M41 - AccountingReturn

The purpose of this paper is to explore the design process of a case-mix accounting system. Particularly, we focus on hybridization, highlighting how nonfinancial staff became involved and interested in case-mix accounting. This study is a qualitative case study, illustrating the case-mix accounting system design in one case organization. We identified authority, competence, rhetorical, and scoring mechanisms. The authority mechanism provides the basis for the design of the case-mix accounting system; the competence mechanism supports the ability of personnel to participate in service design; the rhetorical mechanism makes things more vernacular; and the scoring mechanism defines and categorizes but also supports management control. Our results support also practical implications in management control in the social and health care sector.

The effect of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) adoption on the level of financial statements comparability was investigated for Russia in the current article. Canada was chosen for comparison due to the close time frame of IFRS adoption, which also allowed comparing the influence of IFRS adoption for both types of economies – well developed and emerging. Initial sample selection had been created from 23 companies that are presented on the stock exchange markets of the particular countries. Each sample contains semi-annual data for four years of the pre-adoption period (2008 to 2011 for Russia, 2007 to 2010 for Canada) in which companies use their home country accounting standards and four years of the post-adoption period (2012 to 2015 for Russia, 2011 to 2014 for Canada) in which companies use IFRS standards. The research was performed on the country level and industry level for both countries. Two measures had been used for the research: earnings-return regression and earnings-cash flow regression. The overall result of the study shows that the application of IFRS improved information comparability between companies only in Canada, while the same was not the case for Russian companies and the cross-country comparability. However, the study confirms an increase in the comparability level in the post-adoption period in such industries as Energy and Basic materials not only between companies inside of the given country but on the cross-country level as well.

This paper analyses firm-specific and country-specific factors that have an impact on the effective corporate income tax rates (ETR) for CEE listed companies based on data obtained from the BvD Amadeus database. Business factors analysed in this research are the company size, leverage, capital and inventory intensity, and return on assets. Concerning the country-specific factors, chosen were the statutory corporate income tax rate and cultural factors represented by personal and economic freedoms covered by the Human Freedom Index (HFI), making this study different from others. The tested hypotheses predict significance of all the stated variables. Nine models were analysed based on three ETR denominators (EBT; turnover; cash flow) and three groups of countries (whole sample; sample excluding Russia; sample consisted of Bulgaria, Croatia, Poland, and Romania). Based on the panel data regression analysis and particularly the Feasible Generalised Least Squares estimator, a significant impact on the ETR was found for all variables in all the models. The main variable of interest, the HFI, came always with a negative coefficient demonstrating that, for CEE countries, a higher level of freedom is associated with a lower ETR. Findings for the remaining variables are in line with the existing literature.

The aim of the article is to evaluate the level of basic knowledge of accounting issues of students of the School of Business Administration in Karviná (SBA) in the Czech Republic and verify the existence of dependence of their knowledge on gender, secondary education, aspects of their university studies, and last but not least, on their work experience. Furthermore, the research aims to find out how these students perceive the importance of the qualification level of professional accountants. In order to achieve the objective of the article, a questionnaire survey was used. On the basis of the acquired nominal data, the non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis test was used to answer the first research question concerning the impact of aspects of the university study on the level of student accounting knowledge. As part of the research, 1,035 students were contacted and 709 respondents have completed the questionnaire. The perceptions of the accountant profession were examined using the Pearson's chi-square test and the Pearson´s coefficient of contingency. It can be concluded from the results that the form of study and the degree of study have no influence on the level of students' knowledge. In the field of study, on the other hand, the dependence of accounting knowledge of students on this aspect has already been proved. The work experience of students was most markedly reflected in the students' accounting knowledge.

The objective of this study is to examine the relevance and reliability aspects of accounting with respect to earnings’ usefulness which is measured as the association between earnings and share returns. Motivated by the lack of this research in emerging markets, this paper is focused on the companies listed on the stock exchanges in the Visegrad Group (V4) countries. Multiple regression analyses are used to establish links between accounting attributes on the sample of 64 listed firms for the time period between 2005 and 2017. This study shows that relevance is a more dominant accounting attribute than reliability. Companies listed in the V4 markets share this feature with companies listed in more mature markets. However, neither trade-off between relevance and reliability nor any trend in these accounting attributes was detected. The lack of these dynamics may be explained by different financial statements’ information needs of users in the V4 countries compared to users operating in more mature markets.

The economic and demographical development in Europe in the last few decades has led to increased pressure on effectiveness in the healthcare industry. The growing importance of performance management in this industry resulted in agreater focus on management accounting practices capable of providing managers with relevant information to support their decision-making activity. This article presents the results of the survey examining the management accounting practice among the economic managers in public hospitals in the Czech Republic. The results from total of 60 respondents pointed out to management accounting practices being well established and rather conventional with the budgeting being the most relevant. Further results offer explanation of enabling factors of potential efficiency gains beneficial for managerial practice.

As inventories represent a significant balance sheet item for many companies, their correct presentation and disclosure is fundamental for the financial statements’ users. This article identifies compliance with the ”IAS 2 Inventories“ requirements in consolidated financial statements of selected Czech companies. After determining criteria for the issuer’s sample, two research questions were set up for the evaluation of compliance measures with IAS 2. The research focuses on the association between the sum of total assets and the sum of inventories as well as an association between the sum of inventories and their allowances. Investigation is followed by the determination of compliance or non-compliance with the requirements of IAS 2. 
The research leads to the conclusion that the sum of inventories depends on the sum of assets. However, the sum of inventories’ allowances does not depend on the sum of inventories. As far as the area of compliance with the IAS 2 requirements is concerned, on average, issuers did not comply with 3 out of total 8 IAS 2 requirements. The most problematic area of compliance was how reversals of write-downs were disclosed. The second most problematic requirement was a write-down justification and the third most problematic requirement was a disclosure of pledged inventories.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the level of intellectual capital (IC) disclosure of the largest Czech and Hungarian listed firms. We apply content analysis of the annual statements and measure IC disclosure by a score. We hypothesize that a significant positive relationship exists between IC disclosure score and such firm-specific financial factors as company size, profitability, book value of intangibles and trade volume. The results of the regression model indicate that among the chosen independent variables, capitalized intangibles and profitability have a significant impact. Another contribution of the paper is the comparison of the two aforementioned Central European countries, which can serve as a basis for future research about the reporting culture of the region.

