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Financial Accounting and Reporting
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Financial Accounting and Reporting
FOURTEENTH EDITION
Barry Elliott and Jamie Elliott
Pearson Education Limited
Edinburgh GateHarlowEssex CM20 2JEEngland
and Associated Companies throughout the world
Visit us on the World Wide Web at:www.pearsoned.co.uk
First published 1993Second edition 1996Third edition 1999Fourth edition 2000Fifth edition 2001Sixth edition 2002Seventh edition 2003Eighth edition 2004Ninth edition 2005Tenth edition 2006Eleventh edition 2007Twelfth edition 2008Thirteenth edition 2009Fourteenth edition 2011
© Prentice Hall International UK Limited 1993, 1999© Pearson Education Limited 2000, 2011
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ISBN: 978-0-273-74444-3
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Typeset in 10/12 Ehrhardt MT by 35Printed by Ashford Colour Press Ltd., Gosport
Preface and acknowledgements xx
Guided tour of MyAccountingLab xxv
Part 1
INCOME AND ASSET VALUE MEASUREMENT SYSTEMS 1
1 Accounting and reporting on a cash flow basis 3
2 Accounting and reporting on an accrual accounting basis 22
3 Income and asset value measurement: an economist’s approach 40
4 Accounting for price-level changes 59
Part 2
REGULATORY FRAMEWORK – AN ATTEMPT TO ACHIEVE
UNIFORMITY 99
5 Financial reporting – evolution of global standards 101
6 Concepts – evolution of a global conceptual framework 129
7 Ethical behaviour and implications for accountants 156
8 Preparation of statements of comprehensive income and financial position 186
9 Annual Report: additional financial statements 223
Part 3
STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION – EQUITY, LIABILITY
AND ASSET MEASUREMENT AND DISCLOSURE 255
10 Share capital, distributable profits and reduction of capital 257
11 Off balance sheet finance 283
12 Financial instruments 312
13 Employee benefits 343
14 Taxation in company accounts 375
15 Property, plant and equipment (PPE) 404
16 Leasing 441
17 R&D; goodwill; intangible assets and brands 461
18 Inventories 497
19 Construction contracts 523
Brief contents
Part 4
CONSOLIDATED ACCOUNTS 547
20 Accounting for groups at the date of acquisition 549
21 Preparation of consolidated statements of financial position after the date
of acquisition 568
22 Preparation of consolidated statements of comprehensive income,
changes in equity and cash flows 583
23 Accounting for associates and joint ventures 603
24 Accounting for the effects of changes in foreign exchange rates under IAS 21 623
Part 5
INTERPRETATION 639
25 Earnings per share 641
26 Statements of cash flows 668
27 Review of financial ratio analysis 696
28 Analytical analysis – selective use of ratios 736
29 An introduction to financial reporting on the Internet 782
Part 6
ACCOUNTABILITY 799
30 Corporate governance 801
31 Sustainability – environmental and social reporting 838
Index 884
vi • Brief Contents
Preface and acknowledgements xx
Guided tour of MyAccountingLab xxv
Part 1INCOME AND ASSET VALUE MEASUREMENT SYSTEMS 1
1 Accounting and reporting on a cash flow basis 31.1 Introduction 3
1.2 Shareholders 3
1.3 What skills does an accountant require in respect of external reports? 4
1.4 Managers 4
1.5 What skills does an accountant require in respect of internal reports? 5
1.6 Procedural steps when reporting to internal users 5
1.7 Agency costs 8
1.8 Illustration of periodic financial statements prepared under the cash
flow concept to disclose realised operating cash flows 8
1.9 Illustration of preparation of statement of financial position 12
1.10 Treatment of non-current assets in the cash flow model 14
1.11 What are the characteristics of these data that make them reliable? 15
1.12 Reports to external users 16
Summary 16
Review questions 17
Exercises 18
References 21
2 Accounting and reporting on an accrual accounting basis 222.1 Introduction 22
2.2 Historical cost convention 23
2.3 Accrual basis of accounting 24
2.4 Mechanics of accrual accounting – adjusting cash receipts and payments 24
2.5 Subjective judgements required in accrual accounting – adjusting cash
receipts in accordance with lAS 18 25
2.6 Subjective judgements required in accrual accounting – adjusting cash
payments in accordance with the matching principle 27
