Insights on Management Commentary in financial reports: The views of users, preparers and auditors

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Accounting Profession in Singapore; Professional Accounting in Foreign Country Series

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Method for performing cerebral perfusion-weighted MRI in neonates

Cerebral perfusion-weighted imaging (PWI) in neonates is known to be technically difficult and there are very few published studies on its use in preterm infants. In this paper, we describe one convenient method to perform PWI in neonates, a method only recently used in newborns. A device was used to manually inject gadolinium contrast material intravenously in an easy, quick and reproducible way. We studied 28 newborn infants, with various gestational ages and weights, including both normal infants and those suffering from different brain pathologies. A signal intensity-time curve was obtained for each infant, allowing us to build perfusion maps. This technique offered a fast and easy method to manually inject a bolus gadolinium contrast material, which is essential in performing PWI in neonates. Cerebral PWI is technically feasible and reproducible in neonates of various gestational age and with various pathologies

Professional skills required of accountants: What do Australian and New Zealand job advertisements tell us?

Employability skills have become increasingly important in a competitive job market in a globalised world of advanced technology. Our study examines employability skills of accountants as indicated in job advertisements in Australia and New Zealand, as they provide a window into the skills that are most valued by employers. The results show that of the 31 identified skills, 13 were most cited. Importantly, the most sought after skills included the ability to collaborate with colleagues, present, discuss and defend views, and having a positive attitude. Overall, a team player with a positive attitude and good communication skills appeared to be the most valued behavioural skill as perceived by employers. This probably reflects a change in the work of accountants, from being ‘backroom number crunchers’ to engaged business professionals.falseAccepte

The Behaviour of Earnings, Accruals and Impairment Loss of Failed New Zealand Finance Companies

This study examines the behaviour of earnings, accruals and impairment losses of failed finance companies in New Zealand. It draws on conservatism in the development of research hypotheses about accounting variables that are likely to contain clues to future failures of finance companies. The hypotheses are tested by examining the trend of earnings after tax (EAT), accruals and impairment losses of 32 finance companies that failed from 2006 to 2011. Data were collected from the annual reports of the sampled companies and the first reports of receivers of failed companies. The study finds that EAT and accruals declined, and impairment losses increased significantly in the last two financial statements prior to failure, when compared with other years. This suggests that changes in EAT, accruals and impairment losses may provide indications of impending failure

Interpretations of probability expressions by New Zealand standard setters

Accounting Horizons11416-2

The Impact of Improvements in Institutional Oversight on IFRS Accrual Quality in Europe

This study examines the impact of improvements in institutional oversight specifically for compliance with International Financial Reporting Standards on accrual quality in Europe. The sample comprises 9339 firm-year observations from a treatment sample of three European countries that had either non-existent or relatively weak institutional oversight systems at the start of the sample period 2006–2010 but improved oversight systems thereafter, and a benchmark sample of six other European countries that had institutional oversight systems from the start of this sample period. After controlling for legal system, rule of law and other variables, we find incremental improvement in accrual quality in the treatment sample relative to the benchmark sample from the pre-enforcement period 2006–2007 to the enforcement period 2008–2010. The results suggest that institutional oversight has an incrementally positive impact on accrual quality over and above that attributable to legal system, rule of law and other variables. The results are robust to different measures of accrual quality, alternative enforcement proxy and alternative samples

Do digital reporting formats assist professional users in overcoming functional fixation in recognition versus disclosure?

This study examines whether digital presentation formats address the concern over functional fixation in recognition versus disclosure in the reporting of financial information. The literature indicates that the presentation of financial information through either recognition in the financial statements or disclosure in the notes to the financial statements often creates functional fixation where users of financial statements fail to adjust for differences in accounting methods. This leads users of financial statements to judge identical financial situations as different because they are accounted for by different accounting methods. It has been suggested that the use of appropriate digital presentation formats may alleviate functional fixation. Using an experimental design involving professional users, the results show that functional fixation exists in the judgment stage but not in the other stages of information processing (information acquisition, evaluation and weighting). Presentation formats affect the information evaluation stage but not other stages. This suggests that presentation formats do not fully solve the concern about recognition versus disclosure (functional fixation) in information processing. In general, the results indicate current technology may not be able to reduce functional fixation in evaluating financial information prepared in accordance with different accounting techniques

Evidence on the costs of changes in financial reporting frameworks in the public sector

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