This article analyses compliance with information disclosure requirements under IFRS 3 Business Combinations in 23 companies trading at Prague Stock Exchange. The analysis was performed with the use of publicly available data contained in annual reports of the companies. Beyond quantification of the level of compliance, the research explores which factors affect diligence in following IFRS 3 disclosure requirements, specifically the company size, history of trading on the stock exchange, ownership structure and the acquisition price paid. The literature review also focuses on aspects with a potential to influence the level of diligence in areas of disclosure and consequences of infringing the disclosure rules. The paper concludes that the level of compliance can be considered average and in some cases unsatisfactory, while the company size and longer history of trading on PSE are positively correlated with the quality of disclosure.

The objective of this paper is to specify in which way Polish accounting professionals manage to interpret "in context" verbal probability expressions (VPEs) from IFRS. Taking into account the Polish accounting professionals attachment to the prudence principle and the Polish mindset, we research here whether they have a conservative approach when interpreting those expressions. For the purpose of our study we distributed a questionnaire and asked a sample of accountants and auditors from Poland to interpret the term "probable" used in IFRS to establish the threshold for recognition of various accounting elements. Our findings provide evidence that the differences in interpretation of "in context" VPEs by Polish accounting professionals exist. We also find that the level of conservatism shared by Polish accountants and auditors affects their individual accounting judgment.

The paper deals with the phenomenon of earnings discontinuity around zero level in the UK, as the common law representative, Germany, as the civil law representative, and the Czech Republic, as the civil law representative where earnings management research has not yet been thoroughly realized. We undertake both cross-sectional and time-series analysis from 2006 to 2013. According to our findings, the UK is a low-earnings-management country with slightly decreasing trend of the earnings management level. On the other hand, earnings management engagement in Germany and the Czech Republic is of a significantly higher level than in the UK. Moreover, Czech companies suggest an increasing trend of the earnings management level. We find significant difference between the common law representative and the civil law ones in terms of the earnings management level.

As the cash flow statement presents important information about the company's operations, its quality and the related disclosure are essential to the financial statements' users. This paper analyses the range and quality of cash flow statements along with the accompanying notes, presented by a sample of selected companies within the Czech business environment. There are four main research areas which discuss the structure of the cash flow statement, approach to questionable items such as interest and dividends, quality of the data and notes provided and quality of the optional data provided. After setting the criteria for the sample of companies, five hypotheses and ten research questions are raised in order to evaluate the level of compliance with the requirements set in the IAS 7 Statement of Cash Flows. The research leads to the conclusion that companies in general comply with the mandatory requirements, but do not go beyond these. None of the companies has disclosed voluntary information and about half of the companies have chosen the easiest way to present interest in the operating part, although the selection of companies excluded financial institutions whose majority of interest transactions are indeed from operations.

Accounting education at the university level in developing SEE countries has often been criticised for the inability to develop essential skills of graduates necessary for a career in professional accountancy in the 21st century. Our research study presents the results of a survey among students enrolled to an accounting degree program and employers for their perceived importance of a wide range of generic and technical skills for successful entrance to the profession. The study also investigated perceived effectiveness of the university accounting education to develop important skills at an appropriate level. The results indicated agreement between the two respondent groups in respect of the greater importance of generic skills, where students gave more weight to personal skills of time management, good presentation and characteristics of self-confidence, motivation and self-promotion. Employers valued more oral communication, knowledge of foreign languages, ethical attitude and credibility and commitment to life-long learning. The employers and students agreed that education process and program need improvements in order to allow for better development of technical and generic skills among successful graduates.

Socially responsible investments are one of the most dynamically developing segments of investments and socially responsible investing plays an ever growing role in the world's financial markets. Poland is in the infancy stage of development of socially responsible investments.
Socially responsible investing is a decision-making process concerning the allocation of free financial resources, where the investor aims at maximisation of profit and minimisation of risk on one part, and includes the socio-ethical and environmental-ecological considerations on the other.
The aim of the paper is to assess the valuation methods and the scope of information on socially responsible investments presented in financial statements of Polish public companies. Assessment of the market of socially responsible investments in Poland according to the European classification of strategies for investing socially responsibly is also purposeful.
The paper presents the results of empirical research of valuation and disclosure of SRI in financial statements of Polish public companies.

Cloud computing is a new technological trend that since the last decade brings challenges in computed accounting, such as a significant reduction of running cost, together with unrestricted access to data from anywhere and anytime. Cloud accounting software enables its users a real time access to business finances, easy set up and easy use, access to information from anywhere, work with sales force, to synchronize instantly with bank, make tax returns precise and effortless. Cloud computing offers a short implementation time and low initial costs and it is offered by ERP providers in the SaaS (Software as a Service) mode. As an essential condition for massive expansion is generally considered availability of access to the high frequency internet. As accounting data are very valuable, security, such as encryption of data, granting access to the data and backups are necessary conditions to ensure their proper treatment. The aim of this article is to identify key advantages and disadvantages and milestones of such a solution.

The paper deals with the determination of intangible assets of Czech public sector. On 15 January 2013, the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board issued new standard IPSAS 31 - Intangible assets. This standard represents a very sophisticated construction of accounting axioms moving public sector much closer to the private sector. The aim of this paper is to identify and make subsequent comparison of methodological elements in the context of intangible assets according to CAS and IPSAS 31. Moreover the paper tries to show the share of intangible fixed assets to the total assets throughout every type of organization of public sector like regions, municipalities, government departments etc. to assess subsequently the extent of possible impacts on financial situation in case of transition of financial reporting to IPSAS.

With global efforts to combat climate change, accountants from participating entities worldwide need to report the economic value of carbon credits and related assets in carbon markets. However, the absence of formal accounting guidelines allows the selection of accounting practices and reporting methods based on individual judgment. Also, emitters are allowed to invest in carbon credit projects and trading. These circumstances have led to diversity in global accounting practices. As accounting is an international business language in a global business world, it is important to study emerging accounting practices for carbon emission trading. The main aim of this study is, therefore, to explore the accounting practices (asset classification, subsequent measurement and impairment testing) of carbon credit providers/traders. Sample companies from Australian mandatory and voluntary carbon markets were selected. The study was conducted using case-study methodology and in-depth interviews, supported by archival and secondary data. It was found that the preferred asset classification of carbon credits varies among case-site participants, according to specific market requirements and economic uncertainty. Valuation methods differ across sites due to internal operations and economic factors. Impairment testing requires reference price indices determined by the nature of assets and professionals.

In the modern process of globalization, IFRS standards are widely used in the financial world, Russian Federation is one of these examples. The application of IFRS in Russian Federation first began in the early 90-ies of the twentieth century. During IFRS adoption many companies were involved in this process. Nowadays, a big part of all Russian companies obligatory use IFRS standards to prepare their statements. The purpose of this article is to analyse current practices of financial reporting procedures, its compliance with the rules of the IAS 1 as well as identifying the dependencies between the auditor selection and the quality of reporting. For this paper, a special Questionnaire was developed and for each selected organization a special profile, which included analysis of all financial statements for the period of the 2015 year was created. The study shows that the financial reports quality of the largest Russian companies on a high level. However, many companies face the problem of RAS and IFRS differences during reports transformation that directly influences its quality. During the study process it becomes clear, that auditor has a direct impact on the financial statements quality.

