Fair Value Accounting : The Gauge Of Reliability And Relevance

Auditing financial statements whose items are based on fair values are difficult because these values are often determined using assumptions which are subjective.

The field of accounting is constantly evolving. This is true not only for the theory of accounting itself but also the entities that govern its theory and practice. Presently, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) are faced with some of the biggest challenges to date. To understand the significance of these two boards, it is necessary to understand their histories, relations between the boards, and the standards that they set. Also how the knowledge of these boards and the field they lead, gained through the masters of science in accountancy

In our presentation, we want to discuss how fair value accounting affects society in businesses. One example of how this effected society as a whole was the 2008 financial crisis. In this financial crisis, many companies were impacted but in particular AID insurance company faced a 11 billion dollar write down of debt before FASB introduced their new guidelines of SFAS 157. If this happened after these guidelines were passed, this company would have had a loss more like 900 million dollars. As a result, a company with trillion dollars of assets reported unrealized losses of tens of billions. Another area that was impacted was the American Banking

For as long as businesses have existed, so has accounting. With time, it has become more complicated and detailed, but it is still a process of keeping financial accounts in order. Through accounting, or financial reporting, a system is set up to keep track of, maintain and audit the financial proceedings. Because accounting and financial reporting of a business is so important for its accuracy and in general, a lot of ethical, technological and legal concerns are involved. In this paper, we will look identify and explore the concerns of each of these.

Representations are faithful if there is a correspondence or agreement between the accounting measures or descriptions in the financial reports and the economic phenomena they purport to represent (FASB, 1980: 6; FASB, 2005: 3). The difference between reliability and a faithful representation is ambiguous. Since the attributes neutrality, completeness and substance of economic phenomena (substance over form) can be classified as qualities of faithful representation, reliability becomes redundant. Consequently, a point of attention is to discuss what exactly the notions reliability and faithful representation mean and what they do not mean (FASB, 2005: 2-3).In both frameworks neutrality is defined as free from bias. 'To that end, the common conceptual framework should not include conservatism or prudence among the desirable qualitative characteristics of accounting information. However the framework should note the continuing need to be careful in the face of uncertainty' (FASB, 2005: 3).

As the complexity of our financial economy develops it is important that our accounting standards progress in accordance. Accounting is very important to the development of the global and local economies. Accounting is basically the gathering, summarizing and presenting of financial information of an entity to interested internal, external and possible investors. This information should be presented in a non-bias way so that other people are able understand.

The concept of fair value is correct and useful, but can be problematic during periods of crisis. When the market is down, the value of financial assets will be down as well, while, the value of the assets are up in up markets. There will be fluctuations in the fair values based on the current markets, which can cause huge losses in the financial statements. The up to date fair value is a true value that forces the true picture with a company's investments, such as placement of securities in bad lending practices. Fair value reflects a company's present financial condition.

Over the past several years, there has been a growing controversy over the accounting issues of fair values and historical cost. The basis of this controversy revolves around which one of these principles is the most accurate. There are many different viewpoints on this issue. Many accounting professionals believe that fair value is just as accurate as the historical cost principle, while others believe that the historical cost is more reliable. The facts about each of these valuation methods will be researched and explained throughout this research document, as well as the different viewpoint about which method is the most accurate and reliable.

Historically ,it is seen that there are numerous number of disputes in the field of financial reporting among different professionals, regulators and theoretitions .most of these disputes are related to the valuation of financial reporting components.the current curve in the progress of valuation is the push for and against the fair value approach.the purpose of this research is to examine the arguments on the use of fair value accounting and to identify the issues related to implementation of fair value accounting standards. Further, the results of literature related to role of fair value accounting within financial crisis are also investigated.

Secondly, the claim made by ‘free market’ perspective to treat accounting information as other normal goods should be rejected because accounting information are unlike normal goods such as bread or house. It is a public good because the use of it by one investor does not prevent the usage of others (Hendriksen & Breda 1992, p.247). As non-investors have right to use the accounting information such as income statement and balance sheet as much as investors, investors will not agree to pay for the financial reports because others will become free-rider; thus, this prevent the function of normal pricing system of accounting information. As no income is received by producers of financial reports, they will not willing to produce it or will underproduce it so ‘free-market’ perspective is not applicable. Under this circumstance, Demski and Feltham (cited in Deegan 2009, p.65) states that for public good like accounting information, a more collective approach to its production is more desirable. This can be achieved by legislatively regulating the productions of accounting information so companies will produce the accounting information to meet the demands of external users and thus ensuring efficient capital market.

There have been many debates in previous decades amongst the investors, users of the financial statements, on whether fair value accounting is worth being used. According to IFRS 13, fair value is “the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date”. Usage of fair value has advantages, however, it has disadvantages as well. This essay will discuss how fair value is more advantageous than disadvantageous and how it is carried out. It will also examine how fair value led Lehman Brothers, an American investment bank, into bankruptcy during the global financial crisis and why the trend of fair value has emerged in the recent decades.

Along with active capital market and the rapid development of science and technology, the fair value measurement will increasingly shows its rationality and necessity, is bound to further enhance and improve the quality of accounting information system.

ACC307 INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT TASK 1: Contemporary Issues of Accounting Theory Fair Value Measurement Overview After the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) released the IFRS 13 Fair Value Measurement in May 2011 for the purpose of completing its joint project with the US Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) on fair value, the Australian Accounting Standard Board (AASB) released the Australian equivalent - AASB 13 Fair Value Measurement in the September of the same year. This standard permitted early adoption but generally started to take effect for the financial reporting periods beginning from 1 January 2013. This new standard requires no new requirement for the adoption and but it was accompanied with the issuing of AASB 2011-8 Amendments to Australian Accounting Standards arising from the AASB 13 which has made consequential changes to 32 standards and 9 interpretations for the adoption in Australia. The new standard attempts to unify IFRS and US GAAP by specifying how entities should apply the fair value measurements that applied in previous IFRS standards. It clarifies and redefines fair value as “the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date”, sometimes referred to as an “exit price”. It also sets out a single source guidance for a robust measurement framework to ensure that the requirements are applied consistently and have clear

It has been become an issue of great concern that the accounting profession must find a common theory in order to address and put the issue at rest. This therefore, has called for the study of this topic under review “the demand for and supply of accounting theories: the market for excuses. As a result of this several questions have been raised. For instance, the question of why accounting theories are predominantly normative has been put forward by this article? Secondly, why no single theory in accounting profession that is generally or widely accepted? It has been argued that the financial accounting theories have been found to be ineffective most especially in the area of impacting accounting practice and policy, though, this has been

An important function of the accounting field is to provide external users of financial statements with assurance that the financial information being presented is both reliable and accurate. This basic function of accounting is so important that there is an entire field of experts, called auditors, dedicated to assuring its proper performance. Throughout history there have been many instances in which the basic equilibrium between an institution and current/potential investor has been threatened due to a lack of accountability and trust between the two parties. This issue has been the catalyst for many discussions regarding the proper procedures a firm should follow in order to provide