2.7 Mechanics of accrual accounting – the statement of financial position 28
2.8 Reformatting the statement of financial position 28
Full contents
2.9 Accounting for the sacrifice of non-current assets 29
2.10 Reconciliation of cash flow and accrual accounting data 32
Summary 34
Review questions 34
Exercises 35
References 38
3 Income and asset value measurement: an economist’s approach 403.1 Introduction 40
3.2 Role and objective of income measurement 40
3.3 Accountant’s view of income, capital and value 43
3.4 Critical comment on the accountant’s measure 46
3.5 Economist’s view of income, capital and value 47
3.6 Critical comment on the economist’s measure 53
3.7 Income, capital and changing price levels 53
Summary 55
Review questions 55
Exercises 56
References 57
Bibliography 58
4 Accounting for price-level changes 594.1 Introduction 59
4.2 Review of the problems of historical cost accounting (HCA) 59
4.3 Inflation accounting 60
4.4 The concepts in principle 60
4.5 The four models illustrated for a company with cash purchases
and sales 61
4.6 Critique of each model 65
4.7 Operating capital maintenance – a comprehensive example 68
4.8 Critique of CCA statements 79
4.9 The ASB approach 81
4.10 The IASC/IASB approach 83
4.11 Future developments 84
Summary 86
Review questions 87
Exercises 88
References 97
Bibliography 97
Part 2REGULATORY FRAMEWORK – AN ATTEMPT TO ACHIEVE UNIFORMITY 99
5 Financial reporting – evolution of global standards 1015.1 Introduction 101
5.2 Why do we need financial reporting standards? 101
5.3 Why do we need standards to be mandatory? 102
5.4 Arguments in support of standards 104
viii • Full Contents
5.5 Arguments against standards 104
5.6 Standard setting and enforcement in the UK under the Financial
Reporting Council (FRC) 105
5.7 The Accounting Standards Board (ASB) 106
5.8 The Financial Reporting Review Panel (FRRP) 106
5.9 Standard setting and enforcement in the US 108
5.10 Why have there been differences in financial reporting? 109
5.11 Efforts to standardise financial reports 113
5.12 What is the impact of changing to IFRS? 117
5.13 Progress towards adoption by the USA of international standards 118
5.14 Advantages and disadvantages of global standards for publicly
accountable entities 119
5.15 How do reporting requirements differ for non-publicly accountable
entities? 119
5.16 Evaluation of effectiveness of mandatory regulations 123
5.17 Move towards a conceptual framework 125
Summary 125
Review questions 126
Exercises 127
References 127
6 Concepts – evolution of a global conceptual framework 1296.1 Introduction 129
6.2 Historical overview of the evolution of financial accounting theory 130
6.3 FASB Concepts Statements 134
6.4 IASC Framework for the Presentation and Preparation of
Financial Statements 137
6.5 ASB Statement of Principles 1999 138
6.6 Conceptual framework developments 149
Summary 150
Review questions 152
Exercises 153
References 154
7 Ethical behaviour and implications for accountants 1567.1 Introduction 156
7.2 The meaning of ethical behaviour 156
7.3 Financial reports – what is the link between law, corporate
governance, corporate social responsibility and ethics? 158
7.4 What does the accounting profession mean by ethical behaviour? 159
7.5 Implications of ethical values for the principles versus rules based
approaches to accounting standards 161
7.6 The principles based approach and ethics 163
7.7 The accounting standard-setting process and ethics 164
7.8 The IFAC Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants 165
7.9 Ethics in the accountants’ work environment – a research report 168
7.10 Implications of unethical behaviour for financial reports 169
7.11 Company codes of ethics 172
7.12 The increasing role of whistle-blowing 174
7.13 Why should students learn ethics? 178
Full Contents • ix
Summary 179
Review questions 179
Exercises 182
References 184
8 Preparation of statements of comprehensive income and financial position 1868.1 Introduction 186
8.2 The prescribed formats – the statement of comprehensive income 187
8.3 The prescribed formats – the statement of financial position 194
8.4 Statement of changes in equity 197
8.5 Has prescribing the formats meant that identical transactions are
reported identically? 198
8.6 The fundamental accounting principles underlying statements of
comprehensive income and statements of financial position 201