The article presents the results of the project regarding the development of the requirements to controllers´ professional competences. The aim of the empirical part of the study is to assess the current situation in Poland in this field. During the study, opinions of two expert groups are compared. The respondents from the first group are responsible for development of controllers´ professional competences and education. The respondents from the second group act as controllers in everyday business. The research refers to the following areas of controllers´ work: their position in the company, general and specific content of controllers´ activities, their authority and responsibility, requirements for education, requirements for ICT competencies, professional skills and practical experience, their role in ethical aspects of business, selection of potential candidates for a controller position, requirements to their continuing professional development and quality assurance of controllers´ work as well as the importance of analysed areas for an effective controlling system in enterprise.

Nowadays, influence of international business groups on the individual countries´ economic systems is still growing. Effective tax rate showing a real level of the tax burden is one of the most important parameters of each economy. This article analyses the factors affecting the effective corporate income tax rate of the "blue chips" in the Czech Republic and in the Russian Federation. The factors are divided into two groups: external and internal ones. The hypothesis states that the internal factors (assets, debt ratio and equity) are more correlated with the dependent variable than the external ones (Paying Taxes index and average oil price). The regression analysis, particularly, panel data model with fixed effects, was used to estimate influence of the independent variables on the effective tax rate separately in Russia and Czech Republic. The research demonstrated that the mentioned internal factors are more significant for the Russian companies that the external factors. In the case of the Czech Republic, the same result was obtained with lower confidence level.

This paper analyses debtors who applied for debt relief in the period between 1/1/2012 and 31/12/2013. As there has already been a research related to Moravian and Silesian regions in this matter, it focuses mainly on the debtors from Bohemian regions. It is therefore an analysis of a problem which has not been thoroughly covered nor published yet. New way of declaring bankruptcy, in other words debt relief, for debtors who are unable to repay their debt has been in action since 2008. Since then the number of personal bankruptcies has been gradually rising every year. This paper constitutes only a narrow section of broader research; therefore, only certain characteristics are covered. Those are age and gender of the debtors and the structure of the creditors in all of the regions. The results and information gathered during the research are being analysed and also compared among particular regions.

The Czech Republic has recently introduced and implemented public sector accounting reform. The aim of the reform was to make the Czech public finance system more transparent, efficient and realistic. The authors of this reform, in fact, intended to bring public sector accounting and public financial management closer to private sector practices that, from their point of view, fulfil the reform goals previously mentioned. After a few years of functioning in this new accounting environment, certain associated points and problems have arisen that have to be tackled. The aim of this paper is to describe public sector accounting reform and its post-implementation process to current state in the Czech Republic based on pilot empirical research mirroring the opinions and experience of municipal Chief Financial Officers and its comparison with similar examples from other countries. The pilot sample for this research consists of municipal Chief Financial Officers and the research method is based on questionnaires and interviews with them. Results and findings achieved by this pilot research show that the reform of the new public sector accounting system in the Czech Republic has been developed in very extended scope in comparison with other countries, estimated costs perceived by users (local governments) are prevailing over advantages and benefits and thus there was identified certain degree of scepticism which may disrupt further efficient and positive use of this new accounting system.

Many European countries have been carried out a modernization projects in public sector financial reporting since the last two decades. Consequence of a stronger demand for complex, reliable and relevant economic information on government is governments' efforts towards better accountability. IPSAS standards, a full accrual national financial reporting standards closed to, or national standards with clear reference to IPSAS, are often considered as the best tool for that. This article aims to identify key challenges and milestones - four key aspects of these public sector financial reporting modernization projects. It offers a comparison amongst several European countries comparing the ways these countries decided to deal with those challenges and milestones.

This article deals with disclosure of associates and joint venture in financial statement. In May 2011 the IASB issued new standard IFRS 12 Disclosure of interest in other entities. This standard, compared with IAS 28 and IAS 31, requires to disclose more detail information about joint ventures and associates. The reason is elimination of proportionate consolidation for joint ventures and also users of financial statements requested improvements to the disclosure of a reporting entity's interests in other entities. The introductory section discusses the equity method and proportionate consolidation, which is followed by a chapter dealing with the disclosure of information relating to joint ventures and associates in the financial statements. The last part is devoted to an analysis of disclosed information relating to joint ventures associates in the financial statements of companies that are listed on the Prague Stock Exchange.

Revenue is one of the key indicators informing users of financial statements about company's performance. The different approaches to revenue recognition are analysed in the first part of this paper. The second part addresses the convergence of US GAAP and IFRS in the area of revenue recognition and examines the new converged revenue standard IFRS 15. The third part focuses on the IFRS disclosure requirements set by the current standard IAS 18 and compare to the new ones defined by IFRS 15. The empirical study analyses consolidated financial statements of Czech listed companies and assesses the compliance with current revenue disclosure IFRS requirements.

The paper deals with relationship between liquidity and profitability ratios in the Czech Republic to investigate whether there exists correlation (a) within selected liquidity ratios and (b) selected liquidity ratios and selected profitability ratio in the Czech Republic during the period 2003-2013. Empirical data from Bureau van Dijk, Amadeus database were analysed from the point of both time-series and cross-sectional analysis. The main findings of the paper are that correlation within selected liquidity ratios is fairly strong while correlation between selected liquidity ratios and selected profitability ratio is relatively weak.

The IFRS 8, the operating segments was converged of the IAS 14 and SFAS 131(US GAAP). It was issued in November 2006 and subsequently has been applied since 2009. The core of convergence is to reduce the differences between IAS 14 and SFAS 131. The IASB expected that a change would increase useful information for users and can be used as a single set of standard accounting for international trade. However, since the standard had been applied, it emerges advantages and disadvantages for users and entities on some issues. Particularly, internal management information issue that managers use as a compass to lead the company's strategies and it conceals behind the scenes conventionally. The paper investigates a quality of information disclosure in the Czech listed companies. The important pillar is to analyse the quality of information disclosure and the effect of applying the standard.

The paper investigates the effective corporate tax rate (ETR) in the Czech Republic from 2003 to 2013 from the point of both time-series and cross-sectional analysis. We exploit the access to Bureau van Dijk, Amadeus database to get broad data sample from financial statements. Thus, micro backward-looking approach was applied in the paper. We find clear downward trend in the ETR during the given period and statistically significant correlation between the ETR and statutory corporate tax rate (STR). We also undertake analysis of geographical regions using ZIP codes of the companies and analysis of economic sectors according to NACE of the sample firms. Main finding of the cross-sectional analysis is the highest ETR in the region of Prague (capital).

