The Role of External Auditor in Protecting the Financial Information Listed in the Financial Statements in the Jordanian Industrial Companies

This study aims to know the role of external auditor in protecting the financial information listed in the financial statements in the Jordanian industrial companies. The sample of this study consisted of 70 auditors who work for Jordanian industrial companies, whereas a questionnaire survey was designed and distributed to them. A total of 68 questionnaires were received that are valid for statistical analysis accounting for 97% of the overall distributed questiormaires; and the questionnaires have been analyzed using SPSS statistical software. The results of the study revealed that the external auditor uses the information technology in examining the financial information listed in the financial statements. Also, it was found that the external auditor is keen to ensure the credibility of the financial statements of the company. The study recommended the external auditor in the Jordanian industrial companies to be more interested in updating the company＇s electronic financial system.

Quality of Financial Statements and Tenure of Statement-Related Personnel

This study investigates the association between quality of financial statements and tenure of statement-related personnel. First, we examined whether there is still a significant association between financial statement quality and the tenure of audit partners who are responsible for the quality assurance of financial statements after the implementation of mandatory audit partner rotation. We addressed this issue by using a sample of Taiwan Residents companies, with which no significant association between audit partner tenure and the magnitude of discretionary accruals （DA）, a common proxy for financial statement quality, was found. Second, we investigated whether an association exists between the financial statement quality and the tenure of management who is responsible for the preparation of financial statements. We also addressed this issue by using Taiwan Residents data and found a significant association between management tenure （MT） and the magnitude of DA. Our findings provide evidence that audit partner tenure would neither improve nor deteriorate the quality assurance of a financial statement, when there is a mandatory audit partner rotation after a fixed period of time. Whereas how MT affects financial statement quality after the enactment of the mandatory audit partner rotation is dependent on the management position. Increasing tenure of chief executive officer （CEO） and chief financial officer （CFO） will enhance and hinder financial statement quality respectively. In the end, we found a significant interaction of tenure between auditor and CFO. This result implies that the downward bias of CFO on the financial statement preparation can be mitigated by auditors with increasing tenure.

Financial Statements of Banks as a Source of Information About Implementation of IFRS 15： The Evidence from Poland

Banks in the economies of individual countries play the role of entities of public trust and are perceived as ＂too big to fail＂. In fact, they are exposed to risks associated with business operations. In practice, there are even instances of banks going bankrupt. Therefore, the reliability of the financial statements of a bank as a source of information about its financial condition is of particular importance. The main objective of creating IAS/IFRS and their implementation within the European Union is the strive to standardize accounting rules utilized by companies and other organizations. IFRS, as any other regulations, are subject to change over years. One of the recent changes is the introduction of IFRS 15 ＂Revenue from Contracts with Customers＂. In all entities using IAS/IFRS, communication of planned changes should involve disclosure ahead of time, regarding the analysis of their impact on the financial statements. The purpose of this paper has been to analyze whether the financial statements of banks contain any records on the impact of IFRS 15. These analyses are within the mainstream of studying how complete and prospective is the information contained in the financial statements for external users. The subjects for research are the consolidated financial statements of five major banks in Poland. As a result of research, it was found that in all studied cases, work on the implementation of IFRS 15 was observed. However, looking at every bank separately, a differentiated approach to presenting information on the standard is observed, which may be a hindrance for users of banks＇ financial statements.

Evaluating the Provision of Information in the Financial Statements of Enterprises： Empirical Evidence From Vietnam

Globalization trend has raised demand for establishing a consistent legal framework internationally. Vietnam has been establishing gradually a consistem legal framework according to countries in the world for improving information in financial statements of enterprises. Timely, the Ministry of Finance has made a great effort to publish the draft to correct and adjust accounting laws, accounting standards, and accounting systems to improve and enhance the quality of accounting information. However, based on the result of experiment survey including auditors, chief accountants, and investors, the information in the financial statements provided by Vietnamese enterprises has some shortcomings. The information provided by organizations has not satisfied the demand of users to make useful decisions. Ideally, Vietnam needs to have certain improvements in overall by state, enterprises, and occupation organizations to provide information with high quality and accuracy. This in turn will be crucial for Vietnam in international accounting integration progress.

