Chapter 2 - Financial Reporting - Its Conceptual Framework

CHAPTER
2
OBJECTIVES
After reading this chapter,
you will be able to:
1 Explain the FASB conceptual framework.
2 Understand the relationship among the
objectives of financial
reporting.
3 Identify the general
objective of financial
reporting.
4 Describe the three specific objectives of financial reporting.
5 Discuss the types of
useful information for
investment and credit
decision making.
6 Explain the qualities of
useful accounting
information.
7 Understand the
accounting assumptions and principles
that influence GAAP.
8 Define the elements of
financial statements.
Financial Reporting:
Its Conceptual Framework
If Its Broken ... Fix It!
U.S. GAAP is widely considered the most complete and welldeveloped set of accounting standards in the world. However,
because of the recent accounting scandals, U.S. accounting standards have come under increasing criticism as being too rulesbased. Some have also questioned the role of accounting
standards in facilitating these financial reporting failures. The criticisms of U.S. accounting standards are that they had become too
long and complex, contained too many percentage tests (bright
lines), and allowed numerous exceptions to the principles underlying the standards. Together, the rules-based nature of the standard is seen to have fostered a check-the-box mentality that
allowed financial engineers to comply with the letter of the standard while not always showing the underlying reality of the transaction. In its review of U.S. accounting standards, the Securities
and Exchange Commission (SEC) noted that the lease accounting rules are made up of approximately 16 FASB Statements and
Interpretations, 9 Technical Bulletins, and more than 30 EITF
Abstracts. Also, there are more than 800 pages of accounting
guidance relating to derivatives. One prominent controller
described recently issued accounting guidance as a mistake that
was so complicated that organizations are uncertain if they can
even follow the rules. What is the solution?
The SEC has recommended that future accounting standards
should not follow a rules-based, nor principles-only approach, but
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Credit: Image Source
should be objectivesoriented. This principlesbased standard setting
F O R F U R T H E R I N V E S T I G AT I O N
For a discussion of principles-
Study Pursuant to Section
approach should be built on
based accounting standards
an improved and consistently
and the implications for
Oxley Act of 2002 on the
applied conceptual frame-
accounting standard setting,
Adoption by the United
consult the Business &
States Financial Reporting
Company Resource Center
System of a Principles-
(BCRC) and the Internet:
Based Accounting System,
Defining Principles-Based
provide sufficient detail and
Securities and Exchange
Accounting Standards.
Commission, http://www.
structure so that the standard
Rebecca Toppe Shortridge,
sec.gov/news/studies/
can be applied consistently,
Mark Myring, The CPA
principlesbasedstand.htm.
work. This framework should

clearly state the accounting
objective of the standard,
minimize exceptions to the

standard, and avoid the use of
108(d) of the Sarbanes-
Journal, 0732-8435, August

2004, v74 i8 p34(4).
bright-line tests. The development of objectives-oriented standards should improve the relevance, reliability, and
comparability of financial information resulting in more meaningful and informative
financial statements.
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Chapter 2 Financial Reporting: Its Conceptual Framework
As we saw in Chapter 1, accounting standards were developed in the United States by the
Committee on Accounting Procedure (CAP) and the Accounting Principles Board (APB)
before the inception of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). The CAP and
the APB were not able to develop a broad, normative conceptual framework of accounting theory. The APB did issue APB Statement No. 4, Basic Concepts and Accounting
Principles Underlying Financial Statements of Business Enterprises. However, this document described current practice instead of what should be appropriate accounting.
Although the CAP and APB considered some accounting concepts in setting of accounting standards, generally this was limited to the concepts related to the particular accounting issue at hand. This led, at times, to accounting principles that were inconsistently
applied from one issue to another. These inconsistencies led to political pressure on the
FASB to develop a general set of concepts and principles to guide its standard setting. In
this chapter we discuss the FASBs conceptual framework of accounting theory. This
framework includes:
the objectives of financial reporting

the types of useful accounting information
the qualitative characteristics of accounting information
accounting assumptions and principles
We also include a brief review of generally accepted accounting principles and financial
statements.
FASB CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

