Current Developments in Accounting Thought

Question: Discuss about the Current Developments in Accounting Thought. Answer: Introduction: The overall study mainly helps in depicting the accounting issues that is currently being faced by BBY Ltd an Australian stock broking corporation. In addition, the novice effectively evaluates and portrays the issues related to accounting that is faced by the company. Furthermore, the study also helps in depicting the related accounting theories, which was misused by the company. In addition, the novice effectively depicts the related news about BBY Ltd, which is been presented in Sep 23rd of 2016 in the Sydney Morning Herald. Furthermore, the news is decoded effectively to understand the relevant issues of accounting that is conducted by the company, which led to the collapse. The novice effectively depicts the news article with the help of different type of accounting theories, which might in turn depict the violation conducted by the company. Decoding the relevant news: The news mainly states the court hearing, which is been faced by the company for the unethical practices conducted in their operations. In addition, the news mainly stated the plea of Mr Rosewall who is the main person responsible for making the relevant decisions in BBY Ltd (Whitbourn, 2016). Moreover, as per the article Mr. Rosewall mainly relied in the information and suggestion that was presented by Ms Rottinger. This misled information gathering mainly declined the overall profitability of the company during 2014, when the AQA transaction was conducted. In addition, the investment that was been conducted by the company mainly came from the information that was been depicted by Mr Maharaj. Furthermore, the investment opinion was mainly taken from the Sydney psychic, which drastically affected the profitability of the company and increased its debt in ASX. Moreover, the news also related to $61 million, which is been owned to the creditors by the company. In addition, the news effectively depicted that Mr Rosewall has taken many decisions on the information provided by Mr Maharaj. In addition, the company effectively relied on the information budget and share price movement that was been predicted by Mr Maharaj. Furthermore, the increased reliance of Mr Rosewall in making significant trades mainly on the basis of a person has mainly violated the Capital Market research Theory, which is been depicted in the positive predictive accounting approach. Moreover, the related news also depicted the methods that is been violated by BBY Ltd for conducting their business operations. Furthermore, the news also clarified that the company was not responsible in making relative decision for appointing an independent director, which could monitor the operations of the company. Mr Rosewall mainly stated that due to the fear of losing their strategic advantage the company mainly refused to indulge in any type of independent directors in their operations. However, after the overall losses it has been discovered that due to the shady operations conducted by the company there was no initiation for appointing an independent director. This non-accumulation of an independent director mainly violates the rule set by AASB and IFRS. Furthermore, the news depicted that KPMG mentioned that the company was insolvent in early 2011 and used clients accounts to pay its expenses. In addition, it was also reported in the news that Mr Rosewall also pitched in $1.86 million of his own money, which was gathered from superannuation fund. Moreover, the company has been conducting wrong valuation and violating the AASB rules for projecting the money of its clients. Depicting the accounting theory related to the news article: Positive accounting theory: In addition, BBY Ltd has firstly violated the positive accounting theory, which resulted in the insolvency of the company during 2011. In addition, the news also stated that the company has been insolvent during 2011, which only indicates that the positive accounting practise was not effectively followed. Furthermore, the company did not effectively depict the behaviour of accountant as the accountants were violating the rules laid down by AASBN and IFRS. Bebbington, Unerman O'Dwyer (2014) stated that positive accounting theory mainly help companies to effectively conduct operations based in Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH). On the other hand, other researcher mainly criticises that EMH mainly loses its friction during an economic crises. In addition, the company has violated the positive accounting theory by depicting wrong valuation of the company to its reflective shareholders. Moreover, the future projection conducted by the company after 2011 also violated the basic principles of positive accounting theory for presenting the adequate financial projection of the company (Bonin, 2013). Stakeholder Theory: In addition, BBY Ltd as the company mainly violates the ethical and organisation management also violate the stakeholder theory. Furthermore, BBY Ltd mainly violated the stakeholder theory by not conducting the adequate ethical measures in reporting the management decisions to its stakeholders. In addition, the company mainly violated the stakeholder theory by conducting unethical investment transactions and trades after losing profits (Bonner et al., 2013). Furthermore, as per the stakeholders theory the company is effectively violating the major rules, which might only depicted the unethical practices conducted by the management. Some of the researchers mainly stated the effective depiction of stakeholders theory that mainly helps the company to maintain the ethical operations in their organisation and reduce any fines implemented from authorities. Furthermore, the stakeholders theory also helps in reducing the unethical process, which might reduce profitability of the company. In addition, if the company effectively maintains the stakeholder theory in their management then it could effectively reduce any types of unethical measure, which might decrease trust of its investors. Some of the researcher mainly stated that effective use of stakeholder theory mainly help in improving the trust and demand of shares among potential investors. On the contrary, other researchers stated that companies are manly reluctant in sharing their internal strategy in fear of decreasing their competitive edge against its peers (Bryer, 2013). Capital Market research Theory: In addition, the company also violated the basic accounting rules, which