Financial Statements Frauds: Does Their Intensity Have a Connection with Earnings Management?

This study investigates the relationship between earnings management and financial statements frauds.We examine how earnings management practices;done in the two years before the fraud,impact the likelihood of fraud occurrence.Moreover,we introduce a new measure for the fraud intensity.Using a sample of 70 fraud and 70 no-fraud firms,we find that firms committing fraud of higher intensity have managed earnings in the two years before the fraud occurrence.This paper contributes to the literature about fraud antecedents because it is the first study measuring the relationship between earnings management and the intensity of the fraud,and it can be also useful for practitioners,because using the analysis of earnings management practices,analysts can foresee and prevent financial statements frauds.

Full-Goodwill Method of Accounting for Business Combinations and Quality of Financial Statements

Accounting goodwill arises as a result of business combinations and appears in a consolidated balance sheet of an acquirer. It is an intangible asset which reflects an excess of value of an acquired business as a whole over a summed value of its identifiable net assets. Since 2010, the International Financial Reporting Standards （IFRS） allow for two alternative methods of measuring goodwill in those business combinations, where an acquirer obtains a control over a target company without obtaining 100% share in its shareholder＇s equity. Under one of these methods, which is called a ＂full-goodwill method＂, the goodwill attributable to non-controlling interests in subsidiary is measured at fair value. Thus, the main accounting problem with this method lies in its requirement to estimate the fair value of non-controlling interests. This paper suggests that the ＂full-goodwill method＂ may sacrifice financial statement reliability for its alleged relevance, with significant potential for ＂creative accounting＂. The problems with reliability and transparency of financial statements, when ＂full-goodwill method＂ is applied, are illustrated by a real-life example of the takeover of Formula Systems Ltd. by Asseco Group （one of the biggest IT companies in Europe, listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange）.

Information on Financial Statements for Loan Decision-Making of Commercial Banks in Vietnam

Financial statements （FS） are tools which provide information to users for making business decisions. Among the organizations, banks are the firms which conducted and did business with risks. In particular, commercial banks continue to play a dominant role in the whole system, and local commercial banks still have an edge in its widespread network across the country over foreign banks. This article is going to present the survey which clarifies the role of FS in commercial banks＇ loan decisions in Vietnam. Moreover, this paper also discusses FS＇s quality currently, thereby making suggestions for enterprises to enhance the usefulness of accounting information in borrowing activities. This paper has taken performance with 74 official employees in commercial banks in Vietnam. The results indicated the qualitative characteristics of banks when disclosing the financial statements. This article also gave the six oriented solutions to improvement of the loan decision-making by banks.

Effectiveness of the Financial Ratios in the Determination of the Fraudulent Financial Statements＂ Turkey Practice

Large-scale accounting scandals which were reflected to the world public opinion particularly in the 2000s （such as Enron, Lucent, Xerox, and Parmalat Bank for Reconstruction） carried the matter of fraudulent financial reporting which was made to deceive the financial statement users （Fraudulent Financial Report （FFR）） to the forefront in the agenda of the academicians, operators, and regulatory authorities. As in every crime action, the most effective measure to be taken in preventing FFR events is to try to prevent the FFR before arising. In order to achieve this, in the most effective manner, FFR events should be determined in the formation process. In this study, fraudulent financial statements are tried to be determined by using financial ratios. For this, financial statements of 22 companies which transact in the textile industry in Istanbul Stock Exchange （ISE） were examined. Twenty-three financial ratios were selected for the purpose of determining the risk of fraudulence in the financial statements of the selected companies. These ratios increased in value by multiple regression analysis. The findings which were obtained in the study indicated that some financial statements had the risk of fraudulence. It was concluded that the ratios of inventory/current asset, total debt ratio, and equity turnover rate were a good indicator in the determination of fraudulent financial statements.