Conceptual
The FASB has been given two charges. First, it is to develop a conceptual framework of
accounting theory. Second, it is to establish standards (generally accepted accounting
principles) for financial accounting practice. The intent is to develop a theoretical
foundation of interrelated objectives and concepts that leads to the establishment of
consistent financial accounting standards. In other words, the conceptual framework
should provide a logical structure and direction to financial accounting and reporting.
This conceptual framework is expected to:
1. guide the FASB in establishing accounting standards
2. provide a frame of reference for resolving accounting questions in situations where
a standard does not exist
3. determine the bounds for judgment in the preparation of financial statements
4. increase users understanding of and confidence in financial reporting
5. enhance comparability
1 Explain the
FASB conceptual framework.
The FASB expects that the conceptual framework will encourage companies to provide
financial (and related) information that is useful in efficiently allocating scarce economic
resources in capital and other markets.1
Exhibit 2-1 shows the relationship among the objectives, concepts, and standards,
their purposes, and the documents issued by the FASB. The outputs of the conceptual
framework are Statements of Financial Accounting Concepts; to date, seven have been issued.
The outputs of the standard-setting process are Statements of Financial Accounting
Standards: to date 154 have been issued. The many statements of standards are required
to identify the preferable accounting practice from the various alternatives that arise in
response to the changing, dynamic business environment. As much as possible, the FASB
considers its conceptual framework in establishing these standards.
1.
This discussion is based on a background paper, The Conceptual Framework Project, Financial
Accounting Standards Board (Stamford, Conn., 1980).
FASB Conceptual Framework
EXHIBIT 2-1
Terms
Purpose
Documents
Relationship of FASB Conceptual Framework and Standard-Setting Process

Conceptual Framework
Standard Setting
Objectives and Concepts
Standards
Identify goals and

purpose of accounting
Guide the selection of

events to be accounted
for, the measurement of
these events, and the
means of summarizing
and communicating
the information to
external users
Statements of Financial
Accounting Concepts
Establish methods and

procedures for
measuring, summarizing,
and communicating
financial accounting
information to
external users
Statements of Financial
Accounting Standards
Because of the large task, the FASB divided its conceptual framework activities into
several projects. Exhibit 2-2 shows these projects. The first project dealt with identifying
the objectives of financial reporting. This project resulted in FASB Statement of Financial
Accounting Concepts No. 1, Objectives of Financial Reporting by Business Enterprises.
This document established the focus of the remaining projects, which are divided into
two groups (accounting and reporting). The Qualitative Characteristics Project linked
together the accounting and reporting projects, as illustrated by the dashed lines in
Exhibit 2-2. It also resulted in FASB Statement of Financial Accounting Concepts No. 2,
Qualitative Characteristics of Accounting Information.
The accounting projects define the accounting elements (e.g., assets, liabilities, revenues, expenses) and identify which elements should be reported, when they should be
reported (recognized), and how they should be measured.2 The reporting projects deal
with how the elements of financial reports are displayed. Important issues include general questions such as what information should be provided, who should be required to
provide the information, and where the information should be presented. Also included
are more specific questions about income and its components, as well as cash flow and
its components.
The FASB has issued several Statements of Concepts that deal with one or more of these
accounting and reporting projects. FASB Statement of Financial Accounting Concepts No. 3
was issued in 1980. However, this Statement of Concepts was replaced in 1986 by FASB
Statement of Financial Accounting Concepts No. 6, Elements of Financial Statements.
FASB Statement of Financial Accounting Concepts No. 5, Recognition and Measurement in
Financial Statements of Business Enterprises, was issued in 1984.3 FASB Statement of
Financial Accounting Concepts No. 7, Using Cash Flow Information and Present Value in
Accounting Measurements, was issued in 2000. An Exposure Draft, FASB Proposed Statement
2.
3.
For a discussion of these and other issues, see L. T. Johnson and R. K. Storey, Recognition in Financial
Statements: Underlying Concepts and Practical Conventions, Research Report (Stamford, Conn.: FASB, 1982).
FASB Statement of Financial Accounting Concepts No. 4, titled Objectives of Financial Reporting by
Nonbusiness Organizations, has also been issued but is not discussed in this book.
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EXHIBIT 2-2
Conceptual Framework Projects for Financial Accounting and Reporting