The article considers the operational management system of machine-building enterprises in Ukraine under the conditions of interpenetration of accounting and control functions and their deep integration due to shift of the control centres with the centres of operational decision-making. It has been proved that control timely influences behaviour and conditions of economic objects using target indicators, norms and regulations, estimates and the data of operational accounting, thus it takes active part in shaping the final results of running the enterprise. This explains its importance in the operational management system. It has been considered that the conditions of economic activity of industrial enterprises are changing intensively under the influence of internal and external factors, which determines the requirement to obtain operational information about the enterprise performance and the achieved results of each department. This is possible due to operational accounting, which must be systemic and cover all business processes, since it influences the functioning of the whole system as the information base for monitoring, and its results constitute the basis for timely decision-making in management. It is proved that well organized system of the accounting and control allows not only to detect in due time shortcomings of the industrial enterprise activity, but also to carry their expeditious elimination out and to prevent their manifestations in the future.

In May 2011, new standards of the IFRS regarding concept of control and related enhanced disclosure requirements were issued. These new standards have being mandatory effective since reporting period beginning on 1 January 2013 except for countries within European Union where effectiveness begun on 1 January 2014, one year later than official date approved by the IASB. An adoption of the new standards has raised lots of questions whether a scope of a consolidation will be changed based on a new concept of the control (whether more or less entities will be consolidated). The paper provides an analysis of expectations that result from financial statements of companies traded on the Prague Stock Exchange. Together with this analysis the paper discussed an issue if a change of control concept in the IFRS can affect a use of the Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base, which has been a great topic within the European Union. In 2011 the European Commission issued the Proposal for a Council Directive on a CCCTB and established a draft of rules how to consolidate companies within the EU for the tax purposes. Can the tax approach based on the CCCTB be affected by a change in the IFRS such as a change in the concept of control?

When SEC and FASB started considering replacing US GAAP with IFRS, the impact of this change had to be considered by the various stakeholders in the financial reporting process in the U.S., including the various preparers and users of financial statements, including the Tax Administration, IRS. Since 2009, taxpayers in the U.S. are allowed to use IFRS as a starting point for reconciliation of book results to taxable income or loss, an option utilized by approximately 200 companies in that year. In 2010, TIGTA issued a report describing the state of preparedness for the potential transition from US GAAP to IFRS, outlining activities such as education of field agents, technical analysis of the potential impact of changes to financial reporting standards, consultation of current issues related to IFRS with taxpayers and preparers. Specific technical tax issues related to transition from US GAAP to IFRS include LIFO, leasing, component depreciation, and uncertain tax positions; non-technical tax issues related to IFRS adoption include taxpayer and agent education, regulatory adjustments, developing new audit strategies. In addition to federal tax considerations, state tax authorities and taxpayers are preparing for the impact of IFRS adoption on state and local tax administration, impacting issues such as sales, property, and payroll apportionment and equity-based taxes. The main research questions relate to empirical research related to the micro and macro economic impact of the transition from US GAAP to IFRS.

As a direct result of the accession into EU, IFRSs have been introduced in Slovakia as a framework for compilation of separate financial statements of various businesses since 2006. Because of traditionally strong ties between accounting and tax regulation, taxpayers and tax authorities were exposed to an unprecedented situation. Consequently, national parliament and the government have tried to address major identified issues. Apparently, two underlying principles have been established for carrying out these initiatives - to comply with the Regulation No. 1606/2002 and to keep the tax burden at the same level. Still, there is serious concern about the effectiveness of the measures adopted, as there are at least three approaches for determination of income taxes of IFRS adopters in Slovakia. Because the relevance of accounting information is partially driven by their ability to predict future order and results of events, our paper is focused on the assessment of the disclosures related to current income tax determination, presented in the separate financial statements of the said companies. Though lack of such information decrease the relevance of financial statements, it is quite commonplace. Additionally, we have found traces of boilerplate disclosures (i. e. likely wordings presented in financial statements of different companies).

The IFRS adoption has improved the quality of accounting information significantly. However, huge costs are incurred by all subjects involved. The process has considerable consequences for tax systems, too. State authorities are solving how to ensure the control over tax duty fulfilment under a new financial reporting system. As corporate income tax systems in code law countries are tightly bound up with accounting regulation, governments are forced to decide whether and in which way companies preparing financial statements under the IFRS shall reflect the IFRS based figures in their income tax returns. The paper focuses on specifics of a small open economy, such as the Czech Republic. Four cardinal research issues are identified, if the eligibility of the IFRS as a tax base is ruminated on. Three issues are already assessed with the reference to publicly available data; the last one needs further scrutiny, as non-public data from tax returns are needed for the analysis.

The article analyzes the main trends in income, tax base and tax deductions for Czech companies in years 1993 - 2012. After an initial survey of the problem, the article describes the issue of national accounting policy regulation in relation to IFRS and shows the evolution of main macroeconomic indicators of profitability and corporate taxation in the EU and the Czech Republic. The following part is based on data from the Ministry of Finance of the Czech Republic and monitors the development of corporate accounting profits, tax bases and tax deductions. All data collected for the purposes of this article were available only on an annual accrual basis as an aggregate; therefore it is not possible to draw any conclusions for any specific groups of companies or sectors. The concluding section summarizes the main findings of the paper and offers suggestions for further research.

The aim of this paper is to present some considerations about the (market) reality and the accounting. The considerations are some kind of a discussion, how accounting systems are linked by the feedback mechanism with managers. Various aspects of modern markets are presented. In particular, the role of globalization processes, increasing role of financial institutions and role of information are discussed. It is argued that the accounting becomes more interdisciplinary topic and some skills from new technologies become a must on modern markets. The discussion is illustrated by some particular examples. It is argued that there is a strong feedback mechanism between managers and accounting information systems.

The goal of this article is to compare the content of gross written premium in the selected European countries. The subject of insurance companies is to provide insurance protection based on commercial principles. All changes in the society are directly reflected in the insurance activity. New risks appear and therefore new insurance products appear as well. Insurance activities are divided into non-life insurance, life insurance, and in recent years increase also a share of life unit linked insurance. Yield in the form of gross written premium arises to the insurance company under insurance contracts and then must be adjusted about so called unearned premiums. The article deals with outputs of research of gross written premium in particular insurance companies in different states of Central and Eastern Europe.

