This paper investigates whether or not European listed companies make use of the options offered by the IFRS and if so, which determinants influence these choices. In order to do this, the choices of 79 companies from Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK operating in the industries...

In this paper we investigated whether or not European listed companies make use of the options offered by the IFRS and if so, which determinants influence these choices and how this affects the de facto comparability of European IFRS financial statements. We analysed the choices of 197 companies...

In more than 100 countries worldwide, publicly traded, or listed companies must prepare their consolidated accounts using International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). For non-publicly traded, or non-listed companies, the situation is less harmonized. The European Union (EU), for example,...

Purpose – The introduction of the IFRS in the European Union, and many other countries, has not eliminated the need for research concerning the comparability of financial statements. The IFRS still offers many options. Extensive theoretical literature exists concerning the definition of...

The comparability of financial statements is an important research topic in accounting literature. The introduction of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in Europe has not eliminated the need for research concerning this topic, on the contrary. Several studies already...

Purpose – The introduction of the IFRS in the European Union, and many other countries, has not eliminated the need for research concerning the comparability of financial statements. The IFRS still offers many options. Extensive theoretical literature exists concerning the definition of...

In more than 100 countries, listed companies prepare their financial statements using IFRS. For non-listed companies, the situation is less harmonised. One of the arguments in favour of this distinct approach is that financial statements of listed and non-listed companies attract different...

Reaching higher comparability was one of the main goals of the implementation of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in the European Union in 2005. However, national accounting traditions and cultural differences continue to cause differences in the application of IFRS (KPMG &...