Financial Crisis and Accounting Norms —— Reference Cases of Financial Accounting Papers 1
It is the development of the capital market that gives vitality to the reform of accounting norms, and the driving force of which is the occurrence of major economic events, especially the financial crisis. After briefly introducing the financial crisis and accounting standards, this paper reviews the impact of the financial crisis on accounting standards, and draws some useful enlightenment: it is necessary to look at the role of accounting standards in the economic crisis objectively, find out the defects of accounting standards in the crisis, and build a more rigorous accounting conceptual framework so that financial information can reflect economic reality without deviation.
Keywords financial crisis; Accounting norms
Before the 20th century, the development of accounting was basically in a state of disorder and laissez-faire, and accounting standards were an informal rule. At the beginning of the 20th century, with the complexity of economic business, the accounting community first felt the necessity of accounting control, and people began to demand the use of unified accounting standards. 1906, in view of the abuse of alternative accounting in the railway industry at that time, the United States promulgated the Hepburn Act, which authorized the Interstate Commerce Commission to formulate a unified accounting system for the railway industry, and the railway industry became the first industry controlled by accounting. 19 17, the American institute of public accountants (AAPA, now AICPA) published the first authoritative guide to modern accounting, unified accounting, which marked the arrival of the era when human beings began to control accounting behavior through accounting norms.
First, the Great Depression in the 1930s.
1929 An economic crisis spread all over the world broke out. 1October 24th, 1929, the US stock market plunged. Within a few weeks, all the shares in the new york Stock Exchange fell by 50%, losing about $26 billion, which is about equivalent to the cost of the United States in the First World War ... The means of exchange in trade and trade circulation were frozen, the wreckage of manufacturing industry was everywhere, and farmers' products could not find a market. Thousands of years of savings went up in smoke.
From 65438 to 0929, an unprecedented economic crisis broke out in capitalist countries. The looseness of accounting practice and the abuse of creative accounting were attributed to market collapse and economic depression. In order to respond to the requirements of the new york Stock Exchange and gradually restore the confidence of the public and investors in the fairness of the securities market during the Great Depression, Congress established the Securities and Exchange Commission, which has the right to stipulate the accounting treatment methods in the preparation of financial reports and ensure that listed companies follow them? Generally accepted accounting principles? American GAAP. This institution began to operate before the main members of GAAP were determined, which shows the government's eagerness to standardize accounting standards. Subsequently, the SEC began to organize accounting circles to formulate GAAP, and voted to rely on the system formulated by the Accounting Principles Committee (APB), hoping to influence accounting standards by putting pressure on it.
Second, the Asian financial crisis.
1On July 2, 1997, Thailand announced that it would abandon the fixed exchange rate system and implement a floating exchange rate system, which triggered a financial storm sweeping Southeast Asia. In August, Malaysia gave up its efforts to defend Ringgit. The Singapore dollar, which has been strong, has also been hit. Although Indonesia is affected? Infection? The latest country, but the most serious impact. 10 year 10 in late October, international speculators moved to Hong Kong, an international financial center, aiming at Hong Kong's linked exchange rate system. Then, 1 1 in mid-June, a financial storm broke out in South Korea in East Asia. 17 In June, the exchange rate of the Korean won against the US dollar fell to a record1008:1. 2 1, the South Korean government had to seek help from the International Monetary Fund, which temporarily controlled the crisis. 1997 a series of Japanese banks and securities companies went bankrupt in the second half of the year. As a result, the Southeast Asian financial crisis evolved into the Asian financial crisis.
199865438+In February, M.Zubaidur Rahman, a member of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, submitted a research report entitled "The Role of Accounting Disclosure in the East Asian Financial Crisis: Lessons to be Learned" to the organization, and analyzed the general characteristics of the East Asian financial crisis and its direct causes: imperfect accounting and information disclosure systems in various countries, poor accounting auditing standards and poor accounting information quality in the region. Accounting should play an important role in the early warning of financial crisis, and put forward various suggestions to improve the quality and transparency of accounting disclosure, such as risk concentration and accounting disclosure, derivative financial instruments and accounting disclosure, contingent liabilities and accounting disclosure. In 200 1 year, the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) was announced and advocated the introduction of uniform accounting standards worldwide. The International Financial Reporting Standards formulated by IASB have been applied in more than 30 countries.