The article describes the outcomes of the project whose purpose is - on the base of "Draft for a common statement" - to state generally accepted requirements for professional competence of managerial accountants and controllers. The important part of the project is empirical research focused on changing requirements on managers and controllers and mapping actual situation in the Czech Republic in this area. The research compares opinions of two groups of respondents - experts who are responsible for professional competence development of controllers on one hand and managers and controllers operating in business environment on the other hand. Paper provides results relating to following areas: general content of the controllers' activities, controllers' authority and responsibility, requirements for controllers' education, professional skills and practical experience, ethical aspects of management accounting as well as quality assurance of the controllers' work.

This article looks at the very intricate and highly contentious issue of internally generated intangible assets as presented in the financial statements prepared under IFRS, with a special focus on research and development. In the first section, intangible assets are defined and then further classified as either purchased or internally generated; crucial distinction when choosing the right approach. The second section deals with research and development in a greater detail and provides not only a number of answers, but also raises several key questions, e.g. the question of objectivity and possible earnings management. Third section is devoted to measurement issues and in the last section, the reader finds excerpts from financial statements of different companies from various industries which illustrate the fact that some useful information is clearly missing. The conclusion suggest an easy, yet very efficien solution in tune with the ongoing convergence process between IFRS and U.S. GAAP, namely to move IAS 38 in the direction of U.S. GAAP and to forbid any capitalisation of development costs.

The article studies the provisions in the metallurgical industry - the number of financial statements disclosing provisions and the amount of provisions disclosed in financial statements. The aim of article is both to presents the provisions disclosed in the financial statements and to determine the influence of financial crisis on the disclosing of provisions in this industry. The individual types of provisions are analyzed as well. The individual types of provisions are researched concerning the number of disclosed provisions and amount of them.

This work is focused on the impact of IFRS adoption for tax purposes in the Czech tax collection in years 2007 - 2011. There were used separate financial statements of these companies for five periods from 2007 to 2011. The most important goal of this work is to characterize the relationship between accounting profit or loss under IFRS and the income tax base and to find out the impact of taxation under profit in accordance with IFRS to total tax collection. We try to answer the main question: how would have changed the total income tax collection if selected companies mandatory using IFRS in their bookkeeping and financial reporting had used IFRS profit or loss without any deductions as a income tax base in years 2007 - 2011.

The EC 4th Directive has been in force since 1978, at least till 2001 without fundamental changes. Nearly the same history concerns the EC 7th Directive, firstly issued in 1983. Then new requirements, such as new disclosures and valuation rules, including provisions on fair value accounting, have been added. Less attention has been paid to considering whether existing requirements could be simplified or removed. Research studies confirm that amendments have tended to ignore the comparability and usefulness of the financial statements, increased reporting requirements and the number of Member State options. All these facts have ultimately, in the long run, led to increased complexity and regulatory burden for all companies. European Commission proposed to simplify the 4th and 7th Council Directives as regards financial information obligations and to reduce administrative burdens, in particular for SMEs. This article investigates impact of new Directives' financial reporting requirements on presentation of financial statements of companies those use local regulatory rules, which should comply with the Directive of June 26, 2013 repealing the 1978 and 1983 Directives and their subsequent amendments, in the Czech Republic. Conclusion from this article might be useful for practice as for the potential future changes in presentation of financial statements or researchers who find out similarities or differences between European accounting systems.

In the period between 1953 - 1965 the system of Book-Keeping Evidence of the National-Economic Evidence was used in Czechoslovakia, based strictly on the Soviet model of accounting. This system was replaced in 1966 by Singular System for Economic Information. The content followed the post-war Singular System for Business Accounting, which was heavily influenced by Germanic Accounting System. Singular System of Economic Information and later Singular System for Socio- Economic Information (in its two developmental stages) differed mainly by how to integrated financial accounting system and financial and cost center accounting. After the fall of communism in 1989 and the beginning of economic changes, a slightly modified accounting system from before 1990 is being used. It was only in 1993 that the financial system is replaced by a completely new one, based on French accounting.

The development of accounting in Czechoslovakia after the World War II was influenced by political and economic changes of that time. Firstly, it is a subject to tradition, and then also the political order. It results in the transition from the Germanic type of accounting to the Soviet model of accounting, i.e. from the Singular System of Business Accounting to Book-Keeping Evidence under the National-Economic Evidence. Although the Soviet accounting system is by some formal characteristics based on the Anglo-Saxon model of accounting, it was unable to operate efficiently in terms of collectivist economies of the communist regime, i.e. neither in Czechoslovakia.

It can be concluded from an analysis and comparison of the legal and accounting concepts related to the amendment of the Transformation of Business Companies and Cooperatives Act and Regulation 500, that the amended regulations are characterized by an extensive right to choose in terms of business regulation. While the legal and accounting regulations until the end of 2011 addressed transformations generally as purchasings, the commercial and accounting regulations from 1st January 2012 provide solutions mainly for transformations of the restructuring type. The amendment offers a high degree of choice and thus provides space for both factual concepts, however, this fact is not specified in any of the appropriate regulations. The availability of all these possible variants, from the decisive date at the very beginning of the preparation and implementation of the transformation to the recognition of an entry of a transformation in the Register of Companies, as the record date, i.e., a combination of the decisive date and the effective date, leads to a complicated accounting view that is time-consuming, often confusing and, unfortunately, does not define the conditions for recognising a transformation with the substance of a purchase and a transformation with the substance of a restructuring. Highlighting the reflection based on individual accounting transactions for the participating companies, and especially in the unusual method included in the so-called opening balance sheet method, leads to a suppression of the information links between summary financial information from the financial statements on the entry into the transformation and the summarized financial information in the form of an opening balance sheet of the successor company.

Currently, increasing emphasis is placed on performance measurement and management. The paper is concerned with the connection between the performance of an enterprise in general and financial performance. This connection has been naturally sustainably changing over time. Question of performance measurement is observed by a variety of functional disciplines. The paper emphasizes the necessity to bring a diverse body of knowledge of performance measurement issues into a coherent whole. In subsequent part it deals with summarizing the most important developmental tendencies of financial performance measurement and management accounting and with analysing of the relation of performance management and management accounting.

This paper analyses some reasons why strategic management accounting was not widely accepted. After initial boom of strategic management accounting there is stagnation in recent year. Application of strategic management accounting in practice does not exceed pilot case study. Strategic management accounting lessons are not commonly included in educational programs. Finally researches on strategic management accounting have only limited results. Paper is based on literature review and empirical research.

The globalization of the world economy is accompanied by changes in volume and structure of international trade, capital flows and human migration. The paper focuses on theoretical aspects of recent changes in the area of international harmonization of accounting through the adoption of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), migration and foreign direct investments with the emphasis on their mutual interdependencies.

