Harmonization

This study focuses on practicing accountants in Saudi Arabia to examine their readiness to adopt the mandatory International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). More specifically, it investigates the International Accounting Standard for Inventories, an indicator for accountants' understanding of IFRS requirements. To do so, we conduct an online questionnaire survey, which reveals that 52.27% accountants may not be ready for IFRS implementation. The lack of knowledge about certain IAS 2 requirements raises further concerns about accountants' readiness to implement more complicated IFRS, some of which have no comparable local financial accounting standards. These findings draw attention to the effectiveness of IFRS training courses. Further, 57.20% accountants, all of whom reviewed the Saudi Organization for Certified Public Accountants' (SOCPA) website, provided appropriate answers, indicating SOCPA's significant contribution toward the spreading of awareness and knowledge about IFRS. Our findings have implications for practitioners and accounting regulators as well as bodies responsible for standardizing accounting practices in Saudi Arabia. In particular, they suggest steps necessary to increase accountants' readiness for IFRS adoption, which became mandatory since January 1, 2017, for all listed companies. In conclusion, this study serves as a foundation for future research on the topic, which can be extended to the realm of auditors, and obstacles confronting accountants in IFRS implementation.

-ÖZET-
Türkiye hemen her dönemde başka ülkelerden gelen sığınmacılara kapısını açan ve onları
ağırlayan bir ülke olmuştur. Körfez Savaşı sırasında Irak sınırından çok sayıda mülteci Türkiye’ye
giriş yapmış, uzun süre sınıra yakın bir bölgede misafir edilmişlerdir. Ancak 2011 yılında, Suriye’de,
başlayan iç savaşın giderek şiddetlenmesi sonucunda, civar ülkelere önemli oranda mülteci akını
başlamıştır. Suriye ile en uzun sınıra sahip ülke olan Türkiye, gittikçe küresel bir dalga haline gelen
bu göçten en çok etkilenen ve en çok sığınma talep edilen ülkelerden biri olmuştur. Mülteci sayıları
büyük rakamlara ulaştıkça, sınıra yakın kentlerde kurulan kamplar yeterli olmamıştır. Göç dalgası
diğer kentlere doğru yayılmaya başlamıştır. Böylece bu göçler ülkenin tamamını, nerdeyse her şehrini
etkileyen bir mülteci sorununu doğurmuştur. Dolayısıyla yerleşim yerlerinde mültecilere yönelik
hizmetler için yeni politikalar üretme zorunluluğunu ortaya çıkarmıştır.
Bu süreçte mültecilerin güvenlik ve korunma gibi hayatî ve öncelikli problemlerinden sonra
sağlık, barınma, gıda, adalet, eğitim, istihdam gibi sığınmanın sürdürülebilirliği ve entegrasyon
açısından gerekli şartların hazırlanması önem arz etmektedir. Bu imkânların sunulmasında, kamu
kurumları yanında, yerel yönetimler, sivil toplum örgütleri hatta özel sektör kuruluşları mültecilerle
ilgili çalışmalar yapmış, bu sorunların çözümünde önemli roller üstlenmişlerdir. Ancak, mültecilerin
kente uyumu ve mültecilerle ilgili hizmet ve politikaların gerçekleştirilmesinde en önemli görev yerel
yönetimlere düşmektedir. Ancak, bazı çalışmalarda yerel yönetimlerin mültecilere yönelik politikalar
üretme konusunda istenen düzeyde olmadıkları belirtilmektedir. Böyle bir göç dalgasına karşı
hazırlıksız ve deneyimsiz oldukları ifade edilmektedir.
Bu çalışmada, özellikle Suriyeli sığınmacılarla birlikte bütün kentlerimizde görülmeye başlayan
göç ve mülteci sorunları analiz edilecektir. Küresel etkileri de görülen bu sorunların daha ziyade yerel
etkileri gözlemlenmektedir. Bu sebeple, sorunlara yerelden başlayarak çözümler geliştirilmesi
gerekmektedir. Bu çalışmada, göç sorunlarının çözülmesinde, mültecilerin kente uyum sağlamasında,
onlara yönelik politika ve hizmetlerin gerçekleştirilmesinde yerel yönetimlerin rolü ve önemi
incelenecektir. Son olarak, bazı örnek belediyelere ait öne çıkan hizmet ve politikalar üzerinde
durulacaktır.
***
-ABSTRACT-
Turkey has always been a country that opens the door and welcomes to the refugees from other
countries. During the Gulf War, many refugees from the Iraqi border entered Turkey. They have been
hosted in a region near the border for a long time. However, as a result of the intensification of the
civil war that started in Syria in 2011, significant numbers of refugee began to flourish in neighboring
countries. Turkey, which has the longest border with Syria, has become one of the most affected
countries from this migration which has become a global wave. In this process, Turkey has become
one of the most requested countries for asylum. As the numbers of refugees reach large numbers, the
camps established in cities near the border have become inadequate. The wave of migration has begun
to spread to other cities. Thus, these immigrations have caused a refugee problem affecting the whole
of the country, almost every city. Therefore, it has revealed the necessity to produce new policies for
the services for the refugees in the settlements.
In this process, the vital and priority problems of refugees such as security and protection have
been resolved in great measure. From now on, it is important to prepare the necessary conditions for
the sustainability and integration of asylum; like health, housing, food, justice, education,
employment. In presenting these opportunities, besides public institutions, local governments, nongovernmental
organizations and even private sector organizations have worked and played important
roles in the solving problems of refugees. However, the most important role in the integration of the
refugees to the cities and in the realization of the services and policies related to the refugees falls into
the local governments. However, in some studies it is stated that local governments are not at the
desired level to make policies for refugees. It is stated that they are unprepared and inexperienced
towards such a wave of immigration.
In this study, migration and refugee problems that have started to be seen in all our cities,
especially with Syrian asylum seekers, will be analyzed. These migration problems are seen as global
effects, but more local effects are observed. For this reason, it is necessary to develop solutions
starting from the local problems. This study will examine the role and importance of local
governments in resolving immigration problems, in the integration of refugees to the city, and in
implementing policies and services for the refugees. Finally, it will focus on prominent services and
policies of some sample municipalities.