Third, the US subprime mortgage crisis.
Subprime crisis, also known as subprime crisis, is also translated as subprime crisis. It refers to a financial storm in the United States, which was caused by the bankruptcy of subprime mortgage institutions, the forced closure of investment funds and the violent shock of the stock market. It has led to the crisis of insufficient liquidity in major financial markets around the world. America? Subprime crisis? It began to appear gradually in the spring of 2006. In August 2007, it began to sweep across the major financial markets in the world, such as the United States, the European Union and Japan. The subprime mortgage crisis has become a global hot issue.
At the beginning of the crisis, accounting standards were once criticized. The first is the fair value clause. During the economic crisis, politicians and bankers in Europe and America pointed their finger at the fair value accounting standards based on market prices, believing that it was this accounting method that led to the deterioration of the crisis. On June 30th, 2008,65438+February 30th, 2008, the SEC submitted a report to Congress, stating that the fair value clause could not be abolished, but it should be revised and improved. Immediately, IASB plans to issue the disclosure standards of impairment expenses related to bank asset write-downs, requiring enterprises to disclose the differences of enterprise asset values calculated under different impairment models. At the same time, IASB also plans to comprehensively revise the impairment standards in 2009, and it is expected to be launched in 2009.
Fourth, thinking about the formulation of accounting standards under the economic crisis.
(A) the need to objectively look at the role of accounting standards in the economic crisis.
It is undeniable that accounting standards will have an impact on the decision-making of the government, investors and creditors, and then affect the interests of all parties. The principle of complete impartiality is unrealistic, and the change of accounting standards can indeed alleviate the economic crisis to some extent. ? Timely adjustment of standards can enhance market confidence in the crisis and contribute to the implementation of national macroeconomic policies. Of course, accounting standards are not the root of the economic crisis, so it is impossible to solve the economic crisis by it. Just like the banking crisis in the 1980s, many people think that this is the sequela of the accounting standards 15 published in the 1970s. It did not eliminate the crisis, but only postponed it.
(B) Need to find the defects of accounting standards in the crisis.
Standards were formed under certain historical conditions, and the crisis made people realize the limitations of accounting standards again. As mentioned earlier, after the financial crisis in 1980s, fair value was considered to reflect the financial situation of financial institutions more truly and quickly than historical cost. In this subprime mortgage crisis, the defects of fair value are undoubtedly exposed. When the economic situation is good, the profit measured by fair value is overestimated, which exaggerates the optimistic expectation of the economy; When the economic situation is bad, the market pricing of assets is often underestimated, the surplus data measured by fair value is underestimated, and the accounting information reflected by fair value measurement is not highly relevant, which misleads investors and makes them more pessimistic about the depressed financial environment. Therefore, fair value accounting only provides the fair value information of various asset elements of the company through financial statements, rather than the fair value information of the whole company, which means that the company value reflected by fair value accounting is also relative.
(C) Need to establish a more stringent accounting conceptual framework
The essence of accounting standards is to protect the interests of investors, and the position of standard-setting institutions is likely to succumb to political needs in the crisis. To prevent it from having a crisis? Fire fighting? It is necessary to construct a strict accounting conceptual framework (CF) as the theoretical basis for the formulation of standards, so that specific standards have inherent logical consistency and FASB can better reflect public interests. Theoretically speaking, through the study of CF, we should gradually establish the scientific thinking of formulating accounting standards, so as to make the existing accounting theory research more systematic and the content of financial accounting theory research more concentrated, so as to avoid accounting standards becoming the crisis of every economic crisis? A scapegoat? The embarrassing situation has helped accounting standards win widespread trust and authority.
refer to
[1] The accounting causes of the Asian financial crisis [J].
