Zhongwei Huang, L. Enache, Rucsandra Moldovan, Anup Srivastava
{"title":"Labor Costs of Implementing New Accounting Standards","authors":"Zhongwei Huang, L. Enache, Rucsandra Moldovan, Anup Srivastava","doi":"10.2308/horizons-2023-066","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"\n Although much research focuses on informational benefits of new accounting standards, the costs of implementing them remain largely unexamined. We consider one such cost in the adoption of two recent standards: lease accounting and revenue recognition. We find an increase in the number of job postings demanding skills related to accounting for those standards around their issuance. Firms most affected by new standards, measured by accounting complexity and early adoption behavior, post more accounting jobs. Using job postings as a proxy for hiring, we estimate incremental labor costs at about 30 percent of median audit fees for each standard for the most affected firms. Our tests indicate greater regulatory compliance burden for smaller firms. We provide large-sample evidence on the lower bound for the costs of implementing new accounting standards. Our findings should interest standard setters as they evaluate the cost-benefit tradeoffs of issuing new standards.\n Data Availability: Data are commercially available from the sources cited in the text.\n JEL Classifications: J23; M41; M51.","PeriodicalId":51419,"journal":{"name":"Accounting Horizons","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.2000,"publicationDate":"2024-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Accounting Horizons","FirstCategoryId":"91","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.2308/horizons-2023-066","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"BUSINESS, FINANCE","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Although much research focuses on informational benefits of new accounting standards, the costs of implementing them remain largely unexamined. We consider one such cost in the adoption of two recent standards: lease accounting and revenue recognition. We find an increase in the number of job postings demanding skills related to accounting for those standards around their issuance. Firms most affected by new standards, measured by accounting complexity and early adoption behavior, post more accounting jobs. Using job postings as a proxy for hiring, we estimate incremental labor costs at about 30 percent of median audit fees for each standard for the most affected firms. Our tests indicate greater regulatory compliance burden for smaller firms. We provide large-sample evidence on the lower bound for the costs of implementing new accounting standards. Our findings should interest standard setters as they evaluate the cost-benefit tradeoffs of issuing new standards.
Data Availability: Data are commercially available from the sources cited in the text.
JEL Classifications: J23; M41; M51.
期刊介绍:
Accounting Horizons is one of three association-wide journals published by the American Accounting Association AAA. This journal seeks to bridge academic and professional audiences with articles that focus on accounting, broadly defined, and that provide insights pertinent to the accounting profession. The contents of Accounting Horizons, therefore, should interest researchers, educators, practitioners, regulators, and students of accounting.