its users and mainly by auditors. Otherwise the risk of not applying it correctly would cause loose of reputation and discredit, litigations and even prison. Since there is not a unitary practice and methodology for applying the technique, the risk of incorrectly applying it is pretty high. The SWOT analysis is a technique used that shows the advantages, disadvantages, threats and opportunities. We applied SWOT analysis in studying the sampling method, from the perspective of three players: the audit company, the audited entity and users of financial statements. The study shows that by applying the sampling method the audit company and the audited entity both save time, effort and money. The disadvantages of the method are difficulty in applying and understanding its insight. Being largely used as an audit method and being a factor of a correct audit opinion, the sampling method’s advantages, disadvantages, threats and opportunities must be understood by auditors

THE CORRELATION BETWEEN THE INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL DISCLOSURE LEVEL AND THE STAKEHOLDER STRUCTURE

The objective of the research is to identify the link between the stakeholder structure and the level of disclosure of intellectual capital on a sample of 38 Romanian entities listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange, from fields with a strong emphasis on knowledge. The assessment of the degree of disclosure of intellectual capital was conducted using the content analysis of annual reports of entities investigated in 2010-2013 by leveraging the intellectual capital information according to a list of 72 items taken as a standard. The next step in research is to analyze the structure of stakeholders and their grouping into 4 categories: major shareholders the state and government institutions, foreign investors, institutional investors and the investors as natural persons. The question around which the entire research described in this paper oscillates around is whether the stakeholder structure of an entity influences the level of disclosure on intellectual capital. From this general idea we built 4 research hypotheses in order to identify correlations between the average degree of intellectual capital disclosure and various categories of shareholders. The research has led us to conclude that the disclosure of intellectual capital is influenced by the stakeholder structure. For example, the entities whose owner is the State and government institutions disclose more intellectual capital, while those whose ownership is foreign disclose less. This result is contrary to our expectations, but understandable due to the young capital market in Romania, whose limits are inherent (even regarding the profile of the investors). The entities whose owner is the State and government institutions are generally in the pharmaceutical field, are large entities with an age of more than half a century. The entities whose securities are held mostly by domestic institutional investors or individual investors do not either disclose information on intellectual capital more than the average of the sample. Due to the analytical approach of the connection between the level of capital intellectual disclosure and the stakeholder structure (correlations tested on categories of shareholders), the study receives a novelty character among indigenous studies in the field

FINANCIAL COMMUNICATION AND INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL REPORTING PRACTICES

In a highly competitive economy, driven by globalization, the abundance of digital information and communication facilities, the investor directs its capital to those companies that promise added value of the invested capital. Even so, companies seek to obtain favorable terms of financing by rendering sensitive the investors. To achieve their goal, they must provide information about their financial and non financial performance with sufficient regularity to meet the information needs of actual or potential capital bidders in decision making. Financial communication through standardized annual statements of financial reporting in the context of corporate governance is no longer sufficient. The organization has more resources than those included in its balance sheet, capable of attracting huge benefits, but which do not meet the criteria for recognition in the financial statements. It requires, therefore, a voluntary disclosure of information on intangible resources, which are key factors in creating future value for both the organization itself and the industry it is part of. The reports of intellectual capital can effectively complement the shortcomings of the traditional model of accounting and financial reporting. In our paper we wanted to analyze financial communication in the context of corporate governance, presented through financial statements, reaching the intellectual capital reporting practices, as a means to improve communication of the organization with the outside. In this sense we presented two examples of good practice of two service companies (consultancy and design) that publish annually intellectual capital reports. To alleviate the negative consequences of non-recognition of intangible assets in the financial statements, we are for the voluntary disclosure of information on intangible assets in the intellectual capital reports, annual reports, those regarding corporate responsibility, or at least in the explanatory notes of the financial statements