[2] Ping Huang, Jian Jianhui. Evolution of economic crisis and supervision analysis of accounting information disclosure [J]. On finance and economics.
[3] Wang Dihua, Hua Tingting. Events promote the improvement of accounting standards [J]. Journal of Anhui Business Vocational and Technical College.
[4] Gedi, Hu. Reflections on accounting standards in the face of financial crisis [Z]. Accounting standards.
[5] Wu Xiaogen. Financial crisis and accounting disclosure [Z]. Accounting standards.
Analysis of financial accounting risk identification and prevention in reference example 2 of financial accounting papers.
Financial industry occupies a core position in modern economy, and its prosperity plays a positive role in promoting the rapid development of national economy. Financial accounting is a means for financial enterprises to control their own capital movement and the basis for financial enterprises to carry out all financial activities. Therefore, it is of great significance to prevent and identify financial accounting risks, both for financial enterprises themselves and for the whole national economy.
First, an overview of financial accounting risks
In the normal operation and management activities of financial institutions, because accountants misreport and underreport accounting information, financial reports are inaccurate, information users make mistakes in decision-making, and finally financial institutions suffer losses. This is the financial accounting risk.
Second, the main manifestations of financial accounting risks
Financial accounting risks are mainly manifested in the following aspects:
(A) there are risks in accounting
The management of financial enterprises is closely related to accounting. Once financial risks occur, they will be linked to accounting. Mainly manifested in the following aspects: the management of blank vouchers is chaotic; There are problems in receiving, using and keeping; ? Three uses and three charges? The system has not been strictly implemented; Financial management confusion; Accounting subjects are abused; Some important accounting items are implemented without the approval of the accounting supervisor; When accounting, show up? Clear with one hand? Phenomenon and so on. These phenomena are threats and risks to financial accounting.
(B) There are risks in the accounting system
At present, some accounting standards and regulations are not suitable for the actual work situation. For example, some huge loans in China have serious bad debts, which bring high risks to the financial industry. At present, some state-owned banks in China have a large number of bad debts. If the bank still withdraws the bad debt reserve according to the proportion of the loan balance at the end of the year, then compared with the huge losses suffered by the bank because of the loan, it has no meaning at all and cannot recover the losses at all. Judging from the collapse of some foreign banks, non-performing loans should be dealt with in time. Otherwise, banks and other similar financial lending institutions will suffer huge losses.
(C) Accounting personnel face risks
All accounting activities need accountants to complete. If accountants lack their own professional quality or professional ethics, there may be artificial data information deviation or illegal operation behavior in their accounting activities, thus damaging the funds and property of financial enterprises. Bring risks to financial enterprises.
(D) The supervision function of accounting is risky.
Risk supervision is another important function of accounting work. However, in many financial institutions in China, the supervision function of accounting has been greatly weakened. For example, some commercial banks only blindly pursue the continuous expansion of deposit scale in the course of operation, while ignoring the supervision and management of credit. This practice undoubtedly weakens the risk supervision function of accounting. It brings financial accounting risks to financial institutions.
(5) There are risks in payment and settlement.
With the increasingly active economic activities in China, payment activities are becoming more and more frequent. Checks and other bills have gradually become the main means of payment. On the one hand, bill users may lack a certain understanding of bills and use them improperly; On the other hand, with the progress of science and technology, bill crimes are increasing. Due to these two reasons, financial accounting faces various payment and settlement risks.
Third, the causes of financial accounting risks
(A) the impact from the market economy environment
With the rapid development of market economy, the original market economy system began to expose all kinds of drawbacks and defects. On paper, the return on investment of financial institutions is quite high. Therefore, many social resources began to intervene in financial institutions, and financial institutions everywhere are growing rapidly. However, at present, China's market access mechanism is imperfect, the average social profit rate is lower than the unified standard, and local governments in some areas are still promoting local protectionism. Therefore, financial institutions everywhere have more or less illegal activities. Therefore, financial accounting risks increase.