Impact of International Financial Reporting Standards （IFRS） Adoption on Key Financial Ratios＂ The Case of the Czech Republic

This contribution analyzes the impact of new International Financial Reporting Standards （IFRS） reporting rules on financial ratios prepared in the Czech companies. Using a sample of 16 Czech firms, we attempt to measure the scope and size of the differences in the selected set of financial ratios as calculated with data reported according to the traditional Czech accounting standards （CAS） and under the IFRS provisions. Our study discovers that there are important differences resulting from the two reporting formats. Our research comes to a conclusion that translation of Czech statements to IFRS may cause changes in the values of financial indicators without relationship to the real change in the firms＇ value, performance, and stability. Even though the findings were not statistically significant, the indicative results of our measurements disclosed an important fact that the transition to IFRS could cause deterioration of key indicators and thereby could impact on the overall rating of companies. One needs to be cautious with generalization due to the small sample size.

Harmonization of financial reporting of small and medium-sized enterprises in the Czech Republic

A current problem of the present-day accounting and financial reporting consists in aligning the accounting in small and medium enterprises. In July 2009 the International Financial Reporting Standard for small and medium-sized enterprises was issued, which extended the aligning possibilities also to small and medium enterprises considerably. If the standard is adopted by the national legislation, problems connected with the standard implementation in the national legislation will have to be solved as well as practical issues connected with making financial statements. At present the yields and the problems which can arise in connection with the standard application have to be focused on. A contribution of the standard application will be a better informative ability of financial statements on the international level. At small and medium enterprises this can contribute to better comanunication with banks, with investors, rating application are： parallel reporting according to national agencies etc. The problems connected with the standard regulations, differences between the national legislation and the standard, wide practice at keeping accounts and making financial statements and limited approach of small and medium enterprises to obtaining information and to training of their employees. Another problem can be a tight link between the trading income and the tax base, when small companies prefer rather the tax point of view.

Merger and Acquisition, the Next Day in the Hellenic Banking System, Evidence From the Greek Financial Crisis Period

The aim of this study is to examine if the merger of banks improves the profitability of banks before and after the completion of the merger,in the Hellenic Banking System.For this reason,data were collected one year before the merger took place and then for the following years.The consequences of merging banks using different financial indicators,such as the capital ratio index,the foreign-to-equity index and the loan burden numerator,were also investigated.The effectiveness of interpreting the improvement of the bank’s financial image before and after the merger,for the years 2007-2016,years,before and after the Greek Financial Crisis,in the mergers carried out in the Hellenic Banking System was examined.

Tone of language,financial disclosure,and earnings management:a textual analysis of form 20-F

This study investigates the relationship between the tone of financial disclosures and managers’earnings management behavior using Form 20-F filings of Chinese firms listed in the U.S.during 2002–2014.The results show that the proportion of positive,uncertain,or modal words used in financial disclosures is positively related to corporate earnings management,implying that managers attempt to conceal earnings management behavior by manipulating the tone of their financial reports.In addition,robustness tests are conducted using an alternative proxy for earnings management that considers the effects of the financial crisis and separately examines the information and non-information technology industries.The results suggest that the tone used in financial disclosures has informative value,and textual analysis can be an effective tool for identifying earnings management.