mainly states to conduct effective capital market research before any kind of investment. Some of the researchers mainly states that the effective uses of capital market mainly help investment companies to make adequate investment options, which might in turn help in reducing the risk and increasing return from investment. However, other researchers mainly contradicted by saying that during an economic crisis the increased risks from investment might mainly reduce the ability to make adequate return from investment. In addition, BBY Ltd did not conduct any specific research before conducting the investment, which resulted to the loss in income (Freeman et al., 2014). In addition, the company mainly relied on the prediction from one person and did not conduct any type of actual research before conducting the investment in AQA transaction. Furthermore, the company made loss due to the wrong depiction of different types of tradition conducted by the company. Furthermore, BBT Ltd mainly conducted transaction from 2011 to 2014 based on predictions conducted only by Mr Maharaj. Researchers mainly depicted that some of the companies mainly conducts investment, which might help in reducing the risk from investment. Valuation methods: In addition, the valuation mainly conducts different types of theories, as if historical cost, current cost accounting, and continues contemporary amounting. Furthermore, BBY Ltd mainly violated the historical cost by depicturing wrong valuation of the company during 2011 to 2014. In addition, the company also violates the current cost accounting theory by depicting wrong valuation on its balance sheet. Some of the researchers mainly stated that following the valuation method mainly help companies to depict the accurate financial position on its annual report. On the contrary, other researcher stated that some companies mainly use the unethical measures to reduce the negative growth and inflate their financial report, which in turn help in attracting more investors (Mattessich, 2013). Furthermore, BBY Ltd also violated the historical cost and modified historical cost theory by depicting the wrong cost incurred by the company from trades. In addition, as per the news the company mainly projected wrong valuation of the transaction and manipulates their customers account to support the expenses accumulated from transaction. In addition, as per the news article the company mainly violated by depicting the wrong valuation in their financial report, which resulted in the decreased trust obtained from investors. Some of the researchers mainly stated that companies with the help auditors are able to manipulate their financial report and depicts a high financial stability (Mohammadi, 2015). Conclusion: The overall research mainly helps in depicting the accounting theory, which is being violated by BBY Ltd in conducting their operations. Furthermore, the study also helps in depicting the overall unethical process, which was being conducted by the company from 2011 to 2014. The novice effectively evaluates different types of accounting theory, which is been violated by the company, which led to the loss incurred during 2014 AQA transactions. In addition, the company mainly violated Positive accounting theory, Stakeholder Theory, Capital Market research Theory, and Valuation method. Furthermore, the company mainly violated the ethical parameters in conducting the investments. In addition, the novice effectively evaluates the news and depicts the problems, which led to the fall of BBY Ltd. Lastly, the overall depiction of news mainly help in understanding the overall violations, which is been conducted by the company during the 2011 to 2014 operations. Reference and Bibliography: Bebbington, J., Unerman, J., O'Dwyer, B. (2014).Sustainability accounting and accountability. Routledge. Bonin, H. (2013).Generational accounting: theory and application. Springer Science Business Media. Bonner, S., Clor-Proell, S., Koonce, L., Wang, T. (2013).Mental accounting and disaggregation on the income statement. Working Paper, University of Southern California, Texas Christian University, The University of Texas, Queen's University. Brigham, E. F., Ehrhardt, M. C. (2013).Financial management: Theory practice. Cengage Learning. Bryer, R. (2013). Americanism and financial accounting theoryPart 3: Adam Smith, the rise and fall of socialism, and Irving Fisher's theory of accounting.Critical Perspectives on Accounting,24(7), 572-615. Freeman, R. J., Shoulders, C. D., Allison, G. S., Smith Jr, G. R., Becker, C. J. (2014). Governmental and nonprofit accounting: theory and practice.JPAEJOURNAL OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS EDUCATION VOLUME 20 NUMBER 3, 441. Mattessich, R. (2013). The Rise and Significance of Modern Analytical Methods in Accounting. Part I-A Review Essay of Accounting Theory-An Information Content Perspective, of John A. Christensen and Joel Demski.Energeia,2(1). Mohammadi, S. (2015). Full development of the theory of accounting and auditing.International Journal of Accounting and Economics Studies,3(1), 7-9. Nsi, S., Saccon, C., Wstemann, S., Walton, P. (2014). European accounting theory: evolution and evaluation.The Routledge Companion to Accounting, Reporting and Regulation, 54-71. Whitbourn, M. (2016).BBY director believed psychic claim was 'a joke'.The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 25 September 2016, from https://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/bby-director-believed-psychic-claim-was-a-joke-20160919-grjznb.html. Current Developments in Accounting Thought Questions: 1.Conceptual frameworks have identified a number of qualitative criteria that financial information should possess if it is to be useful to decision making? 2.Identify the weaknesses of historical cost accounting. In light of these weaknesses, why do you think historical cost accounting remains the most popular method of accounting measurement? 