The Value Relevance of Financial Statement Recognition vs. Disclosure

The Value Relevance of Financial Statement Recognition vs. Disclosure
Author: Paquita Y. Davis-Friday
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 2000
Genre:
ISBN:

This study examines whether the market values financial statement data differently if it is disclosed instead of recognized in the body of the financial statements. We identify a sample of 229 SFAS No. 106 adopters who disclose an estimate of their anticipated liability for retiree benefits other than pensions (PRB) in their financial reports prior to the year of recognition. We then test whether the disclosed estimate of the PRB liability is valued differently by the market than is the subsequently recognized PRB liability. We provide modest and model-sensitive evidence that the recognized PRB liability receives more weight than the disclosed liability in market value association tests.

The End of Accounting and the Path Forward for Investors and Managers

The End of Accounting and the Path Forward for Investors and Managers
Author: Baruch Lev
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 268
Release: 2016-06-14
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1119191084

An innovative new valuation framework with truly useful economic indicators The End of Accounting and the Path Forward for Investors and Managers shows how the ubiquitous financial reports have become useless in capital market decisions and lays out an actionable alternative. Based on a comprehensive, large-sample empirical analysis, this book reports financial documents' continuous deterioration in relevance to investors' decisions. An enlightening discussion details the reasons why accounting is losing relevance in today's market, backed by numerous examples with real-world impact. Beyond simply identifying the problem, this report offers a solution—the Value Creation Report—and demonstrates its utility in key industries. New indicators focus on strategy and execution to identify and evaluate a company's true value-creating resources for a more up-to-date approach to critical investment decision-making. While entire industries have come to rely on financial reports for vital information, these documents are flawed and insufficient when it comes to the way investors and lenders work in the current economic climate. This book demonstrates an alternative, giving you a new framework for more informed decision making. Discover a new, comprehensive system of economic indicators Focus on strategic, value-creating resources in company valuation Learn how traditional financial documents are quickly losing their utility Find a path forward with actionable, up-to-date information Major corporate decisions, such as restructuring and M&A, are predicated on financial indicators of profitability and asset/liabilities values. These documents move mountains, so what happens if they're based on faulty indicators that fail to show the true value of the company? The End of Accounting and the Path Forward for Investors and Managers shows you the reality and offers a new blueprint for more accurate valuation.

Does Recognition Instead of Disclosure Matter to the Users of Financial Statements?

Does Recognition Instead of Disclosure Matter to the Users of Financial Statements?
Author: Paquita Y. Davis-Friday
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 1998
Genre:
ISBN:

This paper uncovers a potential explanation for the discrepancy between Amir (1996) and Choi, Collins, and Johnson (1997) by examining whether the users of financial statement data treat information differently if it is disclosed instead of recognized in the body of the financial statements. Amir (1996) finds that the liability for postretirement benefits other than pensions (PRBs) is value-relevant conditioned on earnings and pension information while Choi et al. (1997) find that the PRB liability is measured with more error than the pension liability and is therefore less reliable. Since Amir's sample consists only of SFAS 106 adopters and the Choi et al. sample includes both adopters and non-adopters (disclosers), we identify a sample of early adopters who disclose an estimate of their anticipated liability in the Management Discussion and Analysis (MDamp;A) or notes to their financial statements. We test whether accounting information disclosed in the MDamp;A or notes (the estimate of the PRB liability) is valued by the market the same as information recognized in the financial statements (the recognized PRB liability). The results indicate that the recognized PRB liability is capitalized at a higher rate than the disclosed liability. Our evidence suggests that the market treats information disclosed in the notes in this context as less reliable than similar information recognized in the body of the financial statements.

Accounting in Central and Eastern Europe

Accounting in Central and Eastern Europe
Author: Catalin Albu
Publisher: Emerald Group Publishing
Total Pages: 358
Release: 2013-12-05
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN:

Countries in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), most of them former components of the communist bloc, have suffered diverse influences over time. Historically, the advent of communism in the 1950s has stopped the economic and political development of these countries. Its fall during the late 1980s and early 1990s triggered severe changes in the economic and social environment, with profound consequences on the countries' accounting and business models. The accounting regulatory process of these countries has mostly been a public one, although some countries also involved private sector and professional bodies. With economic and political reforms these countries are now reforming their accounting systems with for example the adoption of International Accounting Standards/International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Additionally, the CEE countries' political will to join the European Union compelled the regulators to ensure a high level of harmonization with the European Directives. This volume present theoretical and empirical papers that will further our understanding of accounting issues in CEE countries.