(B) The supervision function of accounting failed to play effectively.
The supervision function of accounting is essentially the supervision of the internal capital movement of enterprises. Giving full play to the supervision function of accounting can provide effective guarantee for the smooth development of various economic activities of enterprises and finally realize profitability. At the same time, it can fundamentally ensure the rationality and legitimacy of all economic behaviors of enterprises.
(C) the financial management model needs to be improved.
On the one hand, China's market still lacks a series of relevant management systems and measures, and the fairness of the market cannot be guaranteed; On the other hand, the internal control system of financial enterprises is not perfect and the supervision is not enough. In the setting of accounting posts, the constraints between posts are not enough.
The phenomenon of illegal business operations has been repeatedly banned. No matter from the macro point of view, that is, the overall market environment, or from the micro point of view, that is, enterprise internal control and accounting post setting, China's financial management model needs to be improved urgently.
Fourth, measures to deal with financial and accounting risks
(A) improve the accounting rules and regulations of financial enterprises
At present, China is still in a relatively weak stage of financial accounting foundation. Therefore, we should pay attention to perfecting the accounting laws and regulations system and reduce the financial accounting risk through institutional means. Constantly study and discuss accounting theory in practice, and then summarize and introduce China's financial accounting laws and regulations. Let it adapt to China's financial environment and reduce financial accounting risks. By studying and perfecting the financial accounting laws and regulations system, we will gradually formulate laws and regulations and judicial interpretations that are compatible with the accounting law, enhance the practicality and predictability of relevant laws and regulations, and reduce accounting risks arising from theories or regulations. By perfecting the accounting rules and regulations of financial enterprises and standardizing the business behavior of accountants, the financial accounting risks caused by personal irregularities of accountants can be effectively prevented.
(2) Establish and improve the internal control system of financial institutions.
First of all, the concept of accounting internal control needs to be re-recognized. Accounting internal control should change from the old concept of preventing human deviation to a new concept of preventing financial risks. The accounting internal control system should be gradually transformed into an organic whole of engineering systems and measures under the guidance of the overall view. Second, financial personnel should establish the concept of information security and pay close attention to the changes in substantive content caused by information changes. Doing so plays an extremely important role in realizing accounting internal control. Third, build an internal control system. Management and operation are two components of the accounting internal control system. Through the restriction and balance between them, the internal control function of accounting can be gradually realized.
(C) improve the accounting supervision mechanism
The supervision function of accounting is the basic function of internal and external supervision of accounting. Internal supervision means that financial institutions should establish a sound internal control system to reduce financial and accounting risks through internal control. External supervision requires the establishment of strict accounting punishment mechanism, such as strengthening the punishment of illegal institutions by means of news exposure and credit rating. Maximizing the deterrence of punishment mechanism can effectively curb the distortion of accounting information and significantly reduce financial accounting risks. In practical work, when encountering important economic problems, we should strictly implement the mechanism of mutual restriction and mutual supervision, whether it is decision-making or implementation. For accounting information, financial institutions should conduct regular internal audits. Financial institutions should form a set of practical and effective internal control methods and measures through continuous practice, and make them standardized and systematic through rules and regulations. Perfecting the accounting supervision mechanism requires the joint efforts of both internal and external. On the one hand, enterprises should establish and standardize internal control measures and methods, on the other hand, they should strengthen external supervision and implement strict punishment mechanism. Only by combining these two aspects can financial accounting risks be effectively reduced.
Verb (abbreviation of verb) conclusion
Financial accounting risk has a very negative impact on the healthy and stable development of the financial industry. The stability of financial industry is related to the whole national economy. Therefore, we should pay enough attention to financial accounting risks. Constantly improving China's laws and regulations on financial enterprise accounting, establishing and perfecting the internal control system of financial enterprises, perfecting the supervision function of accounting and improving the comprehensive quality of accounting personnel are effective means for financial enterprises to reduce and avoid financial accounting risks.