1、中文 3160 字 本科毕业 论文 ( 设计 ) 外 文 翻 译 题 目 全面收益理论的发展研究 专 业 会 计 学 外文题目 The future of Accounting and Financial Reporting,Part :The Colorized Approach 外文出处 Accounting Horision 1996( 6) 外文 作者 Steven M. H. Wallman 1 原文 : The future of Accounting and Financial Reporting Part :The Colorized Approach In this sequ
2、el to an earlier Commentary on the Future of Accounting and Financial Reporting, the author first discusses the importance of accounting and financial reporting to (1)asset, capital and investment allocation, (2) contracting and exposf settling up, and (3) corporatestewardship and monitoring. He the
3、n reviews several reasons for the concern that accounting and financial reporting are becoming increasingly less useful, including changing concepts of the traditional Tirm,recognition and measurement difficulties, issues related to the timeliness of financial reports, and limitations associated wit
4、h current information distribution channels. A refinement tothe current black and white accounting paradigm is suggested to begin to address certain of these concerns, and to quicken the debate on the need and benefits for change. By decreasing the emphasis currently devoted to determining whether a
5、 particular item should be recognized, and focusing greater attention on whether the item is relevant and the degree of attestation that may be associated with any related disclosure, a more finely textured colorized accounting model might be developed. The goal of such a system would be to provide
6、more useful information in connection with accounting and financial reporting, while maintaining the current core disclosures. The author provides examples of how the colorized model might operate, discusses limitations of the model, and suggests that greater attention be devoted to refining the cur
7、rent accounting paradigm to meet the needs of users of accounting and financial information better, regardless of whether such a colorized model is ever adopted. The Importance Of Accounting And Financial Reporting From the most generalized perspective, the purpose of accounting and financial report
8、ing is to provide information that is useful to investors, creditors, monitors and others increasingly including employees and major suppliers and customers in making investment, credit, monitoring and other decisions. This general goal may be 2 further defined and analyzed by describing three speci
9、fic and distinct purposes and functions of financial reporting: (1) asset, capital and investment allocation; (2) contracting and ex post settling-up; and (3) corporate stewardship and monitoring. Determining What to Value: Recognition and Measurement Issues We also should question exactly what it i
10、s we are measuring and reporting. As discussed above, historically, the assets and liabilities used to produce wealth were recognized in financial statements at cost and were hard or tangible like plant and equipment. However, the shift to a knowledge-based economy has created or focused increased a
11、ttention on entirely different categories of assets such as brand names and other soft assets previously mentioned. With certain limited exceptions, such as the purchase of a brand name, these soft assets are not recognized in the financial statements. The primary obstacles relate to valuation diffi
12、culties, the inherent uncertainty of any value ultimately determined, and the resulting potential for fraud. As a result of these concerns, we attribute no value in financial reports to something as obviously significant as Disneys Mickey Mouse. This cannot be the correct result for the long-term ut
13、ility of financial reporting, particularly given the increasing importance of firms with soft assets. Some suggest that the values of these assets are ultimately reflected, implicitly, in the statement of cash fiows or in earnings, and therefore they need not be refiected elsewhere. Unfortunately, h
14、owever, because it would make life very easy if such an answer were right, the same can be said for all other assets on the balance sheet. Our task then is either to improve the credibility and reliability of soft asset valuations, or to find other creative solutions to the problem not to ignore thi
15、s fast growing segment of our economy. When to Report? The Timeliness of Financial Reporting The rapid acceleration of events that may significantly affect share values has started to make our system of annual audits and quarterly reports obsolete. Todays annual and even quarterly reports relying on recognized items as the core of the reports do not capture and communicate material developments in sufficient time to