Financial Statement Valuations in Italian Accounting Thought Between the 19th and the 20th Century： From ＂Exchange Value＂ to ＂Historical Cost＂

The main subject of this paper is the theory of financial statement valuations observed in its historical development. More notably, regarding the subject, the research is concerned with some theoretical concepts developed by the Italian doctrine in a very specific age, namely, between the 19th and the 20th century, which in fact, devoid of any accounting regulation. This paper analyzes in particular the shift from the exchange value rule to the historical cost method and tries to explain the reasons of such a development. In the second half of the 19th century, some of the best Italian scholars, who were faced with the need to properly develop the problem of accounting valuations, thought that it was appropriate to rely on concepts that belonged to similar sciences, such as economics and real estate appraisal, by blindly borrowing the theory of value from the former and the theory of valuations from the latter. During that age, everything hinged around the concept of exchange value. At the dawn of the 20th century, the Italian accounting doctrine began to wonder about a subject that was crucial to the financial statement theory： the informative purposes underlying the financial statements. At the same time, the first principle took shape, which might be called as the ＂finalistic principle of value＂. It is still the basis of the theory of financial accounting measurements, for which different evaluative criteria must be applied to different informative purposes. Thus, an alternative criterion to that of the exchange value makes its appearance on the scene of the accounting valuations, notably the historical cost. The introduction of the historical cost criteria and above all the relinquishment of the combination of the ＂economic cost＂ in favor of that of the ＂manufacturing cost＂ allow the Italian accounting to get rid of the theories of economics and real estate appraisal, thus, becoming independent regarding the financial statement valuations.

Study on how to elevate the discriminating ability of the discriminating model of the financial statement fraud

By summarizing the factor of the financial statement fraud in existing research outcome, the paper confirms the discriminating characteristic of the financial statement fraud and sets up a theoretic model to discriminate the financial statement fraud. Using radial basis function neural network, regarding to the swatch that the listed company that is punished by the Securities Regulatory Commission or the Ministry of Finance, and according to the clustering elements, validating across by set one aside, the paper verifies respectively the 22 characteristics and 31 characteristics of discriminating model. According to the clustering elements, validating across by set one aside, the paper verifies respectively the 31 characteristics and 8 characteristics selected by Fisher-ratio of discriminating model. The research outcome indicates the discriminating ability of the model including 8 characteristics is better elevated than the traditional model including 31 characteristics by comparing the disciplinary error and the forecast precision.

How to Offset Interior Debts in Consolidated Financial Statement for Reformed Group Enterprises

The content items to be offset of the reformed debt in consolidated financial statement of the operation occurred inside the group of enterprise is different from other general inner trades such as the sale of the stock or fixed asset, etc.. Through the reformed debt, the debtor and creditor have erased debt and credit on their bookkeeping. What to be offset are the capital reserve and the changed value of the asset. In this paper, the offsetting method of such items will be discussed.

Neutrality and ＂Prism Effect＂ of the Financial Report in the Global Contest： What Prospects？

The globalization of the economy favors increasingly stringent relations between heterogeneous economic and social systems and companies that are organized and managed very differently. As a consequence, international markets are characterized by actors with different physiognomies for management styles and communication modes. It follows that there is an urgent need to agree on homogeneous standards of information, including for budget statements, traditionally considered as a primary source of disclosure to stakeholders of the company＇s economic and financial assets. Is it still possible to use a single budget that satisfies a so diverse and wider audience of potential users？ In the accounting tradition, in many countries, especially for ＂practical＂ reasons, a principle of uniqueness and therefore of ＂neutrality＂ of the budget has been established which must be drafted to satisfy all potential recipients at the same time： it must be based on independent and impartial norms, to favor the particular needs of only certain categories of users. The paper represents this principle with the ＂prism effect＂： a single source of information should at the same time adequately respond to the information needs of a large and varied audience of operators. Is this still possible in changing global and ＂glocal＂ realities where most economically strong nations want to impose their own accounting languages？ What are the possible solutions to the changing needs of information？

Positive Research on the Financial Statement Fraud Factors of Listed Companies in China

This paper studied the ＂pressure＂ and ＂opportunity＂ factors that caused financial statement fraud on the basis of the data of 41 A-share listed companies （1999-2004） in China which had been forfeited by China Securities Regulatory Commission （SRC） because of accounting irregularities. The author found that avoiding ＂ST＂ and ＂PT＂ was the primary pressure, and the opportunities mainly came from the higher top 10 shareholders＇ ownership concentration, the lower proportion of independent directors, the fewer number of directorate meetings and shares owned by the directorate members, board chairman and CEO held by one person and the ineffective supervisor boards. We also found that the companies involved financial statement fraud had the lower first majority shareholder＇s share proportion and they changed CPA firm more frequently.