3.The Conceptual Framework Chapter 1 OB2 states that "the objective of general purpose financialvreporting is to provide financial information about the reportingventity that is useful to existing and potential investors, lenders and other creditors in making decisions about providing resources to the entity? Answers: 1. Financial statement is one of the most important factors in the financial aspects of business organization. Financial statement refers to the formal records of all the financial activities and transactions of a business (Kim, Kraft Ryan, 2013). One of the most important factors in the preparation of financial statements for the organizations is the faithful representation of those financial statements. Faithful representation of the financial statements refers to a concept that states that all the financial statements of the business organizations must reflect the actual financial condition of the organizations (Barth, 2013). Faithful representation of the financial statements is necessary for every business organizations irrespective of size and type of the organization. There are three major attributes of the process of faithful representation; all the business organizations must follow these three attributes at the time of the preparation of the financial statements. They are completeness, error free and unbiased (Abeysekera, 2013). The first attribute states that all the financial information provided in the financial statements of the companies must be complete in nature. It implies that the financial information of the organizations must reflect the actual financial position of the organization (Palea, 2013). As per the second attribute, the financial statements of the business organizations should not have any kind of errors in them. Financial statements containing a series of errors lead to the misinterpretation of the actual financial position of the business organizations (Kadous, Koonce Thayer, 2012). The third attribute suggest that the financial statements of the business organizations must not have any kind of biasness in them. Biasness happens when the financial statements of the organizations are being manipulated to provide a different financial picture of the organization. The accountants must not be biased at the time of making the financial statements (Weil, Schipper Francis, 2013). These are the three major attributes of the faithful representation of the financial statements. The Australian Accounting Standard Board, commonly known as AASB, has a significant role to play in the faithful representation of the financial statements of the business organizations (Henderson et al., 2015). As per the AASB Framework Chapter 3 QC 12-16, the financial statements of the organizations include economic phenomena in words and numbers. In order to be useful for the readers of the financial statements, these financial phenomena must be represented correctly and they must be faithfully represented to the users of them. Another important concept in the faithful representation in the AASB framework is neutrality (Luttermann, 2012). As per the AASB framework, neutrality in the financial statements implies that the financial statements of the organizations must be free from any kind of biasness. Hence, it can be observed that the concept of neutrality is a crucial aspect in the process of faithful representation of the financial statements. In the process of faithful represe ntation, one of the major concerns is that is it possible to present the financial information faithfully and neutrally. After considering the conceptual framework of AASB, it can be said that the faithful and neutral presentation of the financial statement of the business organizations is possible. As per the conceptual framework of AASB, the empirical accounting researchers have found some major evidences that it is possible to present the financial statements faithfully and neutrally (Quadackers, Groot Wright 2014). It can be seen that there is not any kind of specific measure for the purpose of faithfully and neutral representation of the financial statement. However, there are many ways to do this. The decision making process of the organizations does not depend on the faithful or unfaithful representation of the financial statement. Some major aspects need to be there in the process of faithful representation. The first aspect is comparability. All the financial information in the process of faithful representation must be comparable. The reliability of the financial information in the financial statements increases when they can be compared to the same kind of information from any other financial statement (Bodie, 2013). The compared financial information may not be useful for the business organization, but they will sure be faithful for the business organization along with the users of them. The next important aspect in faithful representation is verifiability. It is a fact the verified inf ormation can be used with confidence (Ball, Jayaraman Shivakumar, 2012). In todays world, the investors take greater risks by depending on the provided financial information in the financial statements. Hence, the information is desired to be verified. The verified information may not be always useful for the users, but the faithfulness and neutrality makes them precious to the users of the financial information. Another important aspect is timeliness of the provided information. The concept of timelines states that the financial information in the financial statements must be recent. In addition, the financial statements must be used in a quick period. The inclusion old or expired information in the financial statements of the business organizations may falsify the true financial position of the organizations. The most important aspect is understandability. It is desired that the information provided in the financial statements must be understandable for the users of them. Understandability implies that the presented information in the financial statements of the organizations must be clear to the users; in addition, they must be fundamentally correct. From above discussion, it can be said that with the help of these aspects, it is actually possible to represent the financial information faithfully and naturally. In this regard, the financial standard makers need to take some initiatives. In the conceptual framework, the financial standard setter should incl ude some examples or references of the process of faithful representation of financial data so that the accountants can follow this. This will provide them a clearer picture about the process of faithful and neutral representation of financial information in the financial statements of the companies. 