Objectives
Project
Accounting
Projects
Reporting
Projects
Qualitative
Characteristics Project
Elements
Financial Statements
and Financial Reporting
Recognition
Income
Measurement
Cash Flow
and Liquidity
Adapted from Figure 1 in The Conceptual Framework Project, Financial Accounting Standards Board (Stamford,
Conn., 1980).
of Financial Accounting Concepts, Reporting Income, Cash Flows, and Financial Position of
Business Enterprises, was issued regarding the reporting projects. In addition, several working
documents dealing with both accounting and reporting issues were published that may eventually lead to the issuance of other statements of financial accounting concepts. We discuss the
Statements of Concepts dealing with the elements, recognition and measurement, and reporting of income and cash flows in Chapters 4 and 5.
In this chapter we discuss the first two Statements of Concepts dealing with the objectives of financial reporting and the qualitative characteristics of accounting information.
We also discuss parts of the Exposure Draft dealing with types of useful information.
OBJECTIVES OF FINANCIAL REPORTING

Conceptual
2 Understand the
relationship
among the
objectives of
financial
reporting.
In its first concepts statement, the FASB stated that the objectives of financial reporting
are those of general-purpose external reporting by companies. That is, the objectives relate
to a variety of external users as opposed to specific internal users, such as management.
These external users do not have the authority to prescribe the financial information they
desire from a particular company. Therefore, they must use the information that the management of the company communicates to them.4
The FASB identified several objectives of financial reporting. These objectives proceed
from the more general to the more specific. We show these objectives in Exhibit 2-3 and
discuss them in the following sections.5
4.
5.
Objectives of Financial Reporting by Business Enterprises, FASB Statement of Financial Accounting

Concepts No. 1 (Stamford, Conn.: FASB, 1978), par. 28.
The discussion in this section primarily is a summary of that presented by the FASB in its Objectives of
Financial Reporting by Business Enterprises.
Objectives of Financial Reporting
EXHIBIT 2-3
General
Objective
Provide information that is useful to

present and potential investors,
creditors, and other users in making
rational investment, credit, and
similar decisions
Derived External
User
Objective
Provide information that is useful to

present and potential investors,
creditors, and other users in assessing
the amounts, timing, and uncertainty
of prospective cash receipts from
dividends and interest, and the
proceeds from the sale, redemption,
or maturity of securities or loans
Derived Company
Objective
Provide information to help investors,

creditors, and others in assessing
the amounts, timing, and
uncertainty of prospective net cash
inflows to the related company
Specific
Objectives
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Provide information
about a companys
economic resources,
obligations, and
owners equity
Provide information
about a companys
comprehensive
income
and its components
Provide
information
about a companys
cash flows
Information Useful in Decision Making

The top of Exhibit 2-3 shows the most general objective. This objective states that
financial reporting should provide useful information for present and potential
investors, creditors, and other external users in making their investment, credit, and
similar decisions. Investors include both equity security holders (stockholders) and debt
security holders (bondholders). Creditors include suppliers, customers and employees
with claims, individual lenders, and lending institutions. Other external users include
brokers, lawyers, security analysts, and regulatory agencies. These external users are
expected to have a reasonable understanding of business and economic activities. They
are also expected to be willing to study carefully the information to comprehend it.
Information Useful to External Users in Assessing Future Cash Receipts