Principal Model Analysis Based on Bagging PLS and PCA and Its Application in Financial Statement Fraud

Motivated by the Bagging Partial Least Squares(Bagging PLS)and Principal Component Analysis(PCA)algorithms,a novel approach known as Principal Model Analysis(PMA)method is introduced in this paper.In the proposed PMA algorithm,the PCA and the Bagging PLS are combined.In this method,multiple PLS models are trained on sub-training sets,derived from the training set using the random sampling with replacement approach.The regression coefficients of all the sub-PLS models are fused in a joint regression coefficient matrix.The final projection direction is then estimated by performing the PCA on the joint regression coefficient matrix.Subsequently,the proposed PMA method is compared with other traditional dimension reduction methods,such as PLS,Bagging PLS,Linear discriminant analysis(LDA)and PLS-LDA.Experimental results on six public datasets demonstrate that our proposed method consistently outperforms other approaches in terms of classification performance and exhibits greater stability.Additionally,it is employed in the application of financial statement fraud identification.PMA and other five algorithms are utilized to financial statement fraud which concerned by the academic community,and the results indicate that the classification of PMA surpassed that of the other methods.

Islamic Finance in Theory and Practice

Perspectives of the early scholars of Islamic management of an account concurred that the arrangement of organization partnership in general and Murabah （benefit sharing） specifically is the fundamental technique on which Islamic banks must depend on contributing their money to related assets. Also, the research has found that financing under the Islamic management of an account has decreased intensely from the methodology created by the early scholars. In reality, these banks have received obligation based on financing techniques and underestimated the routines for financing taking into account benefit and loss sharing. This adjustment in financing technique has perversely influenced the bad name and the desire tied with the monetary part of these banks. The study focused on the reason behind the gap between theory and practice in Islamic finance. So, the study was divided in two parts： the first theoretical part of Islamic economy and Islamic banking system, the second practical part by analysing and evaluating the relative distribution of Islamic financing methods in four famous Islamic banks. The study selected a group of Asian Islamic banks as a model for analysis and evaluation through the period from 2012 to 2014. The study concluded that the gaps result from the misuse of the roles and norms of Maqasid Al-Shariah along with the diversion in the relatively allocation of the financing methods toward debt instruments rather than equity instnunents.

Review on the Development of Human Resource Accounting in China

A review through the origination, development and prospect of Human resource accounting (HRA) is presented based on the study of plentiful literatures about it. HRA is defined as an accounting procedure and method to discriminate and measure the data of human resources, aiming to provide information which is concerned with the change of human resources for the outside people to serve human resource management. It is experiencing a nearly frozen period following its hot time in 1970s after its origination in America in 1960s. The theoretic foundation of HRA is classical plutonomy dated back to 17th century. There were two preeminent persons in the history of HRA. One was Theodore Schultz who established his human capital theory relating education that improves the human capital value with economy; the other was Eric G.FIamholtz who enriched the concept, research methods and application of HRA. In China, the research on HRA started in 1980s beginning with introducing overseas achievements. Multiple views coexist in the academy on whether human resources should be taken as accounting assets and on where to put the HRA information in financial statements. The application of HRA is constrained by the absence of full-blown theories and methodological systems about it as well as difficulties in evaluating human resources and the obstacle of conventional understandings. However, with the conning of intellective economy, the globalization of competition and the entry of China into WTO, the day of HRA will surely come.