In today＇s knowledge-based economy, the role played by human capital in the determination of the market value of a firm is recognized. To be able to persist in the open competition, entities are forced to invest incr...In today＇s knowledge-based economy, the role played by human capital in the determination of the market value of a firm is recognized. To be able to persist in the open competition, entities are forced to invest increasingly in the professional training of their employees. Inconsistent with this rising importance is the prohibition to capitalize professional training cost according to international accounting standards （IAS） 38.69 （b）. Highly qualified employees ensure competitive advantages and thus lead to an increase in shareholder value. Regarding the financial statement as a primary source of information, it does not seem reasonable to leave such a valuable resource completely unnoticed in the balance sheet. Consequently, a truthful representation of a firm＇s asset should take training costs into account. This article pleads for a limitation of this general legal prohibition and analyzes under which premises those expenditures for training can comply with the common criteria of capitalization according to IAS 38.展开更多
文摘In today＇s knowledge-based economy, the role played by human capital in the determination of the market value of a firm is recognized. To be able to persist in the open competition, entities are forced to invest increasingly in the professional training of their employees. Inconsistent with this rising importance is the prohibition to capitalize professional training cost according to international accounting standards （IAS） 38.69 （b）. Highly qualified employees ensure competitive advantages and thus lead to an increase in shareholder value. Regarding the financial statement as a primary source of information, it does not seem reasonable to leave such a valuable resource completely unnoticed in the balance sheet. Consequently, a truthful representation of a firm＇s asset should take training costs into account. This article pleads for a limitation of this general legal prohibition and analyzes under which premises those expenditures for training can comply with the common criteria of capitalization according to IAS 38.