The second objective shown in Exhibit 2-3 relates to external users needs. It states that
financial reporting should provide information that is useful to external users in
assessing the amounts, timing, and uncertainty of prospective cash receipts. This
objective is important because individuals and institutions make cash outflows for
investing and lending activities primarily to increase their cash inflows. Whether or not
3 Identify the
general objective of financial
reporting.
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they are successful depends on the extent to which they receive a return of cash, goods, or
services greater than their investment or loan. That is, they must receive not only a return
of investment, but also a return on investment relative to the risk involved. Investment
and credit decisions involve choices between present and prospective future cash flows.
External users need financial information to help set expectations about the timing and
amount of prospective cash receipts (e.g., dividends, interest, proceeds from resale, or
repayment) and assess the risk involved.
Information Useful in Assessing Company Cash Flows

Since investors invest in and creditors lend to a particular company, their current and
prospective cash receipts are affected by the cash flows of the company. Thus, a third
objective shown in Exhibit 2-3 is that financial reporting should provide information
to help external users in assessing the amounts, timing, and uncertainty of the
prospective net cash inflows to the related company. This objective logically flows from
the second objective, because a company also invests cash in noncash resources to earn
more cash and receive a return on its investment in addition to a return of its investment.
A companys investment activities are more complex, however, than those of external
users. The company completes an operating cycle or cycles during which it acquires
goods or services, increases their value, sells the goods or services, and collects the selling
price. Within this operating cycle numerous cash receipts and payments are collected and
paid, in no precise order. The companys ability to generate net cash inflows
(i.e., cash inflows greater than cash outflows) affects both its ability to pay dividends and
interest and the market prices of its securities. These, in turn, affect investors and creditors cash flows.
Information About Economic Resources and Claims to These Resources

4 Describe the
three specific
objectives of
financial
reporting.
The most specific objectives in Exhibit 2-3 are those in the bottom tier, which indicate the
types of information that a company should provide in its financial reports. A specific
objective of financial reporting is to provide information about a companys economic
resources, obligations, and owners equity. This information is useful to external users
for four reasons:
to identify the companys financial strengths and weaknesses and to assess its
liquidity
to provide a basis for evaluating information about the companys performance
during a given period
to provide direct indications of the cash flow potentials of some resources and the
cash needed to satisfy obligations
to indicate the potential cash flows that are the joint result of combining various
resources in the companys operations
Information About Comprehensive Income and Its Components

Another specific objective of financial reporting is to provide information about a
companys financial performance during a specified period to help external users form
expectations about its future performance. The primary focus of financial reporting about a
companys performance is information concerning the companys comprehensive income
and its components. Information about comprehensive income is useful to external users in:
evaluating managements performance

estimating the companys earning power, or other amounts that are representative of long-term income-producing ability
predicting future income
assessing the risk of investing in or lending to the company
We discuss comprehensive income in Chapter 5.

The measurement of comprehensive income should relate (i.e., match) the costs
(sacrifices) of a companys operations to the benefits from its operations. The measurement should also include the benefits and costs of other nonoperating transactions,
events, and circumstances. This is accomplished by using accrual accounting. Under
accrual accounting the financial effects of a companys transactions, events, and circumstances having cash consequences are related to the period in which they occur instead of
to when the cash receipt or cash payment takes place.6
Information About Cash Flows

