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原文

Factorsinfluencingafirm'

saccountingpolicydecisionswhentaxaccountingandfinancialaccountingcoincide

TheAuthors

Christos,DepartmentofAccountingandFinance,AthensUniversityofEconomicsandBusiness,Athens,Greece

Abstract

Purpose–ThispaperaimstoinvestigatethefactorsthatinfluencetheaccountingpolicydecisionsoffirmsoperatinginGreece.Emphasisisgiventomanagement'

sperceptionsregardingtheimpactthataccountingfigureshaveuponthedecision-makingandopinionsoffirms'

stakeholders.

Design/methodology/approach–Throughasurveythefinancialmanagersofthe200largestfirmsinGreecehavebeenaskedtoindicatetheiropinionsregardingtheimpactthatreportedfigureshaveuponfirms'

stakeholdersandtheextenttowhichfirmspursuespecificprofit-relatedobjectives.

Findings–Accordingtotheparticipantsinthesurveyaccountingfiguresinfluencefirms'

stakeholders'

perceptionsanddecision-making,andfirmspursueprofit-relatedobjectivesthatmaynotcoincidewiththeobjectiveofminimizationoffirms'

taxliability.

Researchlimitations/implications–Althoughcertainmeasureshavebeentakeninordertolimittheresponsebias,onecannotruleoutthepossibilitythatsomebiashavebeenintroducedintheresponses.Afurtherempiricalinvestigationbaseduponannualreportswillprovideadditionalevidenceregardingthefactorsthatinfluencefirms'

reportingpolicies.

Practicalimplications–ThisstudyhelpsresearchersinidentifyingthefactorsthatshapeaccountingpoliciesoffirmsoperatingincountrieswithanenvironmentsimilartothatofGreece.Additionally,thefindingsofthisstudycanfacilitateprofessionalswhoundertakeinternationalfinancialanalysis.

Originality/value–ThefindingsofthisstudycancontributetoexplainingGreekfirms'

accountingdecisions.GiventhattheaccountingenvironmentinGreeceissimilartothatprevailinginmanyEuropeanandnon-Europeancountriesthisstudycanprovideaninsightregardingthefactorsthatinfluencefinancialreportingchoicesoffirmsoperatinginthesecountries.

ArticleType:

Researchpaper

Keyword（s）:

Accountingpolicy;

Accounting;

Decisionmaking;

financialreporting;

Greece.Journal:

ManagerialAuditingJournal

Volume:

Number:

Year:

2006

pp:

372-386

EmeraldGroupPublishingLimited

ISSN:

0268-6902

Introduction

Afirm'

saccountingpolicydecisionsaremadeonthebasisoftheeconomicconsequencesofthealternativepolicies.AccordingtoHolthausenandLeftwichafirm'

sreportingpolicychoicehaseconomicconsequenceswhen:

…Changesintherulesusedtocalculateaccountingnumbersalterthedistributionofafirm'

scashflows,orthewealthofpartieswhousethosenumbersforcontractingordecisionmaking.

Inadditiontotheiruseinthecontractingagreementsbetweenthevariouspartiesofafirm,reportedaccountingfiguresaffectthefirm'

scashflowsthroughtheirimpactonthelevelofacompany'

staxliability.Thisisthecase,providedthatthesameaccountingtreatmentisusedforfinancialreportingandtaxpurposesalike.Taxplanningcanresultinanincreaseinthefirm'

staxsavingandconsequentlyitcanhaveapositiveeffectonafirm'

scashflows.Asaconsequence,assumingrationalityandefficientcapitalmarkets,anaccountingpolicythatminimizestaxableincomeshouldbepreferred.However,giventhatthereductionofafirm'

staxliabilityisusuallyaccompaniedbyacorrespondingdecreaseinitsreportedincome,taxplanning,undercertaincircumstances,canhaveseriousimplicationsforvariouspartiesinvolvedwithafirm.Theunfavorablepictureofthefirm’sfinancialpositionthatmayemergeasaresultofadecreaseinthelevelofreportedfigurescanhaveseriousconsequenceswithregardtofirm'

sabilitytomeetitscontractualandregulatoryobligations,whileshareholders'

andmanagers'

personalwealthmaybeaffectedaswell.Theseimplicationshavebeendesignatedasthe“non-tax”costs–orfinancialreportingcosts–ofataxreducingpolicy.Eachpartyofafirmissupposedtotrade-offthetaxbenefitsofanaccountingchoice,againsttheensuingnon-taxcosts.Theoutcomeofthistrade-offissupposedtoinfluenceafirm'

saccountingpolicydecisions.

