欧文·费雪的现值理念及其对会计规则的影响

Irving Fisher’s Concept of Present Value and its Impact on Accounting Rules

欧文·费雪率先推广的现值理念常常被学术论著用作支持公允价值会计的理论依据。但实践中,现值算法频频引发争议,其计算缺乏事实的支持,给企业管理层操纵资产和利润数据提供了便利。本文对费雪的现值理念和利息理论进行追溯分析,发现其混淆了封闭现金流与开口现金流,混淆了债权和股权,导致“现值”理念出现逻辑悖论,违背“记账必须具备原始凭证支持”的会计基本原则。因此,现值算法适合用于金融分析、资产评估等更为注重预测性的学科专业,但不适合用于会计程序。会计规则应当严格坚持将现值算法限定于封闭现金流的计算,不宜将其推广应用于开口现金流。

The present value concept first introduced to the public by Irving Fisher is frequently used as a theoretical basis for supporting fair value accounting in academic literature.In practice, however, the present value algorithm has frequently given rise to controversy, and the lack of factual support for its calculation has facilitated the manipulation of asset and profit data by corporate management.This paper retrospectively analyzes Fisher’s concept of present value and theory of interest, and finds that it confuses cash flows that can be determined in advance with cash flows that cannot be determined in advance, and debt with equity.It leads to a logical paradox in the concept of present value, which violates the basic principle of“bookkeeping must be supported by source documents”.Therefore, the present value algorithm is suitable for financial analysis, asset valuation and other disciplines that are more predictive instead of accounting procedures.Accounting rules should strictly insist that the present value algorithm be limited to the calculation of cash flows that can be determined in advance.It is inappropriate to extend the its application to cash flows that cannot be determined in advance.