Financial reporting is very vital for both the companies and user groups. However, several contents of the reports are irrelevant and inaccurate. As a result, the Special Committee of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants established the Public Company Task Force to provide guidance to resolve these issues. Therefore, the Task Force creates sample business reports to help companies to understand how to enhance their report. This paper covers Enhanced Business Reporting (EBR) and how it is different than traditional reporting. It will also discuss the EBR’s advantages and disadvantages. Lastly, the paper will assess the effectiveness of the framework. What is Enhanced Business Reporting? According to the American Institute of …show more content…
The main areas that the framework focuses on are Business Landscape, Strategy, Resources and Processes, Key Processes, and Performance (AIPA, 2016). For instance, the Business Landscape allows management to assess the macroeconomic environment in the geographic area the company operates by addressing factors such as inflation rates and GDP growth. Additionally, the strategy section of the framework deals with the vision and mission, SWOT, goals and objectives, corporate strategy, business unit strategies, and business portfolio of an organization. For example, management has to include some the threats that the company faces so users can have an idea about what could impact the company’s future earnings. Furthermore, As a result, EBR is a new way to better understand a company value, long-term strategy, and …show more content…
It provides management with valuable information needed to engage in decision-making about the organization’s vision and overall strategies. Although the traditional reporting displays vital information about the financial health and activities of an organization to its potential users, it does not provide adequate record and measurement of non-financial metrics such as employee turnover and plant locations, which also contribute greatly to the overall value of the organization. The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (2016) explains “In traditional financial reporting, the value is defined more in terms of “book value” and is historical in nature. Further, Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations (MD&A), and supplementary disclosures for traditional financial reporting are based on historical performance and variances in the statutory financial position according to the application of GAAP.” It is also important to differentiate financial report and financial statement. While the financial report consists of Management’s Discussion and Analysis (MD&A), financial statements, notes, Required Supplemental Information (RSI) and Other Accompanying Information (OAI), the financial statement is only a compilation of reports
The objective of financial reporting/statements is to provide information about the reporting entity’s financial performance and financial position that is useful to a wide range of users for assessing the stewardship of the entity’s management and for making economic decisions.
U.S. GAAP and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), formerly known as iGAAP, are two accounting standards used in today’s world of financial reporting. These standards have differences as well as similarities in reporting requirements. Organizations in the United States are required to follow GAAP principles in preparing financial statements and other financial reports. Whereas, organizations outside of the United States may follow IFRS. Balance sheet reporting and formatting is an area in which GAAP and IFRS may differ, yet be similar in many respects. The balance sheet is a financial statement of what a company owns and what it owes at a given date and time (Spiceland, Sepe, & Nelson, 2013). This paper will address differences and similarities in respect to balance sheet reporting and formatting as it relates to fixed assets and liabilities, inventory, and goodwill.
Financial statement users around the globe use financial statements to evaluate the performance of companies (Fundamentals of Financial Accounting, 2006). In order to locate a company’s reported assets, liabilities, expenses and revenues, statement users rely on four types of financial statements. The four financial statements include: Balance Sheet, Income Statement, Statement of Retained Earnings, and Statement of Cash Flows (Fundamentals of Financial Accounting, 2006, p. 6). Each of these reports provides different information to the financial statement user. The Balance Sheet reports at a point in time: a company’s assets (what it owns), liabilities (what it owes) and stockholder’s equity (what is left over for the owners) (Fundamentals of Financial Accounting, 2006, p.7). The Income Statement shows whether a business made a profit (net income) during a specific period of time (Fundamentals of Financial Accounting, 2006, p. 10). The Statement of Retained Earnings illustrates what portions of the company’s earnings was paid to stockholders and retained by the company for future operations (Fundamentals of Financial Accounting, 2006, p.12). Finally, the Statement of Cash Flows reports summarizes how a business’ “operating, investing, and financial activities caused its cash balance to change over a particular range of time” (Fundamentals of Financial Accounting, 2006, p.13).
In researching the topic of Non GAAP vs. GAAP Reporting, Group 6 was able to understand the effects that reporting has on the company and how it affects overall market conditions. We were able to find that the guidelines companies follow for reporting can be influenced and portrayed in a more appealing way if Pro Forma reporting is chosen.
This report analyses the disclosures of objective of general purpose financial reporting and the qualitative characteristics of useful financial information according to The Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting. It investigates Bega’s current accounting practice of Property, Plant and Equipment in accordance with AASB 116 Property, Plant and Equipment, and how it satisfies the objective of general purpose financial reporting and the qualitative characteristics of useful financial. This result will then recommend Bega to improve their current accounting practices.
According to the conceptual framework, the potential users of financial statements are investors, creditors, suppliers, employees, customers, governments and agencies, and the general public (Financial Accounting Standards Board, 2006). The primary users are investors, creditors, and those who advise them. It goes on to define the criteria that make up each potential user, as well as, the limitations of financial reporting. The FASB explicitly states that financial reporting is “but one source of information needed by those who make investment, credit, and similar resource allocation decisions. Users also need to consider pertinent information from other sources, and be aware of the characteristics and limitations of the information in them” (Financial Accounting Standards Board, 2006). With this in mind, it is still particularly difficult to determine whom the financials should be catered towards and what level of prudence is necessary for quality judgment.
