企业会计政策外文文献翻译.docx

企业会计政策外文文献翻译.docx

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企业会计政策外文文献翻译

文献出处：

Tzovas,Christos.Factorsinfluencingafirm'saccountingpolicydecisionswhentaxaccountingandfinancialaccountingcoincide[J].ManagerialAuditingJournal

21.4

 （2006）:

372-386. 

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:

21

Number:

4

Year:

2006

pp:

372-386

Copyright©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