The European Union Eighth Directive on the approval of auditors covers auditor independence only to a very limited extent. The provisions in the five articles on this subject are far less detailed than they were in the drafts of the directive, so that almost all specific regulation is left to...

The operational links between tax and financial reporting vary on a continuum from country to country and from period to period. We propose a model for how the links vary over time in developed Western countries. This takes account of competing purposes for accounting, and the mutual reactions...

Horton, Macve and Serafeim (2011) (HMS) argue for the use of relief value for the measurement of certain types of liabilities, and that the replacement liability (an entry price) is normally the appropriate measure of relief. I had previously argued elsewhere for an exit price (normally, the...

There were three important regulatory developments in 2009 for accounting by private entities in Europe, including a new IASB standard designed mainly for private entities. This research note considers the EU regulatory context and other issues relevant to research into voluntary adoption of...

In a previous issue of this journal, Richard Barker addressed some problems with the IFRS definitions of income and profit. I apply his conclusions to the definition of ‘revenue’ that he did not cover. I point out other difficulties with the definition: the implication that some sales to...

The literature on the links between tax and financial reporting suggests that the strength of those links varies over time and from one jurisdiction to another. The links in Germany were seen to be particularly strong, and those in the UK rather weak. Previous literature was largely set in the...

International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) contain several policy options. This paper examines the choices made in 2008/9 IFRS financial statements by large listed companies from five countries on all the options that are observable. We compare these choices with those that had been made...

The European Accounting Association (EAA) Financial Reporting Standards Committee (FRSC) provided a response to the International Accounting Standards Board's (IASB's) 2013 Discussion Paper (DP) on completing and revising its Conceptual Framework. The response consisted of a literature-based...