8.7 What is the difference between accounting principles, accounting
bases and accounting policies? 201
8.8 What does an investor need in addition to the financial statements
to make decisions? 206
Summary 210
Review questions 211
Exercises 212
References 222
9 Annual Report: additional financial statements 2239.1 Introduction 223
9.2 The value added by segment reports 223
9.3 Detailed review and evaluation of IRFS 8 – Operating Segments 224
9.4 IFRS 5 – meaning of ‘held for sale’ 232
9.5 IFRS 5 – implications of classification as held for sale 232
9.6 Meaning and significance of ‘discontinued operations’ 233
9.7 IAS 10 – Events after the reporting period 235
9.8 Related party disclosures 237
Summary 241
Review questions 241
Exercises 242
References 253
Part 3STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION – EQUITY, LIABILITY AND ASSET MEASUREMENT AND DISCLOSURE 255
10 Share capital, distributable profits and reduction of capital 25710.1 Introduction 257
10.2 Common themes 257
10.3 Total owners’ equity: an overview 258
10.4 Total shareholders’ funds: more detailed explanation 259
10.5 Accounting entries on issue of shares 262
10.6 Creditor protection: capital maintenance concept 263
x • Full Contents
10.7 Creditor protection: why capital maintenance rules are necessary 264
10.8 Creditor protection: how to quantify the amounts available to meet
creditors’ claims 264
10.9 Issued share capital: minimum share capital 265
10.10 Distributable profits: general considerations 265
10.11 Distributable profits: how to arrive at the amount using
relevant accounts 267
10.12 When may capital be reduced? 267
10.13 Writing off part of capital which has already been lost and is not
represented by assets 268
10.14 Repayment of part of paid-in capital to shareholders or cancellation
of unpaid share capital 273
10.15 Purchase of own shares 274
Summary 277
Review questions 277
Exercises 277
References 282
11 Off balance sheet finance 28311.1 Introduction 283
11.2 Traditional statements – conceptual changes 283
11.3 Off balance sheet finance – its impact 284
11.4 Illustrations of the application of substance over form 286
11.5 Provisions – their impact on the statement of financial position 289
11.6 ED IAS 37 Non-financial Liabilities 297
11.7 ED/2010/1 Measurement of Liabilities in IAS 37 303
11.8 Special purpose entities (SPEs) – lack of transparency 304
11.9 Impact of converting to IFRS 305
Summary 306
Review questions 307
Exercises 308
References 311
12 Financial instruments 31212.1 Introduction 312
12.2 Financial instruments – the IASB’s problem child 312
12.3 IAS 32 Financial Instruments: Disclosure and Presentation 315
12.4 IAS 39 Financial Instruments: Recognition and Measurement 320
12.5 IFRS 7 Financial Statement Disclosures 330
12.6 Financial instruments developments 333
Summary 336
Review questions 337
Exercises 338
References 342
13 Employee benefits 34313.1 Introduction 343
13.2 Greater employee interest in pensions 343
13.3 Financial reporting implications 344
13.4 Types of scheme 344
Full Contents • xi
13.5 Defined contribution pension schemes 346
13.6 Defined benefit pension schemes 347
13.7 IAS 19 (revised) Employee Benefits 349
13.8 The liability for pension and other post-retirement costs 349
13.9 The statement of comprehensive income 352
13.10 Comprehensive illustration 353
13.11 Plan curtailments and settlements 355
13.12 Multi-employer plans 355
13.13 Disclosures 356
13.14 Other long-service benefits 356
13.15 Short-term benefits 357
13.16 Termination benefits 358
13.17 IFRS 2 Share-Based Payment 359
13.18 Scope of IFRS 2 360
13.19 Recognition and measurement 360
13.20 Equity-settled share-based payments 360
13.21 Cash-settled share-based payments 363
13.22 Transactions which may be settled in cash or shares 363
13.23 Transitional provisions 364
13.24 IAS 26 Accounting and Reporting by Retirement Benefit Plans 364
Summary 367
Review questions 368
Exercises 370
References 374
14 Taxation in company accounts 37514.1 Introduction 375
14.2 Corporation tax 375
14.3 Corporation tax systems – the theoretical background 376
14.4 Corporation tax systems – avoidance and evasion 377
14.5 Corporation tax – the system from 6 April 1999 380
14.6 IFRS and taxation 381
14.7 IAS 12 – accounting for current taxation 382
14.8 Deferred tax 384