Although the origin of professional codes of ethics can be traced back to ancient Greece, their peak was in the late twentieth century with more than 70% of codes of ethics being created after 1990. Today professional ethical standards are formulated as codes of ethics, sets of principles or guidelines, declarations, conventions, charters, or laws, and they differ in scope, form, and content. As there is no consensus on what is meant by “research ethics” and “research integrity,” both concepts are clarified here.

Codes of ethics for scientists are often written in reaction to misconduct cases. However, the sudden boom in codes of ethics is also related to growing pressures upon scientists and the conflicting duties they face. Solutions to the issue of vast number of codes and guidelines – creating a few universal general codes for research or harmonization of existing documents – are also both problematic. A universal code makes sacrifices on the level of content to gain acceptance internationally, and differences in values will continue to pose ethical dilemmas and conflict.

The main obstacles and solutions in order to make codes of ethics work better are highlighted. It is argued that the process of drafting codes of ethics should be inclusive. To engage people real-life cases should be discussed for clarifying implicit values. Implementation requires skills or moral discussion and substantiation of positions. Codes of ethics, the shared understanding of values should be sought within professions. Declared and actual values should be in coherence both in the leadership of the organization and organizational culture.

El presente artículo centra la atención en identificar los elementos que deben ser objeto de perfeccionamiento en las Normas Cubanas de Contabilidad relacionadas con las operaciones en moneda extranjera, como parte del proceso de armonización con las Normas Internacionales de Información Financiera (NIIF). Se realiza una sistematización de las teorías y normativas de alcance internacional y un análisis comparativo de la norma cubana con la norma internacional. Se concluye que las operaciones económicas internacionales constituyen una práctica extendida a la que la profesión contable ha brindado atención; se demuestra que, aunque el proceso de armonización con las NIIF está en desarrollo con significativos avances, es aún bajo; y se identifican los principales elementos de la norma que deberán perfeccionarse.

The aim of this paper is to present the main challenges of fiscal policies in Kosovo. Furthermore,
we have presented some legal procedural alternatives to to eliminate deficiencies of fiscal
policies in Kosovo. One of the main challenges of fiscal policies in Kosovo that also other
countries are are facing with in different periods is the harmonization of national legislation
with EU legislation regarding the fiscal policies. Principally there are some similarities of the
legislation regarding fiscal policies with EU, but the dissatisfaction arises because the
application of these dispositions is not done in professional way and often the distribution of
the state budget is done in regions and municipalities that bring less revenues than the budget
they receive and this disbalanced fiscal policy have negatively influenced in the financial and
fiscal stability of the country. The Republic of Kosova principally is an unitary state and the fiscal
revenues are concentrated in the budget of the state, but there is no an equitable distribution
in the regions or municipalities that have contributed in attracting taxes and levies. The
government gives more budget to the favorite municipalities and this is not a violation of the
law but is a violation of principles of democracy because who pay more taxes also should
receive more revenues.
Key words: Fiscal policies, legislation harmonization, financial and fiscal stability, State budget,
legal procedural alternative