Although information about comprehensive income is important to external users,
another specific objective of financial reporting is to provide information about a
companys cash flows. Cash flow information shows how a company obtains and
spends cash for its operations, investments, borrowings, and capital transactions, including cash dividends and other distributions of company resources to owners. External
users use cash (or cash and cash equivalents) flow information about a company to:
help understand its operations

evaluate its financing and investing activities
assess its liquidity
interpret the comprehensive income information provided
Other Issues
The FASB raised two other important issues in FASB Statement of Concepts No. 1. First,
financial reporting should provide information about how the management of a
company has discharged its stewardship responsibility to owners (stockholders) for
using the company resources. The management is responsible to the owners for the custody
and safekeeping of the resources, their efficient and profitable use, and their protection
against unfavorable economic impacts, technological developments, and social changes.
Second, a companys financial statements and other means of financial reporting
should include explanations and interpretations by its management to help external
users understand the financial information provided. This is known as full disclosure.
Since a companys management knows more about the companys activities than
outsiders, the usefulness of financial information can be enhanced by, for instance:
explanations of certain transactions, events, and circumstances

interpretations of the effects on the financial results of dividing continuous operations into accounting periods
explanations of underlying assumptions or methods used and any related
significant uncertainties
The FASB established the qualitative characteristics (e.g., relevance, reliability) that
accounting information should possess to be included in financial reports in FASB
Statement of Concepts No. 2. We include them in the next section of this chapter. The FASB
includes definitions of the elements (e.g., assets, liabilities, revenues, and expenses) of
financial statements in FASB Statement of Concepts No. 6. We include them later in this
chapter. We discuss financial statement elements in Chapters 4 and 5.
The FASBs first step in developing its conceptual framework was to establish the
objectives of financial reporting. The FASB intends that these objectives will be guidelines
6.
FASB Statement of Concepts No. 1 originally used the term earnings instead of comprehensive income.
This latter term was substituted in FASB Statement of Concepts No. 5 because comprehensive income
includes more components. We discuss this issue more fully in Chapter 4.
Reporting
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for providing financial information for investment and credit decisions. Thus, these
guidelines will help in the efficient operation of the capital markets and in promoting the
efficient allocation of scarce resources.
5 Discuss the
types of useful
information for
investment and
credit decision
making.
Analysis
TYPES OF USEFUL INFORMATION

The general objective of financial reporting is to provide information that is useful in
investment and credit decision making. On a more specific level, a companys financial
reports should provide information to help external users assess the amounts, timing, and
uncertainty about its future net cash inflows. The FASB has identified five types of information as being useful in meeting this specific objective. Exhibit 2-4 shows the interrelationship of this useful information with financial reports and external decision making.
Return on Investment
Return on investment provides a measure of overall company performance. Shareholders

(stockholders) invest capital for a share of the equity (stockholders equity) of a company.
These investors are concerned with a return on capital. Before a company can provide a return
on capital, its capital must be maintained or recovered (i.e., first there must be a return of
capital to the company). Once a companys capital is maintained, the return on capital (i.e.,
comprehensive income) may be distributed to investors or may be retained by the company
for reinvestment.
Risk
Risk is the uncertainty or unpredictability of the future results of a company. The
greater the range within which a companys future results are likely to fall, the greater the
risk of an investment in or extension of credit to the company. Risk is caused by numerous factors including, for example, high rates of technological change, uncertainty about
demand, exposure to the effects of price changes, and political changes in the United
States and other countries. In general, the greater the risk of an investment in a particular
company, the higher the rate of return expected by investors (or the higher the rate of
interest charged by creditors).
EXHIBIT 2-4
Interrelationship of Financial Reports, Useful Information, and

Decision Making
Communication
Documents
Types of Useful
Information
External
Decision Making
Risk
Financial Reports
Buy
Hold
Sell
Financial Flexibility
Liquidity
Operating Capability
Extend Credit
Continue Credit
Deny Credit
Types of Useful Information
Financial flexibility is the ability of a company to use its financial resources to adapt to
change. Financial flexibility is important because it enables a company to respond to unexpected needs and opportunities. Financial flexibility comes from a companys ability to:
adapt operations to increase net operating cash inflows