14.9 FRS 19 (the UK standard on deferred taxation) 392
14.10 A critique of deferred taxation 393
14.11 Examples of companies following IAS 12 396
14.12 Value added tax (VAT) 396
Summary 399
Review questions 399
Exercises 400
References 402
15 Property, plant and equipment (PPE) 40415.1 Introduction 404
15.2 PPE – concepts and the relevant IASs and IFRSs 404
15.3 What is PPE? 405
15.4 How is the cost of PPE determined? 406
15.5 What is depreciation? 408
15.6 What are the constituents in the depreciation formula? 411
xii • Full Contents
15.7 How is the useful life of an asset determined? 411
15.8 Residual value 412
15.9 Calculation of depreciation 412
15.10 Measurement subsequent to initial recognition 416
15.11 IAS 36 Impairment of Assets 418
15.12 IFRS 5 Non-Current Assets Held for Sale and Discontinued Operations 424
15.13 Disclosure requirements 424
15.14 Government grants towards the cost of PPE 425
15.15 Investment properties 427
15.16 Effect of accounting policy for PPE on the interpretation of the
financial statements 428
Summary 430
Review questions 430
Exercises 431
References 440
16 Leasing 44116.1 Introduction 441
16.2 Background to leasing 441
16.3 Why was the IAS 17 approach so controversial? 443
16.4 IAS 17 – classification of a lease 444
16.5 Accounting requirements for operating leases 445
16.6 Accounting requirements for finance leases 446
16.7 Example allocating the finance charge using the sum of the
digits method 447
16.8 Accounting for the lease of land and buildings 451
16.9 Leasing – a form of off balance sheet financing 452
16.10 Accounting for leases – a new approach 453
16.11 Accounting for leases by lessors 455
Summary 456
Review questions 456
Exercises 457
References 460
17 R&D; goodwill; intangible assets and brands 46117.1 Introduction 461
17.2 Accounting treatment for research and development 461
17.3 Research and development 461
17.4 Why is research expenditure not capitalised? 462
17.5 Capitalising development costs 463
17.6 The judgements to be made when deciding whether to capitalise
development costs 464
17.7 Disclosure of R&D 465
17.8 Goodwill 466
17.9 The accounting treatment of goodwill 466
17.10 Critical comment on the various methods that have been used to
account for goodwill 468
17.11 Negative goodwill 470
17.12 Intangible assets 471
17.13 Brand accounting 474
Full Contents • xiii
17.14 Justifications for reporting all brands as assets 475
17.15 Accounting for acquired brands 476
17.16 Emissions trading 477
17.17 Intellectual property 479
17.18 Review of implementation of IFRS 3 482
Summary 484
Review questions 485
Exercises 487
References 495
18 Inventories 49718.1 Introduction 497
18.2 Inventory defined 497
18.3 The controversy 498
18.4 IAS 2 Inventories 499
18.5 Inventory valuation 500
18.6 Work-in-progress 507
18.7 Inventory control 509
18.8 Creative accounting 510
18.9 Audit of the year-end physical inventory count 512
18.10 Published accounts 513
18.11 Agricultural activity 514
Summary 517
Review questions 518
Exercises 519
References 522
19 Construction contracts 52319.1 Introduction 523
19.2 The accounting issue for construction contracts 523
19.3 Identification of contract revenue 525
19.4 Identification of contract costs 525
19.5 Recognition of contract revenue and expenses 526
19.6 Public–private partnerships (PPPs) 532
Summary 538
Review questions 538
Exercises 539
References 545
Part 4CONSOLIDATED ACCOUNTS 547
20 Accounting for groups at the date of acquisition 54920.1 Introduction 549
20.2 The definition of a group 549
20.3 Consolidated accounts and some reasons for their preparation 549
20.4 The definition of control 551
20.5 Alternative methods of preparing consolidated accounts 552
20.6 The treatment of positive goodwill 554
20.7 The treatment of negative goodwill 554
xiv • Full Contents
20.8 The comparison between an acquisition by cash and an exchange
of shares 555
20.9 Non-controlling interests 555
20.10 The treatment of differences between a subsidiary’s fair value and
book value 558
20.11 How to calculate fair values 559
Summary 560
Review questions 561
Exercises 562
References 567
21 Preparation of consolidated statements of financial position after the date of acquisition 56821.1 Introduction 568
21.2 Pre- and post-acquisition profits/losses 568
21.3 Inter-company balances 571
21.4 Unrealised profit on inter-company sales 572