The paper is oriented to the area of management and decision making of company owners and managers. The absolute synthetic performance criterion Economic Value Added represents the criterion of the residual income and managerially measured profit. Concrete questions must be solved with the ascertainment of this financial criterion as for example how correctly to measure capital costs, how to determine the right amount of the investment capital and return on investment capital, eventually return on assets, or how to work with the time horizon in the measurement of Economic Value Added, because this criterion should be presented also as the important tool of the transformation of strategic targets on tactical time periods and to lower structural levels of investment and profitability responsibility centers. Economic Value Added should serve as one of criteria of investment decision and as criterion of the appraisal of managerial decision making, because just managers are responsible for the economical process and results of the main operating activities.

Measurement represents one of the most important methodological elements of accounting because it affects the overall informative ability of financial statements. The chosen method of valuation affects not only the amount of assets and liabilities, but the size of costs and revenues of the entity as well; therefore it has a major impact on profit and solvency of insurance companies. Each accounting regulation - whether at national or supranational level - includes relatively thorough provisions related to valuation. In the Czech accounting system valuation is regulated by the Accounting law, which distinguishes between the initial valuation of assets and liabilities (valuation at the transaction date) and the subsequent valuation of assets and liabilities "at the end of the reporting date". However, the Czech definition of fair value at the national level is different from IFRS at the supranational level, which causes issues with reporting assets and liabilities of insurance companies. By 2015, a new IFRS is expected to be issued, dealing with insurance reporting issues, including "fair value". This new standard is expected to address current deficiencies in insurance reporting guidance.

The paper concerns measuring and reporting of financial performance of an enterprise. Currently increasing emphasis is placed on performance measurement and management. Within performance measurement and management in general the role of financial performance is becoming increasingly important. The paper is concerned with measuring and reporting of financial performance of an enterprise primarily from manager's point of view. In its first part it deals primarily with the connection between the performance of an enterprise in general and financial performance. In subsequent part it is about the relation of performance management and management accounting. The next part of the paper is devoted to the dual concept of financial and management accounting and to causes and consequences of the duality. Then it summarizes the most important developmental tendencies of financial performance measurement and management accounting.

In association with transactions involving businesses, acquisitions and mergers, etc., commercial law stipulates the new measurement of business assets and thus also net business assets. Similarly, financial accounting stipulates the new measurement of assets, liabilities and net assets with an impact on the amount and structure of equity. It is a principal question as to whether the new measurement bases required by both commercial law and financial accounting are in principal identical. Practice convinces us that the concepts provided in legislation (both commercial and accounting) differ in many cases and if a principle of precedence of the legal form over legal nature is applied, problems arise in respect to the main purpose of financial accounting, i.e. achieving a true and fair view. By stipulating the new measurement of business assets, commercial law intends to secure value objectivity of the relations between a company on the one side and its shareholders and statutory body members on the other (or between companies forming economic groups). Financial accounting focuses on new measurement at two levels: objective measurement on recognition - the acquisition of an asset, a group of assets or a business, or objective measurement as at the date of financial statements should the original measurement of the recognition of an asset or a liability would be significantly outdated and not reflective of the actual situation. It is essential that the discrepancies between the perspectives of commercial law and accounting legislation be analysed and removed in order to allow financial accounting to fulfil its basic purpose.

The aim of the paper is to comment continuing works on the project whose purpose is to state generally accepted requirements for professional competence of managerial accountants and controllers. In this regard, Draft for a common Statement which defines conceptual outcomes of the project is the subject of comments. Paper concludes that - despite the fact that Draft is the first step only - it brings substantial contributions: it has been leading to better understanding of differences which accompany this profession development in different part of globe and it enables better identification of common features, but also distinctions in profiles and professional orientations of professional accountants, auditors and professional accountants in business and of managerial accountants or controllers whose quality professional development is the principle aim of this project.

Measurement in financial accounting has been the most discussed issue in recent decades. The last very important result of the convergence process between IFRS and U.S. GAAP was adopting IFRS 13 - Fair Value Measurement in May 2011. The objective of IFRS 13 is to unify the approaches to determining fair value under IFRSs. The aim of this paper is to offer a comprehensive evaluation of the pros and cons that this standard brings.

Investigating impact of IFRS on the accounting regulatory system in the Czech Republic, there should be highlighted that IFRS were introduced into the regulatory system gradually as a separate regulatory system for determined group of accounting entities, on the other hand IFRS have had influence on the development of the local accounting rules during last decade. It was awaited by practitioners and academics too, that the process of deferred taxes reform will be finalized by issuing the Decree on accounting for business entities and by the Czech Accounting Standard on deferred taxes. But the reform as for deferred taxes was realized only partially and wasn't adopted a holistic approach of IFRS implementation into local national accounting regulatory system. Based on the criticism of partial implementation of IAS 12 into local accounting rules, this article is focused on comparability of Czech accounting rules for deferred taxes with IFRS for SME. Conclusion from this investigation might become fundamentals for similar European accounting systems to the Czech Republic.

The theme of article is the draft of ISO 14051-Environmental Management - Material flow cost accounting - General framework, whose final form should be finished at the end of 2011 or later. This standard does not take in consideration the national particularity. Therefore, the main aim of this paper is to review how the concept of MFCA meets the Czech conditions. The MFCA (as one of cost accounting methods) is in Czech Republic a part of management accounting (MA), which coincides with the Anglo- Saxon concept. MA is a skeleton for other components of information system, closely connected with the physical process. The environmental management accounting (EMA) is based on the same concept: it could be defined as a "green MA". When defining EMA, we encounter many misleading inaccuracies and misunderstandings. Firstly, some believe that traditional management accounts generally detect only actual costs. From this, MFCA is defined as a (solely) accounting method. Secondly, EMA is segmented to physical part (PEMA) and monetary part (MEMA). This leads to obscure the substance of EMA. Implementation of costing methods has a long tradition in Czech Republic. Basic types of traditional costing methods (unlike MFCA) have been derived from the conditions, under which specific production process continues. MFCA adoption in our conditions should be comprehended as an upgrading and enhancement of the traditional methods, not as their suppression.

Timely financial reporting is an essential ingredient for a well-functioning capital market. The objectives of this study are two-fold. First, to measure the extend of timeliness in a developing country, Turkey. Second, to establish the impact of both company specific and audit related factors on timeliness of financial reporting in Turkey. This study reports on the results of an empirical investigation of the timeliness of financial reports by 211 non-financial companies listed on the Istanbul Stock Exchange. The descriptive analysis indicates that 59% of the companies that prepares separate financial statements and 66% of the companies that prepares consolidated financial statements release their financial statements less than the maximum time allowed after the financial yearend. 28% of the companies that prepares separate financial statements and 16% of the companies that prepares consolidated financial statements exceeded the regulatory deadline. The multivariate regression analysis indicates that both sign of income, audit opinion, auditor firm and industry affect timeliness. The findings indicate that the companies that report net income, that have standard audit opinion, and that are operating in manufacturing industry release their financial statements earlier. On the other hand, it is found that the companies that are audited by big four audit firms are late reporters.