raise new capital through, for instance, the sale of debt or stock securities at
short notice
obtain cash by selling assets without disrupting ongoing operations
Financial flexibility affects risk as well as cash flows. It reduces the risk of failure in the
event of a shortage in net cash flows from operations.
Liquidity
Liquidity refers to how quickly a company can convert its assets into cash to pay its
bills. Liquidity reflects an assets nearness to cash. For operating assets, liquidity relates
to the timing of cash flows in the normal course of business. For nonoperating assets,
liquidity refers to marketability. The liquidity of a company is an indication of its ability
to meet its obligations when they come due. Liquidity is positively related to financial
flexibility but negatively related to both risk and return on investment. A more liquid
company is likely to have a superior ability to adapt to unexpected needs and opportunities, as well as a lower risk of failure. On the other hand, liquid assets often offer lower
rates of return than nonliquid assets.
Operating capability refers to the ability of a company to maintain a given physical
level of operations. This level of operations may be indicated by (1) the quantity of
goods or services (e.g., inventory) of a specified quality produced in a given period or
(2) the physical capacity of the fixed assets (e.g., property, plant, and equipment).
Information about operating capability is helpful in understanding a companys past performance and in predicting future changes in its volume of activities. Operating capability may be affected by changes in methods of operations, changes in product lines, and
the timing of the replacement of the service potential used up in operations.7
S E C U R E Y O U R K N O W L E D G E 2-1
The conceptual framework consists of a coherent system of interrelated objectives and
concepts that prescribes the nature, function, and limitations of financial reporting.
The conceptual framework serves as a conceptual underpinning that provides a unified and consistent structure and direction to financial accounting and reporting that
allows the FASB to effectively fulfill its mission.
The objective of financial reporting is to provide information that is useful for external
users in making investment, credit, and similar decisions. More specifically, financial
reporting should provide information about a companys:
economic resources, obligations, and owners equity;
financial performance during a specified period of time; and
cash flows.
(continued)
7.
Reporting Income, Cash Flows, and Financial Position of Business Enterprises, FASB Proposed Statement
of Financial Accounting Concepts (Stamford, Conn.: FASB, 1981), par. 733.
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Financial reporting should provide information about how the management of a

company has discharged its stewardship responsibility and include explanations and
interpretations that help external users understand the financial information provided
(full disclosure).
Information relating to return on investment, risk, financial flexibility, liquidity and
operating capability is considered to be useful in assessing the amounts, timing, and
uncertainty of a companys future net cash flows.
Conceptual
QUALITATIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF USEFUL ACCOUNTING

INFORMATION
In the previous sections we discussed the types of information that are helpful in investment and credit decision making. But what are the characteristics of useful information?
The purpose of FASB Statement of Financial Accounting Concepts No. 2 is to specify the qualitative characteristics or ingredients that accounting information should have to be most
useful.8 These characteristics should be considered when choosing among accounting
alternatives, because these qualities distinguish more useful from less useful information.
Each accounting alternative, however, may possess more of one quality and less of
another. Although there is much agreement about the qualitative characteristics that
good accounting information should possess, no equation can determine which
information has the best combination of qualitative characteristics for decision-making
purposes. Furthermore, the FASB strives to meet the needs of all users through generalpurpose financial statements. However, the qualitative characteristics are still important
for establishing common accounting standards. The qualitative criteria are helpful to the
FASB in setting minimum and maximum limits of useful accounting information so
that it can develop logical accounting standards consistent with these limits.
Hierarchy of Qualitative Characteristics

6 Explain the
qualities of useful accounting
information.
Exhibit 2-5 shows a hierarchy of the qualitative characteristics of accounting information.