XBRL, the eXtensible Business Reporting Language, is an open standards-based reporting system built to accommodate the electronic preparation and exchange of business reports around the world. XBRL started back in 1999 with 12 organizations as the founding members. There are now in excess of 450 organizations worldwide in over 30 countries involved in its development. It provides major benefits in the preparation, analysis and communication of business information. It offers cost savings, greater efficiency and improved accuracy and reliability to all those involved in supplying or using financial data. The idea behind XBRL, eXtensible Business Reporting Language, is simple. Instead of treating financial information as a block of text - as in a standard internet page or a printed document - it provides an identifying tag for each individual item of data. This is computer readable. For example, company net profit has its own unique tag. The introduction of XBRL tags enables automated processing of business information by computer software, cutting out laborious and costly processes of manual re-entry and comparison. Computers can treat XBRL data "intelligently" as they can recognize the information in a XBRL document, select it, analyze it, store it, exchange it with other computers and present it automatically in a variety of ways for users. XBRL greatly increases the speed of handling of financial data, reduces the chance of error and permits automatic checking of information. Companies can use XBRL to save costs and streamline their processes for collecting and reporting financial information. Consumers of financial data, including investors, analysts, financial institutions and regulators, can receive, find, ...
...r financial reporting were efficient and the maintenance of records is in reasonable detail, accurate and fairly reflect the transaction and the disposition of the company’s assets. It also provides reasonable assurance of the transaction recorded which made it possible to prepare the financial in accordance with GAAP. Also the expenditure has properly authorized and provides assurance of any violation to be present in the company and provide assurance regarding timely detection of unauthorized acquisition which could material effect on the financial statements.
There are many companies that use financial accounting statements to maintain a financially sound organization. Bookkeepers are able to give a report of the company’s financial health through these statements. These statements are reports that contain information pertaining to the organization’s financial position and results of their activities. (Finkler, et, al., 2013). The purpose of Management's discussion and analysis (MD&A), is to provides an overview of previous operations to develop a framework to meet the goals for the next year (Finkler, et, al., 2013). These outcomes can highlight areas of positive and negative managerial styles and decision making. It offers a breakdown of the overall financial position and results of operations to assist users in assessing whether that financial position has improved or deteriorated as a result of the year’s activities. (Finkler, et, al., 2013).
GAAP reporting standards (AICPA, n.d.). A private business owner can utilize the concise and familiar accounting principles and accrual income tax or cash basis method of financial reporting to assess the company’s performance and provide relatable decision-making information to stakeholders (AICPA, n.d.). Moreover, it is a cost-effective measure for business owners that do not have to comply with U.S. GAAP base financial statements. In addition, CPAs can provide value pricing by preparing meaningful and concise reporting to internal and external parties. However, a business owner should carefully consider and examine the available options before deciding on an appropriate reporting framework. In order to provide the best short-term and long-term solution, it is imperative to consider a company’s business structure and future
Schofield (2014) researches the difference between public and private company financial reporting. For instance, a private company has fewer consumers reviewing their financial statements, whereas public companies could have multiple consumers reviewing financial statements. In addition, private companies typically have less specialized accounting personnel, whereas public companies will have several. Lastly, Schofield (2014), reviewed the number of amendments proposed and finalized to help benefit private companies financial reporting.
A current issue in financial accounting and reporting is the issue of Integrated Reporting which can be defined as “a concise communication about how an organization’s strategy, governance, performance and prospects, in the context of its external environment, lead to the creation of value over the short, medium and long term” (Roberts, 2014, p.28). With more countries thinking of making Integrated Reporting mandatory, it is important to come up with effective ways of transitioning from traditional reporting to Integrated Reporting. The transition is needed as there have been major changes in the way business is conducted such as how business creates value and the context in which business operates since the current business reporting model was designed (Sharman, 2012). This literature review will, therefore, define and discuss the concept of Integrated Reporting, and examine the effect of these changes on stakeholders. The paper will answer the research question: Should all organisations make a transition from traditional reporting to Integrated Reporting? This paper answers this research question as well as investigates future research and possible suggestions as to how this research may be carried out.
Financial and Managerial accounting are used for making sound financial decisions about an organization. They provide information of past quantitative financial activities and are useful in making future economic decisions. (Albrecht, Stice, Stice, & Skousen, 2002) The same financial data is used to derive reports for each accounting process yet they differ in some ways. Financial accounting primarily provides external reports for external users such as stock holders, creditors, regulating authority and others. (Garrison, Noreen, & Brewer, 2010) On the other hand Managerial accounting is concern with providing information that deals with the internal viability of the organization and is tailored to meet the needs of an individual organization. (Albrecht, Stice, Stice, & Skousen, 2002)
GAAP is exceptionally useful because it attempts to regulate and normalize accounting definitions, assumptions, and methods. Because of generally accepted accounting principles one is able to presuppose that there is uniformity from year to year in the methods that are used to prepare a company's financial statements. And even though variations might exist, one can make realistically confident conclusions when comparing one company to another, or when comparing one company's financial statistics to the statistics for the industry as a whole. Over the years the generally accepted accounting principles have become more multifaceted because financial transactions have become more intricate (Accounting Principles, 2011).
Anderson, R. 1981, “The Usefulness of Accounting and Other Information Disclosed in Corporate Annual Reports”;