The Real Effects of Financial Statement Recognition

The Real Effects of Financial Statement Recognition
Author: Riddha Basu
Publisher:
Total Pages: 49
Release: 2018
Genre:
ISBN:

We examine whether the recognition versus disclosure of identical accounting information affects the credit rating process and ultimately corporate credit ratings. The primary input into corporate credit ratings is adjusted financial statements, which the rating agencies create by modifying reported financial statements to reflect credit-relevant items not recognized under U.S. GAAP. The rating agencies have claimed that this process means that accounting changes that move previously disclosed information onto firms' financial statements have virtually no effect on firms' adjusted financial statements or their credit ratings. We show that this claim is incorrect using the implementation of Financial Accounting Standards Board Statement No. 158 (“SFAS158”). This standard did not prescribe any new financial information. Rather, it simply required the balance sheet recognition of a previously disclosed item. We find that firms recognizing an additional pension liability due to SFAS158 had lower leverage on the rating agency adjusted financial statements and received higher corporate credit ratings. This counterintuitive result occurs because the rating agency adjustments made pre-SFAS158 were punitive relative to the combination of the SFAS158 changes and the rating agency adjustments made post-SFAS158. The difference in rating agency adjustments pre- and post-SFAS158 was primarily due to rating agency adjustments in the pre-SFAS158 period that did not account for minimum liability adjustments, an aspect of pension accounting eliminated by SFAS158. Overall, our results indicate that SFAS158 generated real changes in rating agency adjustments, and that these changes had real consequences for firms' credit ratings.

The Decision Usefulness of Additional Fair Value Disclosures

The Decision Usefulness of Additional Fair Value Disclosures
Author: Theresa Herrmann
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 181
Release: 2018-12-28
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 3658248327

Conducting an experiment Theresa Herrmann investigates why nonprofessional investors fail to incorporate disclosures on fair value estimates into their investment decision and what causes this exclusion. Differentiating between different types of disclosures and the development of the fair value (gain vs. loss) the results indicate that with a fair value gain, none of the disclosure information increases decision usefulness, irrespective of the presentation format. When a fair value loss occurs, fair value disclosures presented in a salient presentation format decrease decision usefulness. Thus, investors have varying information needs that are strongly linked to the development of a firm’s key asset.

Does Recognition Versus Disclosure Affect Debt Contract Design? Evidence from SFAS 158

Does Recognition Versus Disclosure Affect Debt Contract Design? Evidence from SFAS 158
Author: John Donovan
Publisher:
Total Pages: 49
Release: 2019
Genre:
ISBN:

We study how recognition versus disclosure affects the control function of accounting through the use of debt covenants. While research shows that recognition affects the value-relevance of reported amounts, the effect on contracting is unclear. We examine whether covenants changed around SFAS 158 adoption, which required recognition of previously disclosed pension liabilities. We find that pension underfunding is negatively associated with the use of capital (i.e., balance sheet) covenants prior to recognition. Post-SFAS 158, pension underfunding is associated with a higher likelihood of using capital covenants relative to the pre-period. We find no evidence that SFAS 158 alters the use of income statement covenants. Additional analysis suggests a decrease in cost of debt with no corresponding change in credit risk. Collectively, the evidence suggests that recognition enables more effective allocation of control through the use of covenants because financial statements better represent the financial condition of the borrower.

Recognition Versus Disclosure

Recognition Versus Disclosure
Author: Doron Israeli
Publisher:
Total Pages: 59
Release: 2015
Genre:
ISBN:

The application of International Accounting Standard (IAS) 40, Investment Property, in the European Union created a unique setting to study the implications of a decision to recognize versus disclose financial statements' items because in this setting recognized and disclosed investment-property-related amounts share a common measurement base, i.e., fair value. I utilize this setting to (1) explore factors associated with a firm's choice to recognize versus disclose fair values of investment properties, (2) test whether recognized and disclosed amounts are valued equally by equity investors, and (3) determine whether these amounts exhibit equivalent associations with future financial outcomes. To correct for self-selection concerns and assure I compare analogous amounts, I develop a selection model and construct investment-property-related amounts that differ only in whether their components are recognized or disclosed. I find that (1) contractual and asset pricing incentives help explain the recognition versus disclosure choice, (2) investors place smaller valuation weights on disclosed amounts, and (3) recognized and disclosed amounts exhibit statistically equivalent associations with future changes in net rental income and cash flows from operations. Taken together, the evidence suggests that managers are opportunistic in making the recognition versus disclosure choice and that even when recognized and disclosed amounts share an equivalent measurement base and are equally relevant for future financial outcomes, investors weight disclosed information less heavily in determining a firm's value.

Accounting for Biological Assets

Accounting for Biological Assets
Author: Rute Gonçalves
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 98
Release: 2017-10-16
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1351246801

This book explores accounting for biological assets under IAS 41 – Agriculture, and explains the recent adjustments introduced by the IASB which allow firms to choose between cost or revaluation models concerning mature bearer plants. Identifying the firm and country-level drivers that inform the disclosure and measurement practices of biological assets, this concise guide examines the value relevance of measuring those assets at fair value. It also analyses how firm and country-level drivers explain the differences in the disclosure level and practices used to measure biological assets under IAS 41. Finally, it evaluates whether there is a difference in the relevance of biological assets among the listed firms with high and low disclosure levels on biological assets. Based on a major international study of a wide selection of firms and country-level drivers, this book is vital for standard setters, stakeholders, students, accountants and auditors who need to understand disclosure and measurement practices of biological assets under IAS 41.