Current issues in financial reporting - Essay Example

Because of this, there is a huge interest as well as apprehension regarding the basis upon which accounting data is collected and reported. Thus, the statement made by Solomons (1991) that ‘[i]f accounting is to retain any credibility – and without credibility it is worthless – its guiding light must be neutrality in financial reporting’, surely, assumes that the records on a balance sheet or profit and loss statement ought to be a precise indication of a business’s performance. This, unarguably, is the function of accounting.

It is a language that explains as well as communicates features of company to its owners along with other concerned parties. The goals of financial statement turn out to be intricate during current years as the quantity and complication of disclosures have risen, and the users of financial statement have become even more demanding. Accounts are no longer merely a description of earlier activity and existing solvency. In the present day, investors as well as other users of accounts anticipate to be able to utilize them to estimate business’s potential and to predict its success.

Accounting information within financial statement may well be precise in the solely legal aspect but may not expose fiscal or business truth. Clearly, there is nothing novel regarding this condition; the regulations that guide the preparation of an account are “legion” (Pounder, 2009, p. 102), and a few of them are practical whereas a number of them seem very flexible and difficult to deal with; thus, accountants attempt to understand the regulations in the best manner that matches the principles.

Nonetheless, there are reasons for considering that something will currently have to be done regarding the situation. The latest wave of abrupt as well as unanticipated failure and crash of major financial institutions has tended to destabilize assurance in audited account. Lately, it has been noticed that well-informed chief executives of banks show reluctance regarding their enormous “paper profits” (Botzem, 2012, p. 76). This is a sign that financial reports all over the globe are considered to be misleading and not telling the real position and that by large, inaccuracies could surface in later years.

This reality indicates a somewhat sorry image of the condition of the accounting work and reliability of available financial reporting. In spite of all this, there is still a word of support due to several truthful and straightforward accountants who press for telling reality in their accounts and whose approach has support from their boards and their auditors, therefore guaranteeing that the “black art of cosmetic reporting” (Botzem, 2012, p. 76) in accounting is at least lessened if not eradicated.

Accounting information is consistent if it is reasonably exempt from inaccuracy and partiality and truly reveals what it intends to reveal. Information is dependable when it has representational authenticity and is confirmable as well as neutral. Representational authenticity is the level of connection between the stated accounting measurements or depictions and the financial sources and commitments as well as the dealings and events creating alterations in these items (Alexander et al., 2011, p. 120). Having a high level of representational authenticity is helpful in decreasing measurement prejudice.

Verifiability is the capability of measurers to agree that the chosen technique has been