Reporting Accounting Changes: Are Stricter Guidelines Needed?
探讨美国是否需要更严格的会计变更报告指南，发现企业更倾向于进行正向盈余影响的会计变更，且当前披露实践损害了财务报告的可信度。
Abstract This article examines the need for stricter guidelines in reporting accounting changes in the United States. The issue of when to permit and how to account for changes in accounting principles involves one of the most basic of all concepts in accounting: that of consistency. The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has stated that interperiod consistency in the application of accounting methods helps users better understand and interpret financial accounting data and therefore makes the data more useful. As economic conditions and events change, it may be necessary to change accounting methods to preserve comparability. This is what the FASB had in mind when it stated that consistency in application of accounting methods is a necessary condition for comparability to exist, but consistent application of accounting principles cannot alone produce comparability. New evidence suggests that a firm is more likely to undertake a discretionary accounting change having a material positive earnings effect than one having a material negative earnings effect. In addition, current disclosure practices raise more questions about management's motivation than they answer and therefore detract from the credibility of the financial reporting process.