Introduction
Financial Accounting Standards Board has defined the conceptual framework as –
‘A coherent system of interrelated objectives and fundamentals that is expected to lead to consistent standards and that prescribes the nature, function and limits of financial accounting and reporting.’
The conceptual framework describes the objective of, and the concepts for, general purpose financial reporting. It is a tool that –
1. Assists the FASB to develop and create new International Financial Reporting Standards that are based on sound accounting concepts.
2. Assists preparers of financial statements to develop consistent policies whenever and wherever no IFRS standard applies to a particular transaction.
3. Assists others to understand
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Hence these will be the information that will be displayed in the financial statements.
However, the information provided above by the company regarding share capital is further disclosure of the equity capital. Hence, a secondary information which involves just the disclosure, which can be in the form of list or table etc.
Conceptual Framework of Accounting
A conceptual framework is a statement of generally accepted theoretical practices which form the base of reference for financial reporting.
These theoretical principles provide the basis for the development of new accounting standards and the evaluation of those already in existence. (Limited, 2016)
Below figure explains how the conceptual framework of accounting works and how it is different from other conceptual frameworks that we see. It is a concoction of various accounting theories and policies together; these frameworks form the basis for accounting standards for the corporations to be followed while preparing financial statements for its users.
The Elements of Conceptual Framework
1. Objectives of Financial Reporting
For creditors, investors, lenders -
a. Decision making about providing resources.
b. Identifying resources and claims
c. Assessing the prospects of company’s future cash flows
d. Estimating the value of an entity (LinkedIn, 2016)
e. Getting all the possible information.
The conceptual framework is an attempt to provide a metatheoretical structure for financial accounting. SFAC No.3 defines 10 elements of financial statements. It is obviously a resolution of the definitions presented in the discussion mem for the conceptual framework project. Elements are what accounting professionals measure and the attributes is about how to measure. Definitions can be helpful to the financial statements which have been formulated in order to help professionals to specify the qualification are. Also, the definitions must be expressed in the metatheoretical structure.
It define the scope of judgment in planning financial statements by formulate the characteristic, activity and restrict of financial accounting and reporting. It also increases different of financial statements by reduce the number of other accounting methods. If standards were come from a reasonable style of concepts. Likewise, reporting requirement will be more constant and fair because they will record accounting base on former set of concepts. Moreover, the setting requirement will be more economical because problem should not be discuss from different position. In additional, it help to reduce accounting common error and political
A formal document issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), which details accounting standards and
accounting standards should be more consistent and logical, because they are developed in the context of an orderly set of concepts;
Through history and the many years of accounting practice, a lot of accounting theories have been developed. Interestingly, many of those theories are grounded on the basis of prescribing and proposing how accounting processes should be performed. These are known as normative theories of accounting as they are not built on observation, but rather upon the theorist’s deductive judgement, and subjective opinion (Goble 2009).
According to Keiso, Weygandt, and Warfield (2013), Financial reporting’s goal is to “provide financial information about
So, the benefit behind the conceptual framework is increasing users’ understanding of financial reporting. Second, IASB cannot be alone without the implementation of IFRS. Also, IASB made it easy for companies to compare financial statements due to the procedural of IASB. However, it will enable auditors to quickly resolve financial reporting problems by referring to an existing framework. Third, the reason where IASB framework, developing future accounting standards. Through, globalization accounting becomes an international language, it allowed a lot of investment opportunities and trading internationally. Fourth, understandable information about financial statements for users.
Bullen and Crook in their article, Revisiting the Concepts (2005), discussed the nature of the new conceptual Framework project. They said the FASB and IASB began this project to “revisit their conceptual frameworks for financial accounting and reporting.” In other words, the project will result in an improved, complete and consistent conceptual framework as a new guidance for future standard-setting.
Nowadays, with the position of accounting becoming higher, accountants should have enough professional abilities to solve problems or make decisions. In addition, high quality accountants must follow a set of guiding principles for preparing financial reports during their careers. Therefore, numerous principles and rules are significant when it comes to accounting. The External Reporting Board (XRB) which called the New Zealand Conceptual Framework (CF) provides the basic principles. Comparing to CF, the rules-based accounting standards includes more detailed rules. Furthermore, the principle-based standards which based on CF provide broad points of departure for users to apply. This essay will critically assess if the principle-based accounting standards assists or hinders the decision making for accountants facing financial statements. Points covered include the principle-based accounting standards ’
According to ACCA[2014], a conceptual frame work must “consider the theoretical and conceptual issues surrounding financial reporting and form a coherent and consistent foundation that will underpin the development of accounting standards”[ACCA, 2014]. This definition incorporates the IASB and FASB definition of conceptual framework. So in other words, conceptual framework forms the
Accounting standard refers to a set of standardised practices in accounting which bind together existing procedures in one unformed practice. They are of paramount importance for any business as they provide information needed for investors and capital markets. By using them we can compare and draw conclusions regarding business financial condition and whether financial control has been effective in relation to the company. Accounting standards are also necessary for the companies to provide any interested stakeholders with precise and detailed information which can be understood across different businesses. If we would not have accounting standards in place than the comparative analysis for many businesses would not be possible. Without them there would be more errors and mistakes in
The International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) Foundation and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) are a global language for business affairs that was established in 2001 in order to develop a single set high quality and globally accepted reporting standards. ("IFRS - Organisation history", 2016). The point of the IFRS was main stability and transparency in the
As for the level and quality of transparency of financial statements, companies operating under the standards of their local Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) may continues to present information that may be false and asymmetric. However, other companies that are committing to the IFRS will continue to present information that is clear and understandable (Horton, Serafeim and Serafeim, 2008). The adopted reporting standards require information that is more qualitative and quantitative to be attached to the disclosure of financial statements, which was not highly required by local GAAP (Wright and Hobbs, 2010, p. 23). To increase transparency, “it requires companies to disclose accounting policies, judgements and estimates, as well as additional qualitative and quantitative information related to significant accounting transactions” (Wright and Hobbs, 2010, p. 22). Reporting the substance of transactions by commenting on the realities of what the entities or companies present regarding information about
A Report on the Significance of the IASB’s Conceptual Framework and the Exposure Draft ‘Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting – The Reporting Entity’
The term conceptual framework can be describe as a coherent system of concept that flow from an objective. The objectives are the foundation of the framework and the concepts provide guidance on setting and identifying boundaries of financial reporting for example selecting transactions and providing a structure on how things should presented, recognise and measure. And how they should be summarised and communicated in financial reporting.(Deegan.C).I could talk about what is ias here ???