Philosophy of language and accounting

Purpose: Accounting practices vary not only across firms, but also across countries, reflecting the respective legal and cultural background. Attempts at harmonization therefore continue to be rebuffed. The purpose of this paper is to argue that different wordings in national laws, and different interpretations of similar wordings in national laws, can be explained by taking recourse to the philosophy of language, referring particularly to Searle and Wittgenstein. Design/methodology/approach: The example of the substance over form principle, investigated in seven countries, is particularly suitable for this analysis. It is known in all accounting jurisdictions, but still has very different roots in different European countries, with European and international influences conflicting, which is reflected in the different wording of the principle from one country to the next, and the different socially constructed realities associated with those wordings. Findings: This paper shows that, beyond accounting practices, the legal and cultural background of a country affects the wording of national law itself. The broad conclusion is that different socially constructed realities might tend to resist any attempt at harmonized socially constructed words. Originality/value: The paper contributes to the debate surrounding the possible homogenization of accounting regulations, illustrating the theory of the social construction of both "reality" and "language" on the specific application of one common principle to various Member State environments

Le crédit-bail et le principe de substance en France

International audienceIn the context of European harmonization of accounting rules which was restarted with the adoption of Directive 2013/34, the French accounting treatment of finance leases is hardly justified. This paper reviews accounting, financial, fiscal and legal rules over leases to underline the anomaly represented by article 212-5 in French Chart of Account (PCG), which is the latest text to understand leases as a rental contract. This study aims at contributing to improving French normative environment coherence on this specific issue.Dans un contexte d'harmonisation européenne des règles comptables relancé par l'adoption de la Directive 2013/34, le traitement comptable réservé en France au crédit-bail peine à se justifier. L'article fait le point sur le traitement comptable, financier, fiscal et légal de ces contrats pour mettre en évidence l'anomalie que représente l'article 212-5 du PCG, dernier texte à comprendre le crédit-bail comme un contrat de location. Cette étude vise à contribuer à l'amélioration et à la mise en cohérence du cadre réglementaire français sur ce sujet

Why choosing IFRS? Benefits of voluntary adoption by European private companies

International audienceIn 2005, International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) have been legally adopted by listed firms to facilitate the harmonization of accounting practices. However, IFRS remain an option for non-listed firms in some countries. We investigate whether European privately held firms can raise more debt when they voluntarily report their consolidated financial information according to IFRS rather than local accounting rules. Using fixed effects regressions on 8391 firms in 22 European Union (EU) countries from 2005–2018, we document that IFRS adoption leads to more private debt issue for non-listed firms. This accounting option could be particularly useful for opaque firms or firms located in common law countries. Our results contribute to the debate on European accounting policy for non-listed firms