This paper re-examines the effects that adoption of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) has had on financial reporting of French listed firms. By analysing the 2004 financial statements of CAC 40 companies, we show that the transition to the IAS/IFRS has a significant impact on the return on equity (ROE) of considered firms by increasing it by 25 basis points on average, compared to the French GAAP. This finding thus suggests an amplified degree of discordance between the ROE, as a crucial measure of firm performance, and the value creation process following the IFRS adoption. From a theoretical viewpoint, Merton (1987)'s capital asset pricing model (CAPM) with incomplete information, which claims its convergence to its traditional version through the reduction of information costs, cannot in fact be valid, owing to divergences in the assessment of a firm's performance.

Market situation and business environment of construction companies influence significantly decisions met by this group of entities. These decisions are reflected in financial statements, later on. The evaluation of financial condition, which aims at diagnosing corporate crisis, must not disregard a market situation. Taking this assumption into account a classification of publicly quoted construction companies using k-means method was conducted. This procedure enabled to divide the examined sample into five clusters of companies characterized by 'the best', 'good', 'acceptable', 'weak' and 'the poorest' financial condition. The application of the aforementioned algorithm helped also to determine levels of financial ratios typical for each cluster. This kind of analytical approach is particularly useful for investors, since it informs how particular companies perform in comparison to their competitors.

The paper concerns measuring and reporting of financial performance of an enterprise from external user's point of view. Basic approach of the paper is the analysis of the Income Statement as amended by US GAAP. If it is appropriate wording of US GAAP is enriched by requirement of IAS/IFRS. The paper comes from following premise: Advanced accounting systems of the world could be rich sources of inspiration that would help to improve the Czech accounting legislation, the Czech accounting standards and their interpretations. Where it is appropriate the paper also brings inspiration for solving partial inconsistencies between IAS / IFRS and US GAAP. It gives some recommendations for continuing the harmonization process of both accounting systems in the field of measuring and reporting of financial performance.

Both the legal and accounting conceptual differences in national legislations regulating mergers may be quite significant in spite of the unification processes taking place via the transposition of EU directives into national law. Most often, we find differences in the following issues: If there is a re-measurement or no re-measurement during mergers, and where re-measurement is required, the manner of its reflection in the accounting records in accordance with national regulations, usually as a modification of a general accounting method used for a purchase; The date of acquisition (balance sheet date) versus the date of coming into force by means of an entry in the prescribed register; The existence or non-existence of a duty to prepare special purpose financial reports whose consolidation is used to determine values in the opening balance sheet of the legal successor of a merger of the businesses of the participating companies; The determination of an opening balance sheet by consolidating the special purpose financial reports or the participating companies, but - technically - by means of accounting entries by which the successor takes over the business of a liquidated company and its assets and liabilities, i.e. a de facto accounting procedure as used for booking the contribution of a business. From a formally legal point of view, these discrepancies represent obstacles in implementing crossborder mergers. If we do not take into consideration potentially inaccurate terminology arising from the translation of the EU directive regulating cross-border mergers, there is a solution based on the direction implied already in the 1980's by International Accounting Standards, i.e. to understand both domestic and cross-border mergers as business combinations and to build both commercial law and accounting law for this area on the common concept whose expression is a de facto general accounting method used for purchases.

This article investigates the impact of IAS 12 on deferred taxes regulation in the Czech Republic, where local accounting regulations includes accounting standards only by names, but not as an output of regular due process and which are not issued by the professional accounting body at all, not even partially. The article deals with the development and description of the Czech accounting system from early nineties of last century till present time as a background for IFRS implementation. Then the article followed subsequent steps of IAS 12 implementation into the hierarchy of legal rules for accounting, starting with the Act on accounting, decree on business entities and Czech accounting standard for deferred taxes. IAS 12 implementation into Czech accounting system is an example of partial and incomplete implementation of IFRS into domestic accounting rules based on different law presumption than under which are IFRS developed. Example of IAS 12 implementation into Czech accounting regulatory system, provide the reader clear demonstration of wrong philosophy how to reach comparable accounting information. Based on the published criticism, the recommendation is not to continue in partial IFRS implementation but make good rule for entities to allow them to choose either full IFRS or domestic rules applicable in compliance with the approach "think small first".

In order to join the European Union, Romania, as well as the other member countries, must accomplish certain criteria, among which we can mention the adopting of the acquis communautaire. Thus, two Guidelines can be considered the basis of the acquis communautaire for the field of the accounting of the corporations: The Fourth Guideline of the Counsel (78/660/EEC) concerning the yearly accounts of the business corporations and the Seventh Guideline of the Counsel (83/349/EEC) concerning the consolidated accounts of the business corporations. Since these two guidelines does not cover the banking industry and the insurance industry, there were adopted two Guidelines in order to cover the problems that appear in the yearly accounts (financial situations) of these two sectors (The Accounts Guideline of the Banking Industry from 1986 and The Accounts Guideline of the of the Insurance Industry from 1991). These four Guidelines are considered to be the fundamental pillars of the acquis, with relevance.

The objective of the article is to define rules for establishing a high quality costing system to measure the costs of products, customers, and other cost objects in a manufacturing enterprise. The pros and cons of all existing costing methods are discussed in the article, as are the methods themselves. Furthermore, their allocation principles are investigated, along with the nature of costs and the behavior of cost elements in major enterprises. One expectation is that different principles of cost allocation will have to be applied to different types of costs, based on their relation to the output of a company's processes. Initially, several analyses are performed in order to identify the methods that prove insufficient for effective and accurate cost allocation. These methods, despite their inaccuracies, are very frequently used in practice. Also, cost elements or cost pools inside an organization, which tend to be hard to allocate accurately, are identified. Secondly, several implementation projects on the activity-based costing system, have been analyzed in order to consider the effectiveness of utilizing such a system in a manufacturing enterprise. Furthermore, the general rules for allocating cost pools or activity costs are outlined. Thirdly, different principles for cost allocation are defined for individual cost elements. The result of the article is to define the rules for implementing a costing system which provides accurate and correct information. These rules should provide for a compromise between the use of a traditional absorption costing system and the activity-based costing system, by pointing out the most important allocation principles.