21.5 Provision for unrealised profit affecting a non-controlling interest 577
21.6 Uniform accounting policies and reporting dates 577
21.7 How is the investment in subsidiaries reported in the parent’s own
statement of financial position? 578
Summary 578
Review questions 578
Exercises 578
References 582
22 Preparation of consolidated statements of comprehensive income, changes in equity and cash flows 58322.1 Introduction 583
22.2 Preparation of a consolidated statement of comprehensive income –
the Ante Group 583
22.3 The statement of changes in equity (SOCE) 586
22.4 Other consolidation adjustments 586
22.5 Dividends or interest paid by the subsidiary out of
pre-acquisition profits 587
22.6 A subsidiary acquired part of the way through the year 588
22.7 Published format statement of comprehensive income 590
22.8 Consolidated statements of cash flows 591
Summary 592
Review questions 593
Exercises 593
References 602
23 Accounting for associates and joint ventures 60323.1 Introduction 603
23.2 Definitions of associates and of significant influence 603
23.3 The treatment of associated companies in consolidated accounts 604
23.4 The Brill Group – the equity method illustrated 604
23.5 The treatment of provisions for unrealised profits 606
23.6 The acquisition of an associate part-way through the year 606
23.7 Joint ventures 608
Full Contents • xv
Summary 610
Review questions 610
Exercises 611
References 622
24 Accounting for the effects of changes in foreign exchange rates under IAS 21 62324.1 Introduction 623
24.2 The difference between conversion and translation and the definition
of a foreign currency transaction 623
24.3 The functional currency 624
24.4 The presentation currency 624
24.5 Monetary and non-monetary items 624
24.6 The rules on the recording of foreign currency transactions carried
out directly by the reporting entity 625
24.7 The treatment of exchange differences on foreign
currency transactions 625
24.8 Foreign exchange transactions in the individual accounts of companies
illustrated – Boil plc 625
24.9 The translation of the accounts of foreign operations where the
functional currency is the same as that of the parent 627
24.10 The use of a presentation currency other than the functional currency 627
24.11 Granby Ltd illustration 628
24.12 Granby Ltd illustration continued 629
24.13 Implications of IAS 21 632
24.14 Critique of use of presentation currency 632
Summary 633
Review questions 633
Exercises 633
References 637
Part 5INTERPRETATION 639
25 Earnings per share 64125.1 Introduction 641
25.2 Why is the earnings per share figure important? 641
25.3 How is the EPS figure calculated? 642
25.4 The use to shareholders of the EPS 643
25.5 Illustration of the basic EPS calculation 644
25.6 Adjusting the number of shares used in the basic EPS calculation 645
25.7 Rights issues 647
25.8 Adjusting the earnings and number of shares used in the diluted
EPS calculation 652
25.9 Procedure where there are several potential dilutions 654
25.10 Exercise of conversion rights during financial year 656
25.11 Disclosure requirements of IAS 33 656
25.12 The Improvement Project 659
25.13 Convergence project 659
Summary 659
Review questions 660
xvi • Full Contents
Exercises 661
References 667
26 Statements of cash flows 66826.1 Introduction 668
26.2 Development of statements of cash flows 668
26.3 Applying IAS 7 (revised) Statements of Cash Flows 670
26.4 IAS 7 (revised) format of statements of cash flows 672
26.5 Consolidated statements of cash flows 677
26.6 Analysing statements of cash flows 679
26.7 Critique of cash flow accounting 684
Summary 685
Review questions 685
Exercises 686
References 695
27 Review of financial ratio analysis 69627.1 Introduction 696
27.2 Initial impressions 696
27.3 What are accounting ratios? 697
27.4 Six key ratios 698
27.5 Illustrating the calculation of the six key ratios 703
27.6 Description of subsidiary ratios 706
27.7 Comparative ratios: inter-firm comparisons and industry averages 715
27.8 Limitations of ratio analysis 718
27.9 Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA)
used for management control purposes 720
Summary 722
Review questions 722
Exercises 723
References 735
28 Analytical analysis – selective use of ratios 73628.1 Introduction 736
28.2 Improvement of information for shareholders 736
28.3 Disclosure of risks and focus on relevant ratios 738
