Australian Accounting Review最新文献

The purpose of this study is to review how the asset measurement of zoo animals is undertaken. Zoo animals are a zoo's greatest asset, and from its stewardship perspective, its balance sheet should reflect the value of the animals. The asset measurement of zoo animals underpins the ability of zoos to account for the animals they hold via their annual financial reporting. At present, there is no definitive, internationally recognised accounting framework and guidance on asset measurement techniques for zoo animals. The research question of this paper is, therefore: (i) to provide a review of current reporting requirements for zoo animals; (ii) to investigate the types and extent of asset measurement and financial reporting of zoo animals; and (iii) to determine what the commonly used alternatives are. A descriptive survey of existing financial reporting practices is applied to this research to explore the asset measurement techniques of zoo animals by examining published annual reports.

This paper presents a synthesis of academic research focused on First Nations peoples, contrasting First Nations versus non-Indigenous understandings of accounting and accountability. Key themes and trends in past research are identified across 51 publications spanning four decades, and directions for future research are proposed. The need for more culturally responsive accounting is well established, and past studies highlight the inadequacies of reporting practices which do not appear to capture the priorities and nuances of First Nations entities. The focus and execution of accounting research is shifting towards more contemporary experiences with accounting, and the contribution of First Nations worldviews to advances in non-financial reporting. This paper systematically explains the inadequacies of contemporary reporting practices and encourages the accounting community to reflect on future opportunities. It is therefore relevant to both academics and practitioners seeking to uphold the rights of First Nations peoples to self-determination in line with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Further work is urgently required to ensure First Nations organisations are adequately supported in their reporting practices, to incorporate traditional knowledges and to achieve positive outcomes for their communities.

This paper examines the impact of capitalising operating leases on the financial ratios for New Zealand councils (local government). It finds that required financial management and leverage ratios significantly worsen, but by an immaterial amount. In contrast, return on assets significantly increases by a material amount. This extends the constructive lease capitalisation literature to public benefit entities. This paper also discusses the role of councils as both lessees and lessors and that any change to lessor accounting for operating leases would have a greater impact on councils, although likely still immaterial. As a recent exposure draft suggests the convergence of International Public Sector Accounting Standard lease accounting with International Financial Reporting Standard 16, this paper provides timely evidence to standard-setters.

Non-generally accepted accounting practice (non-GAAP) earnings provoke mixed opinions on their usefulness. We provide evidence over a 15-year period that captures changes to accounting standards, economic conditions and regulatory guidance notes on non-GAAP earnings. First, many firms do not use non-GAAP earnings measures, with its popularity peaking at almost 59% in 2012 compared to below 33% in 2004, before decreasing to under 48% by 2018. The most common adjustments are tax, interest and depreciation, consistent with the preference for operating performance metrics. We document an improvement in the frequency of ‘Unknown’ adjustments (those that cannot be reconciled), reaching 32% in 2007, but it was not until 2013 that a significant improvement occurred. As this coincides with the timing of a Financial Markets Authority (FMA) guidance note requiring non-GAAP earnings reconciliations, implying greater disclosure transparency needs clear regulatory guidelines. Second, we find an elevated use of asset impairment, restructuring and fair value adjustments around the Global Financial Crisis (GFC), which suggests managers perceive GAAP earnings have to be supplemented during major economic shocks.

This paper makes a number of observations on the International Accounting Standards Board's Discussion Paper DP/2020/2 Business Combinations under Common Control. We address issues associated with the approach for applying acquisition accounting and discuss the practicality of the proposed criteria. We question the ability of this new DP to contribute to either decision usefulness or comparability in the presence of non-controlling shareholders. We also address issues related to cost–benefit considerations and (unintended) earnings management opportunities, and propose some adjustments to properly reflect economic substance.

This paper has two main objectives. Firstly, it reviews relevant literature on the experiences of different levels of governments worldwide in adopting public sector accrual accounting (PSAA). Secondly, it critically analyses these studies and seeks to identify gaps in the extant literature to provide suggestions for future research. We reviewed and analysed 136 peer-reviewed journal articles on PSAA over a 23-year period spanning different levels of government worldwide. Our review and analysis suggest that the adoption of PSAA by different levels of government worldwide has been a long and complex process requiring possibly substantial implementation costs that are undisclosed to the public. Owing to the absence of high-quality research providing empirical evidence of the benefits of PSAA, we conclude that thus far, the benefits of PSAA to government and citizens have yet to be substantiated. A limitation of this paper is that it is confined to the keywords used in the literature search. Nonetheless, the approach of aggregating and analysing these articles collectively allows this paper to not only provide useful insights into understanding the determinants and outcomes of PSAA but also to offer meaningful directions for future research with regards to multi-level PSAA.

This paper examines the effect of capitalising operating leases on the total liabilities to total assets and surplus to total asset ratios for a sample of New Zealand charities. It finds that both ratios have significantly increased post-capitalisation and that expenditures change. This extends the constructive lease capitalisation literature to the not-for-profit sector. This paper also discusses the characteristics of charities’ operating leases and how they differ from the for-profit sector. Overall, this paper provides timely evidence to standard setters, especially considering the current exposure draft converging International Public Sector Accounting Standard lease accounting with International Financial Reporting Standard 16 Leases.

This study investigates the impact of depreciation practices on the internal decision making of local government (LG) budget officers. Prior studies focus on depreciation practices that influence decision making and policy formulation through financial performance indicators. However, such practices are also expected to affect capital asset management. Specifically, the presence of depreciation information makes it possible for budget officers to account for the burden of current and future generations such as depreciation costs and debt interests when budgeting. Thus, this study tests the impact of depreciation information on capital budgeting by conducting a survey experiment with all 1788 LGs in Japan. A questionnaire was sent to LG budget officers with two patterns of experimental groups: decision making for capital budgeting (a) without depreciation information and (b) with depreciation information. The experimental results show that budget officers’ capital budget decisions are influenced by the presence of depreciation information. This study contributes to accounting and public sector research and practice by showing the impact of depreciation information on the decision making of LG budget officers for capital budgeting.

The aim of this paper is to explain the International Accounting Standards Board's (IASB) preliminary views for accounting for business combinations under common control, an issue not currently addressed in International Financial Reporting Standards. Such combinations are widespread and the accounting for them is diverse. The IASB's preliminary views aim to reduce diversity in practice and to improve the information provided to investors so they can understand the effects of these transactions and compare companies that undertake them.

Accounting for business combinations under common control is not currently addressed in International Financial Reporting Standards. The author describes some of the International Accounting Standard Board's proposals to reduce diversity and improve investors’ information in this area.