Principles vs Rules: True and Fair View and IFRSS

• Autores: Graeme Dean, Frank Clarke
• Localización: Abacus: A journal of accounting, finance and business studies, ISSN 0001-3072, Vol. 40, Nº 2, 2004, págs. 1-1
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • The mantra is that the universal adoption of international financial reporting standards imposed by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service by 2005 will purge accounting into issues concerning the interplay of the quality criteria of 'true and fair' or 'presents fairly' with compliance to the standards. Following the unexpected corporate collapses of Enron, WorldCom, Vivendi, Parmalat and HIH, numerous legislative initiatives have emerged worldwide, including the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 in the U.S.A. The 'true and fair' criterion has long been a cornerstone of British-based corporations law regimes. As it currently stands, there is considerable confusion as to the primacy of the criterion. The professional accountancy bodies and most accountants and auditors appear to proceed on the assumption that 'true and fair' is a second order imperative, and that primacy lies in compliance with the accounting standards. Compulsory compliance with a prescribed set of practices provides a convenient checklist for accountants, auditors and regulators. But compliance with the national accounting standards does not provide either regulators or the market with serviceable financial information.