A framework for the classification of accounts manipulations

Accounts manipulations have been a matter of research, discussion and, even, controversy in several countries such as the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and France. The objective of this paper is to elaborate a general framework for classifying accounts manipulations through a thorough review of the literature. This framework is based on the desire to influence the market participants' perception of the risk associated to the firm. The risk is materialized through the earnings per share and the debt/equity ratio. The literature on this topic is already very rich, although we have identified series of areas in need for further research.accounts manipulations; earnings management; income smoothing; big bath accounting; creative accounting

Survey of financial statement analysis courses in Europe and the United States

The paper reports the results of a survey of the content and learning materials used in courses in financial statement analysis in Europe and the United States. Courses in Europe and undergraduate courses in the US exhibit similar characteristics with respect to course content (heavy emphasis on basic tools of analysis). Graduate courses in the US place heavier emphasis on coverage of generally accepted accounting principles and on applications of basic analytical tools. Differences in course content appear related to where the financial statement analysis course lodges within the accounting curriculum.Accounting education; financial statement analysis; Europe; US; graduate; undergraduate

Accounting for brands in IAS 38 of IASC (intangible assets) compared with French and German practices : an illustration of the difficulty of international harmonization

It is often stressed that the process of IASC standard setting and its output are very much influenced by the Anglo-American accounting approach. This is considered to be one of the major reasons for the obvious reluctance of countries to adopt the international accounting standards. The importance given to the two accounting characteristics of reliability and relevance and their mutual relationship is one of the dominant reasons for the differences between the Continental-European and the Anglo-American accounting philosophy. An area where this competing relationship between relevance and reliabitlity becomes highly obvious is in accounting for intangible assets, and namely for brands. It is then highly interesting to study whether the treatment developed by the IASC differs from the accounting practice in Continental European countries and to consider if it could be adopted easily by enterprises in those countries. That is the main objective of this article, which compares the positions adopted in IAS 38 concerning brands and the related practices in France and Germany. Despite the existence of numerous points of convergence, the article shows some major differences between two countries supposed to follow relatively similar rules. It tends then to draw our attention on the difficulty of international harmonization.international accounting standards; IASC; intangible assets; brands; international harmonization

Timeliness and conservatism: Changes over time in the properties of accounting income in France

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate the changes in the properties of accounting income published by French listed companies during the 1990s. It also analyzes the impact of certain corporate characteristics such as size, international financing, and audit firm, on such changes. Design/methodology/approach – Multivariate regression is used. Findings – In French companies, good news has a delayed impact on earnings, as accountants only allow the effect of such news to be recognized gradually in the earnings measure. Conversely, bad news is reflected rapidly in earnings. The results confirm a general upward trend in the degree of conservatism of accounting earnings over the period as a whole. However, except for firm size, none of the corporate characteristics examined can predict a company's accounting earnings properties. Research limitations/implications – In future studies, it will be interesting to develop and test other possible corporate and/or institutional factors relating to accounting earnings properties. Practical implications – The paper provides an insight analysis on the evolution of institutional environment in France and its impact on accounting. Originality/value – First study on properties of accounting income in France.Accounting, Corporate finances, Earnings, France, Multivariate analysis

Reply to Discussion of “Why do National GAAP Differ from IAS? The Role of Culture”

International audienceThe discussion raised three major issues: the absence of economic factors as determinants in the paper, the controversy of Hofstede's cultural dimensions and the measures of divergence and absence in the paper. We will respond to the discussant's comments one by on

Reply to Discussion of “Why do National GAAP Differ from IAS? The Role of Culture”

In this paper, we investigate the role of culture as an explanatory factor underlying differences between national GAAP and International Accounting Standards (IAS). National GAAP can differ from IAS in two ways: (1) divergence: both national GAAP and IAS cover a specific accounting topic but prescribe different methods; or (2) absence: national GAAP do not cover an accounting issue regulated by IAS. Based on Nobes' [Nobes, C. (Ed.) (2001). Gaap 2001-A Survey of National Accounting Rules Benchmarked Against International Accounting Standards. IFAD.] data, we construct a measure for the level of divergence of national GAAP benchmarked on IAS. We also create a measure (labeled absence) to assess the scope of national accounting rules compared to IAS. Our sample is made up of 52 countries. We show that culture matters more than legal origin (common law/civil-law) in explaining divergences from IAS. This result is robust to two proxies for culture: Hofstede [Hofstede, G. (2001). Culture's Consequences: Comparing Values, Behaviors, Institutions and Organizations Across Nations. Second, Sage Publications (London).] and Schwartz [Schwartz, S. H. (1994). Beyond individualism/collectivism: New cultural dimensions of values. In U. Kim, H. C. Triandis, C. Kagitcibasi, S. C. Choi, & G. Yoon (Eds.), Individualism and collectivism: Theory, method and applications (85-119). Sage.]. Our findings contribute to the ongoing debate on accounting harmonization. More specifically, they suggest that the technical and/or political dimensions of the debate, although essential, are not the only ones involved. Opposition to IAS is not exclusively driven by contractual motives, a claimed technical superiority, or legal origin, but also by diversity in cultural factors. Another contribution of this paper is the development of a two-dimensional score to measure the differences between national GAAP and IAS. © 2005 University of Illinois. All rights reserved

The internationalization of financial statements presentation : an empirical study of french groups

In a context of development of international capital markets, it seems to be interesting to question the adaptation of French groups to Anglo-American practices. The objective of the present paper is to illustrate the evolution towards the Anglo-American standards through the study of one aspect of the accounting methods: the financial statements presentation. Based on a sample of large industrial groups over a ten-year period, our survey confirms the trend.financial statements presentation; international accounting standards; IASC; international harmonisation