The balance sheet presents the liquidities balance and the liquidity equivalents of the company at the end of the period. By examining the balances referring to the two consecutive periods, it can be stated that if the liquidities and the liquidity equivalents have increased or have decreased during the period. But the balance does not indicate why these balances have varied during the exercise. The profit and loss balance presents the information related to incomes, expenses and the results due to the different activities - key-points regarding the sources and the use of the liquidities and the liquidity equivalents, but this financial situation does not explain why the respective elements have increased or decreased. Even further, not on fewer occasions behind some significant profits, the profit and loss balance can hide serious treasury problems of the company.

Our research follows the path of fair value as a term and concept, as well as its disclosure, measurement and recognition back from 1953 until our days, and analyzes the regulations issued by United States Accounting Standard setters, through the point of view of the historical events, which led to their appearance. Our study brings its' contribution to complementing growing literature on the value relevance of fair value, but focuses on the assessment of fair value as a financial reporting standard for financial instruments. The objective of the paper is to link the regulations with the historical events, which have guided them to their current shape and meaning. In doing so, we identified several key issues, which need to be analyzed, and through which we draw our conclusions after a closer analysis of SFAS's foresights. In financial reporting, United States and International Accounting Standard setters have issued several disclosures, measurement and recognition standards for financial instruments. We conclude our study noticing how all indications are that both standard setters mandate recognition of financial instruments at fair value, despite all fingers currently being pointed toward fair value as a "scape goat" for the recent events. The relevance of the study is emphasized when looking through the lens of the current financial crisis, derivative financial instruments being a central element. With Churchill's words and believe in our thoughts, "the deeper we can look into the past, the farther we'll see into the future" we plead for fair value assessment by underlying its advantages, while being aware of its limitations.

The paper deals with cross-border mergers that may be performed either out of or into the Czech Republic and focuses on the accounting and tax aspects of these transactions. Attention was also paid to the most important legal requirements imposed on merger projects and the net assets valuations. The Directive 2005/56/EC brought in new possibilities of business transformations across the EU member states' borders. Income tax advantages that may be gained in cross-border mergers were implemented by virtue of the Directive 90/434/EEC. It may be difficult to meet stringent requirements that are conditional upon enjoyment of the neutral tax treatment.

There are two important points in which in which we need assets and liabilities measured in financial accounting: on initial recognition and at a balance sheet day. Many International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) used the fair value measurement concept. But most of these standards use the fair value measurement method only at a balance sheet day. On initial recognition assets and liabilities are measured usually at costs. The IASB presented the discussion paper "Measurement Bases for Financial Accounting - Measurement on Initial Recognition (2005)" which proposed fair value measurement on initial recognition for all assets and liabilities. This article is aimed on assessment of risks arising from extending fair value measurement using and on issue of fair value measurement in time of financial crisis.

Strategic managerial decisions have the great influence on the growing performance of the company as an accounting entity and the successfulness in its business today. Managerial decisions on the strategic level of the management are concerned with the existing internal organizational and economic, responsibility structure of the accounting entity, which must create own strategy system in order to prosper under conditions of the external competitive environment. The strategic management is the conceptual and long-term starting point of the complete management. New costing methods, i. e. using of the target costing and life cycle costing, belong to the areas of the output oriented management and are applied in the strategic (long-term) management of product costs.

The paper analyses the possibility of using the economic concept of income introduced by J. R. Hicks for accounting purposes. Despite some disadvantages hindering from its broader practical utilization, this concept still finds its place in the area of managerial accounting and capital maintenance. Some aspects of Hicks' income concepts can be even found in International Financial Reporting Standards.

The differing opinions of both experts and managers on the application of budgets in the dynamic changing business environment were inspiration for the empirical study that is oriented on the importance of budgets to performance management. The paper results from the empirical research. Analyses and conclusions presented in this paper cover the following issue: The first part analyses changes in the application of budgets in recent years and the indicators of these changes. The second part is oriented on the opinions of managers of budgets and explores whether managers consider budgets an important management tool supporting and improving Corporate Governance. Analyses concentrate also on differences between the attitudes of financial and nonfinancial managers and between middle level and top managers. The last part of the project focuses on recognition of factors that have an influence on budget consideration such as methods of budget preparation, manager participation in budgeting process, level of power and responsibility managers, relation to incentive scheme, and the personal characteristics of managers.

This article investigates statement that IFRS have positive impact on the regulatory system in continental European countries. The accounting regulatory system is used for the purpose of investigation. Authors of the paper developed theoretical scenarios of potential development of the accounting system in the Czech Republic. Rigid architecture of the accounting system, rigid set of accounting rules with no tradition of accounting profession, were considered in the development of potential accounting systems in the Czech Republic. Steps of IFRS implementation are monitored and partial implementation of IFRS into Czech accounting standards are under the criticism of the authors. There is a definite endeavour of the Ministry of Finance to implement some of the best practise of accounting professionals, worldwide respected, into the Czech accounting standards. This endeavour brings sometime very complicated situations and causes breakdown of the accounting system. The paper emphasizes on the most urgent issues. The study provides clear evidence under which conditions, in the system with continental European law, could the national accounting standards be developed through a formal system of due process. It can therefore be assumed that the impact of IFRS on accounting regulatory system in other continental European countries is similar.

The European Union (EU) Regulation 1606/2002 requires all listed companies of the member states to prepare consolidated financial statements based on the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2005. The adoption of IFRS is supported in many countries inside and outside the European Union because it may improve the quality and comparability of financial reporting. In addition to the use of IFRS by listed companies and in some countries also by unlisted companies, many countries have developed their own national accounting standards based on the international ones. Although the national standards are based on IFRS, they are not identical. The Czech Republic and Lithuania are transitional economies that joined the European Union in May 2004. The purpose of the paper is to compare national accounting standards of the Czech Republic and Lithuania with IFRS, look at approaches of these countries to aspects of financial reporting, and analyze differences and similarities in the approaches.

This paper aims to formulate some principal questions which should be used as start-point for design and analysis of the performance measurement conceptual framework. The paper is based on literature study followed by analysis and generalization. It reflects the diversity of approaches to performance measurement in performance-oriented literature and it investigates their similarities and differences. The paper is divided into two sections. First section defines performance measurement as a causal chain of activities and it deals with the role of subjectivity in this chain. Second section concerns common features of various performance models for organizational performance, namely motivational aspects of performance model design, users and purposes of performance information, hierarchical structure and time dimension of performance model etc.

The paper deals with the problem of identification of the requirements that should be ful-filled by modern corporate performance management systems. In the first part of the article the essence of corporate performance management was depicted very briefly taking into ac-count the evolution of management accounting. Next, the overview of different ideas on the subject was presented and some opinions taken from literature were discussed. On this basis the original and comprehensive set of criteria treated as the requirements for performance management systems was proposed.