28.4 Shariah compliant companies – why ratios are important 745
28.5 Ratios set by lenders in debt covenants 747
28.6 Predicting corporate failure 749
28.7 Performance related remuneration – shareholder returns 756
28.8 Valuing shares of an unquoted company – quantitative process 760
28.9 Professional risk assessors 764
Summary 766
Review questions 767
Exercises 769
References 780
29 An introduction to financial reporting on the Internet 78229.1 Introduction 782
29.2 The reason for the development of a business reporting language 782
Full Contents • xvii
29.3 Reports and the flow of information pre-XBRL 783
29.4 What are HTML, XML and XBRL? 784
29.5 Reports and the flow of information post-XBRL 785
29.6 XBRL and the IASB 786
29.7 Why should companies adopt XBRL? 786
29.8 What is needed to use XBRL for outputting information? 787
29.9 What is needed when receiving XBRL output information? 789
29.10 Progress of XBRL development for internal accounting 794
29.11 Further study 794
Summary 795
Review questions 795
Exercises 796
References 796
Bibliography 797
Part 6ACCOUNTABILITY 799
30 Corporate governance 80130.1 Introduction 801
30.2 The concept 801
30.3 Corporate governance effect on corporate behaviour 802
30.4 Pressures on good governance behaviour vary over time 803
30.5 Types of past unethical behaviour 804
30.6 Different jurisdictions have different governance priorities 805
30.7 The effect on capital markets of good corporate governance 806
30.8 The role of accounting in corporate governance 807
30.9 External audits in corporate governance 809
30.10 Corporate governance in relation to the board of directors 814
30.11 Executive remuneration 814
30.12 Market forces and corporate governance 817
30.13 Risk management 818
30.14 Corporate governance, legislation and codes 820
30.15 Corporate governance – the UK experience 822
Summary 832
Review questions 832
Exercises 834
References 836
31 Sustainability – environmental and social reporting 83831.1 Introduction 838
31.2 How financial reporting has evolved to embrace
sustainability reporting 838
31.3 The Triple Bottom Line (TBL) 839
31.4 The Connected Reporting Framework 840
31.5 IFAC Sustainability Framework 842
31.6 The accountant’s role in a capitalist industrial society 844
31.7 The accountant’s changing role 844
31.8 Sustainability – environmental reporting 845
31.9 Environmental information in the annual accounts 845
xviii • Full Contents
31.10 Background to companies’ reporting practices 846
31.11 European Commission’s recommendations for disclosures in
annual accounts 847
31.12 Evolution of stand-alone environmental reports 848
31.13 International charters and guidelines 852
31.14 Self-regulation schemes 854
31.15 Economic consequences of environmental reporting 856
31.16 Summary on environmental reporting 857
31.17 Environmental auditing: international initiatives 858
31.18 The activities involved in an environmental audit 859
31.19 Concept of social accounting 861
31.20 Background to social accounting 863
31.21 Corporate social responsibility 866
31.22 Need for comparative data 868
31.23 International initiatives towards triple bottom line reporting 870
Summary 873
Review questions 873
Exercises 875
References 881
Bibliography 882
Index 884
Full Contents • xix
Our objective is to provide a balanced and comprehensive framework to enable students
to acquire the requisite knowledge and skills to appraise current practice critically and to
evaluate proposed changes from a theoretical base. To this end, the text contains:
● current IASs and IFRSs;
● illustrations from published accounts;
● a range of review questions;
● exercises of varying difficulty;
● extensive references.
Outline solutions to selected exercises can also be found on the Companion Website
(www.pearsoned.co.uk/elliott-elliott).
We have assumed that readers will have an understanding of financial accounting to a
foundation or first-year level, although the text and exercises have been designed on the
basis that a brief revision is still helpful.
Lecturers are using the text selectively to support a range of teaching programmes for
second-year and final-year undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. We have therefore
attempted to provide subject coverage of sufficient breadth and depth to assist selective use.