2. Historical cost is a process of measuring the value of the asses. In the process of historical cost, the value of an asset in the balance sheet is taken based on the nominal cost or original cost when acquired by the company or organization. There are both weaknesses and merits of HCA. In order to analyze the popularity of this process, it is necessary to evaluate both weakness and metros of this process. It can be seen that there are some major weakness of historical cost accosting (HCA). In the HCA, the recent changes in the price level are not taken into consideration. Due to this reason, the financial statements under HCA fail to show the true financial image of the organization (DRURY, 2013). Another weakness is the unrealistic value of assets in the balance sheet. Due to not taken into consideration the recent changes in prices, the amount of the assets of the organizations show unrealistic values. Insufficient provision for depreciation is another weakness of HCA. The depreciation is charged based on historical cots that are not sufficient. Another major disadvantage of the HCA is unrealistic profit (Carmona, Ezzamel Gutirrez, 2016). The major problem is that the revenues are taken based on current value and the expenses are taken based on historical value. Hence, it can be said that the HCA process fails present the fair or actual value of the financial position of the organi zations. Along with the above-discussed weaknesses, the HCA has some major merits or benefits. The HCA maintains the objectivity of the financial position of the organization. HCA is considered as the simplest method of the valuation of the assets (Demski, 2013). Apart from this, the process of charging depreciation is a simple process in HCA. The conservative approach of HCA makes it more innovative to the accountants. It creates the scope of creative accounting. It can be seen that the HCA process is consistent with the broader goals and objectives of the accounting process (Hall, 2012). These are the major advantages of HCA. Due to the presence of the weaknesses in the process of HCA, there are some alternative methods of HCA. One of the alternatives of HCA is current cost accounting process. In this process, the amount of cash that needs to be paid at the time of the acquisition of any asset is taken into consideration. Realizable value method is another alternative of the HCA. In this process, the current amount of cash that could be obtained after the disposal of the assets is taken into consideration. Present value method is another alternative asset valuation process of HCA. In this process, the future cash flow that can be generated due to the disposal of the assets is taken into consideration. The most popular alternative of HCA is the current purchasing power accounting (Jolliffe Prydz, 2015). In this form of accounting, the profit after allowing the maintenance cost of the purchasing power is taken into consideration. These are the major alternatives of HCA. From the above analysis, it can be seen that there are both demerits and alternative methods of HCA. In spite of the presence of both demerits and alternatives, the HCA is widely popular among the accountants of all over the world. There are specific reasons behind this. One of the major reasons is that the accountants are very mush reluctant to value the assets based on the current market price. The reasons behind this are creative accounting and various accounting malpractices. It has been seen that under the process of HCA, there is not any scope for accounting manipulation as all the accounting information is supported by evidences. This is another reason for choosing HCA by most of the accountants. The financial managers can apply various kinds of alternatives in recognizing, measuring and reporting the economic information with the help of HCA. As per the empirical evidences, the financial statements based on the process of HCA are very much useful for the financial managers. A part from these, there are various other reason that are responsible for the widespread popularity of HCA all over the world. It can be observed that these reasons are to powerful too surpass the demerits of HCA. 3. As per International Accounting Standard Boards (IASB) conceptual framework chapter 2, the main objective of financial reporting is to provide financial information to the various users of the financial statements for financial decision-making. The various users of financial statements are the potential investors, lenders, creditors and others. It is important that these various users of financial statement must be provided with the necessary information in order to make effective decisions. It is important that these financial information is necessary for the assessment of the future cash flow of the organizations along with to assess the stewardship of the accounting process. This information has its utmost importance at the time of decision making of the business organizations. It can be seen that IASB has give more emphasis on describing the term stewardship rather to use them (Zhang Andrew, 2014). The main purpose of financial statement forms the base of conceptual framework. In addition, there are various other elements of conceptual framework like the idea of treatment of business entity, the various elements of financial statements, disclosure and presentation of various measurement and others. The main objective of general principles of financial treatment is to provide financial information to the various users of the financial statements. The various users of financial statements are the investors, creditors and others (Gebhardt, Mora Wagenhofer, 2014). In this regard, the measurement process under historical cost and fair value is an important aspect. These two measurement processes are used by the business organizations to measure the financial assets of the organizations. In the process of fair value method, at the time of valuing any asset of the organization, the current market prices of that asset is taken into consideration. On the other hand, in the process of HCA, the market prices of the asset is considered at the time of the acquisition of the asset by the business organization. hence, it can be seen that some major differences are there between the measurement process of these two methods. Fair value accounting is taken into consideration when the present value of an asset cannot be determined. On a more precise note, fair value can be described as the agreed upon sales price of an assets between two parties. It can be observed that, among these two measurement processes, the historical cost value of measuring the cost o f an asset is more popular all over the world. One of the major reasons is that the process of measurement is very easy and convenient in HCA (ifrs.org, 2017). In addition, the HCA diminishes the scope of manipulation from the accounting process. 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