Theaimofthisstudyistoprovideanunderstandingofthefactorsthatinfluencetheaccounting-policydecisionsoffirmsoperatinginanaccountingenvironmentinwhichtaxrulesareusedforfinancialreportingpurposes.Forthispurpose,theaccountingenvironmentofGreecehasbeenchosen.InGreece,taxaccountingandfinancialaccountingcoincideanditisexpectedthattaxconsiderationswillinfluencemanagement’saccountingpolicydecisions.Thisstudyinvestigateswhethernon-taxconsiderationscaninfluencefirms'

accounting-policydecisionsandpromptsthemtodeviatefromatax-reducingpolicy.ThestructuralcharacteristicsofthebroadereconomicandbusinessenvironmentofGreeceaffectthesignificanceofthenon-taxcostsrelatingtoaparticularaccountingpolicydecision.ThesimilaritiesoftheGreekaccountingandbusinessenvironmentwiththatofotherEuropeanandnon-Europeancountriesmeansthatthefindingsofthisstudymaybeofsomehelpinunderstandingtheaccountingpoliciesoffirmsoperatinginothercountries.

Factorsgivingrisetosignificantnon-taxcosts

Thesignificanceoftaxbenefitsandnon-taxcostsareconditionaluponcertaincharacteristicsofafirm.Afirm'

sownershipstructurehasbeenhypothesizedtobeassociatedwiththemagnitudeofthenon-taxcoststhatcanbegeneratedfromatax-minimizingstrategy.Themanagementoffirmscharacterizedbyadiffusedownershipandaseparationbetweenmanagementandownershipmightfacesignificantnon-taxcosts.Theextensiveuseofaccounting-basedcontractsinthesefirmscaninducemanagerstoassignagreatdealofimportancetothelevelofreportedincome.Furthermore,managers'

perceptionsregardingtheimpactthataccountingfigureshaveontheirevaluationbytheexternalusersofaccountsmaymakethemparticularlyconcernedaboutthelevelofreportedprofits.Ontheotherhand,forthosefirmsinwhichownershipisconcentratedinthehandsofarelativelysmallnumberofshareholderswhoactivelycontrolthefirm'

smanagement,thenecessityforusingabonusschemeisreduced,whilemanagerscancommunicateanyinformationdirectlytoshareholderswithouthavingtousepublishedfinancialstatements.Thus,non-taxcostsmaybeoflesserimportanceandfirmsareexpectedtopursueamoreaggressivetax-reducingpolicy.Thefindingsofempiricalresearchseemtosupporttheargumentthatincomparisontothewidely-heldfirms,theclosely-heldonesarelessconcernedaboutthenon-taxconsequencesoftheiraccountingchoices,andtheyaremoreinclinedtoimplementatax-reducingstrategy.

InGreece,asinmanyEuropeancountries（e.g.France,Italy）,theownership-structureofthemajorityofthefirmsischaracterizedbyahighlevelofconcentration.Inmostcasestheownersareactivelyinvolvedintheircompanies'

administration,occupyingimportantpostswithintheorganizationalstructureoftheirfirms.Firms'

ownerscandirectlyandeffectivelymonitorandmotivatetheirsubordinatemanagersandtheydonotneedtoemployincentiveschemes.Further,managersinsuchfirmscancommunicateinformationregardingtheirperformancedirectlytotheirsuperiorowner-managerswithouthavingtorelyuponfinancialstatements.Underthesecircumstances,itisarguedthattheownership-structureofmostGreekfirmscontributestotheadoptionofanaggressivetax-reducingstrategy,sincetheirownershipstatusdoesnotappeartogeneratesignificantnon-taxcosts.

Theuseofaccountingfiguresinafirm'

snegotiationswiththeprovidersofcreditcapital,andtheinclusionofaccountingnumbers-basedtermsinthedebtagreements,suggestthataparticularaccountingchoicecangenerateimportantnon-taxcosts.Lowerreportedprofitfiguresmayadverselyinfluencethebanks'

creditdecisions,andthusraisethecostofcapitalforthefirm.Furthermore,theviolationofthetermsofloanagreementsplacesafirmintechnicaldefault,asituationthatcanhaveparticularlyadverseconsequencesforafirm.Inordertoreducethelikelihoodthattheseeventswilloccur,firmsaremorelikelytoadoptanincome-increasingaccountingpolicy.However;

suchadecisionismostlikelytobeassociatedwithimportanttaxcosts,sincetheresultingincreaseinthereportedincomeislikelytofollowanincreaseintaxableincome.Thefinancialleverageofafirmisusedasaproxyforthefirm'

sneedfordebtcapital,anditsproximitytoviolatingdebtcovenants.Themoreleveragedfirmsareexpectedtofacehighernon-taxcosts,andthustheyaremorelikelytoselecttheincomeincreasingchoice.Findingsofempiricalresearchsuggestthatthemoreleveragedfirmsdotrade-offtaxbenefitsagainstnon-taxcosts.

BanksarethemainprovidersoffundsforGreekcompanies.ThedominantroleofbankcreditinthefinancingofbusinessenterprisesisadistinctcharacteristicnotonlyoftheGreekbusinessenvironment,butalsoofmanyotherEuropeancountries（e.g.France,Germany）.Bankshavedevelopedacloserelationshipwithmanycompanies,whileincertaincasestheyownpartofthefirm'

ssharecapital.Thus,banksinmanyinstancesmaydirectlyobtainanyrelevantfinancialinformation,withouthavingtorelyuponpubliclydiscloseddata.IthasbeenarguedthatthefactthatfinancialaccountinginmanyEuropeancountrieshasbe

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