The text has been adopted for financial accounting, reporting and analysis modules on:
● second-year undergraduate courses for Accounting, Business Studies and Combined
Studies;
● final-year undergraduate courses for Accounting, Business Studies and Combined
Studies;
● MBA courses;
● specialist MSc courses; and
● professional courses preparing students for professional accountancy examinations.
Changes to the fourteenth edition
Accounting standards
UK listed companies, together with those non-listed companies that so choose, have applied
international standards from January 2005.
Preface and acknowledgements
For non-listed companies that choose to continue to apply UK GAAP, the ASB has stated
its commitment to progressively bringing UK GAAP into line with international standards.
For companies currently applying FRSSE, this will continue. The IASB issued IFRS
for SMEs in 2009.
Accounting standards – fourteenth edition updates
Chapters 5 and 6 cover the evolution of global standards and a global Conceptual
Framework.
Topics and International Standards are covered as follows:
Chapter 4 Accounting for price-level changes IAS 29
Chapter 8 Preparation of statements of comprehensive IAS 1, IFRS
income and financial position
Chapter 9 Preparation of published accounts IAS 8, IAS 10, IAS 24, IFRS 5
and IFRS 8
Chapter 11 Off balance sheet finance IAS 37
Chapter 12 Financial instruments IAS 32, IAS 39, IFRS 7 and
IFRS 9
Chapter 13 Employee benefits IAS 19, IAS 26 and IFRS 2
Chapter 14 Taxation in company accounts IAS 12
Chapter 15 Property, plant and equipment (PPE) IAS 16, IAS 20, IAS 23,
IAS 36, IAS 40 and IFRS 5
Chapter 16 Leasing IAS 17
Chapter 17 R&D; goodwill and intangible assets; IAS 38 and IFRS 3
brands
Chapter 18 Inventories IAS 2
Chapter 19 Construction contracts IAS 11
Chapters 20 to 24 Consolidation IAS 21, IAS 27, IAS 28,
IAS 31 and IFRS 3
Chapter 25 Earnings per share IAS 33
Chapter 26 Statements of cash flows IAS 7
Chapter 30 Corporate governance IFRS 2
Income and asset value measurement systems
Chapters 1 to 4 continue to cover accounting and reporting on a cash flow and accrual basis,
the economic income approach and accounting for price-level changes.
The UK regulatory framework and analysis
UK listed companies will continue to be subject to national company law, and mandatory
and best practice requirements such as the Operating and Financial Review and the UK Code
of Corporate Governance.
UK regulatory framework and analysis – fourteenth edition changes
The following chapters have been retained and updated as appropriate:
Chapter 7 Ethical behaviour and implications for accountants
Chapter 10 Share capital, distributable profits and reduction of capital
Preface and acknowlegements • xxi
Chapter 11 Off balance sheet finance
Chapter 27 Review of financial ratio analysis
Chapter 28 Analytical analysis – selective use of ratios
Chapter 29 An introduction to financial reporting on the Internet
Chapter 30 Corporate governance
Chapter 31 Sustainability – environmental and social reporting
Chapter 32 Ethics for accountants (now Chapter 7)
Our emphasis has been on keeping the text current and responsive to constructive com-
ments from reviewers.
Recent developments
In addition to the steps being taken towards the development of IFRSs that will receive
broad consensus support, regulators have been active in developing further requirements
concerning corporate governance. These have been prompted by the accounting scandals
in the USA and, more recently, in Europe and by shareholder activism fuelled by the
apparent lack of any relationship between increases in directors’ remuneration and company
performance.
The content of financial reports continues to be subjected to discussion with a tension
between preparers, stakeholders, auditors, academics and standard setters; this is mirrored
in the tension that exists between theory and practice.
● Preparers favour reporting transactions on a historical cost basis which is reliable but does
not provide shareholders with relevant information to appraise past performance or to
predict future earnings.
● Shareholders favour forward-looking reports relevant in estimating future dividend and
capital growth and in understanding environmental and social impacts.
● Stakeholders favour quantified and narrative disclosure of environmental and social
impacts and the steps taken to reduce negative impacts.
● Auditors favour reports that are verifiable so that the figures can be substantiated to avoid
them being proved wrong at a later date.
● Academic accountants favour reports that reflect economic reality and are relevant in
appraising management performance and in assessing the capacity of the company to adapt.
● Standard setters lean towards the academic view and favour reporting according to the
commercial substance of a transaction.
In order to understand the tensions that exist, students need:
● the skill to prepare financial statements in accordance with the historical cost and current
cost conventions, both of which appear in annual financial reports;
● an understanding of the main thrust of mandatory and voluntary standards;
● an understanding of the degree of flexibility available to the preparers and the impact of
this on reported earnings and the figures in the statement of financial position;
● an understanding of the limitations of financial reports in portraying economic reality; and
● an exposure to source material and other published material in so far as time permits.
xxii • Preface and acknowlegements
Preface and acknowlegements • xxiii
Instructor’s Manual
A separate Instructors’ Manual has been written to accompany this text. It contains fully
worked solutions to all the exercises and is of a quality that allows them to be used as over-
head transparencies. The Manual is available at no cost to lecturers on application to the
publishers.
Website
An electronic version of the Instructors’ Manual is also available for download at
www.pearsoned.co.uk/elliott-elliott.
Acknowledgements
Financial reporting is a dynamic area and we see it as extremely important that the text
should reflect this and be kept current. Assistance has been generously given by colleagues
and many others in the preparation and review of the text and assessment material. This
fourteenth edition continues to be very much a result of the authors, colleagues, reviewers
and Pearson editorial and production staff working as a team and we are grateful to all con-
cerned for their assistance in achieving this.
We owe particular thanks to Ron Altshul, who has updated ‘Taxation in company
accounts’ (Chapter 14); Charles Batchelor formerly of FTC Kaplan for ‘Financial instru-
ments’ (Chapter 12) and ‘Employee benefits’ (Chapter 13); Ozer Erman of Kingston
University, for ‘Share capital, distributable profits and reduction of capital’ (Chapter 10);
Paul Robins of the Financial Training Company for ‘Published accounts’ (Chapter 9) and
‘Earnings per share’ (Chapter 25); Professor Garry Tibbits of the University of Western
Sydney ‘Ethical behaviour and implications for accountants’ (Chapter 7) and ‘Corporate
governance’ (Chapter 30); Hendrika Tibbits of the University of Western Sydney for An
introduction to financial reporting on the Internet (Chapter 29); David Towers, formerly
of Keele University, for Consolidation chapters; and Martin Howes for inputs to financial
analysis.
The authors are grateful for the constructive comments received from the following
reviewers who have assisted us in making improvements: Iain Fleming of the University of
the West of Scotland; John Morley of the University of Brighton; John Forker of Queen’s
University, Belfast; Breda Sweeney of NUI Galway; Patricia McCourt Larres of Queen’s
University, Belfast; and Dave Knight of Leeds Metropolitan University.
Thanks are owed to A.T. Benedict of the South Bank University; Keith Brown formerly
of De Montfort University; Kenneth N. Field of the University of Leeds; Sue McDermott
of London Metropolitan Business School; David Murphy of Manchester Business School;
Bahadur Najak of the University of Durham; Graham Sara of University of Warwick; Laura
Spira of Oxford Brookes University.
Thanks are also due to the following organisations: the Accounting Standards Board,
the International Accounting Standards Board, the Association of Chartered Certified
Accountants, the Association of International Accountants, the Chartered Institute of
Management Accountants, the Chartered Institute of Securities and Investment, the
Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland, Chartered Institute of Public Finance and
Accountancy, Chartered Institute of Bankers and the Institute of Investment Management
and Research.
We would also like to thank the authors of some of the end-of-chapter exercises. Some of
these exercises have been inherited from a variety of institutions with which we have been
associated, and we have unfortunately lost the identities of the originators of such material
with the passage of time. We are sorry that we cannot acknowledge them by name and hope
that they will excuse us for using their material.
We are indebted to Matthew Smith and the editorial team at Pearson Education for active
support in keeping us largely to schedule and the attractively produced and presented text.
Finally we thank our wives, Di and Jacklin, for their continued good humoured support
during the period of writing and revisions, and Giles Elliott for his critical comment from
the commencement of the project. We alone remain responsible for any errors and for the
thoughts and views that are expressed.
Barry and Jamie Elliott
xxiv • Preface and acknowlegements
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Guided tour of MyAccountingLab
xxvi • Guided tour of MyAccountingLab
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