This section presents an overview of the hierarchy, after which we define and discuss the
components in detail. The hierarchy is bounded by two constraints: (1) the benefits must
be greater than the costs (to justify providing the accounting information); and (2) the
dollar amount of the information must be material (i.e., large enough to make a difference in decision making). The hierarchy is not designed to assign priorities among the
qualitative characteristics in all situations. To be useful, accounting information must
have each of the qualitative characteristics to a minimum degree. However, different
situations may require tradeoffs, where the level of one quality is sacrificed for an
increase in that of another quality.
Understandability
Accounting information should be understandable to users who have a reasonable
knowledge of business and economic activities and who are willing to study the
information carefully. Understandability serves as a link between the decision makers
and the accounting information. Since the FASB establishes standards for generalpurpose financial statements, it is concerned that broad classes of decision makers are able
to understand the accounting information.
8.
The discussion in this section primarily is a summary of that presented in Qualitative Characteristics
of Accounting Information, FASB Statement of Financial Accounting Concepts No. 2 (Stamford, Conn.:
FASB, 1980).
Qualitative Characteristics of Useful Accounting Information
EXHIBIT 2-5
Hierarchy of Qualitative Characteristics of Accounting Information

Accounting
Information
Pervasive
Constraint
Benefits > Costs
User-Specific
Quality
Understandability
Decision Usefulness
Overall Quality
Primary
Decision-Specific
Qualities
Ingredients of
Primary Qualities
Relevance
Predictive
Value
Secondary and
Interactive Quality
Threshold for
Recognition
Feedback
Value
Reliability
Timeliness
Verifiability
Representational
Faithfulness
Comparability
(Including Consistency)
Materiality
Adapted from Figure 1 in Qualitative Characteristics of Accounting Information, FASB Statement of Financial Accounting Concepts
No. 2 (Stamford, Conn.: FASB, 1980), p. 15.
Decision Usefulness
Decision usefulness is the overall qualitative characteristic to be used in judging the
quality of accounting information. Whether or not information is useful depends on
the decision to be made, the way in which it is made, the information already available,
and the decision makers ability to process the information. Since the FASB establishes
standards for broad classes of users, however, it must consider the quality of decision usefulness in a broad context. This overall quality can be separated into the primary qualities
of relevance and reliability.
Relevance
Accounting information is relevant if it can make a difference in a decision by helping
users predict the outcomes of past, present, and future events or confirm or correct
prior expectations. In this context, an event is a happening that is significant to a company (e.g., the purchase of a building). An outcome is the effect or result of an event or
series of events (e.g., cash flows generated by use of the building). To be relevant,
accounting information does not have to be expressed as a prediction. Information about
a companys current resources or obligations or about its past performance commonly is
used as a basis for expectations. To be relevant, accounting information should have
either predictive or feedback value, or both. In addition, it should be timely.
Neutrality
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Predictive Value and Feedback Value

Accounting information has predictive value when it helps decision makers forecast
more accurately the outcome of past or present events. Accounting information has
feedback value when it enables decision makers to confirm or correct prior expectations.
Often, information has both predictive value and feedback value. This is because knowledge about a companys previous actions (i.e., feedback) generally will improve a
decision makers ability to predict the results of similar future actions. An example is an
interim income statement, which provides feedback about a companys income to date
and can be used to forecast its annual income.
Timeliness
Accounting information is timely when it is available to decision makers before it loses its
ability to influence decisions. Timeliness is an ingredient of relevance. If information is not
available when it is needed, it lacks relevance and is not useful. Timeliness alone cannot
make information relevant, but a lack of timeliness reduces its potential relevance. However,
a gain in relevance resulting from increased timeliness may involve a sacrifice of other desirable qualitative characteristics (e.g., reliability). The SEC has defined timeliness, requiring
that each company under its jurisdiction file a Form 10-K annual report within 60 days of its
fiscal year-end and a Form 10-Q quarterly report within 35 days of the end of each quarter.
Reliability
Accounting information is most useful when it is reliable as well as relevant. Reliable
information is reasonably free from error and bias, and faithfully represents what it is
intended to represent. That is, to be reliable, information must be verifiable, neutral, and
possess representational faithfulness. Reliability does not necessarily imply certainty or
precision. For instance, estimates may be reliable. Reliability has different degrees, and
what is an acceptable degree of reliability will depend on the circumstances.
Verifiability
Accounting information is verifiable (sometimes called objective) when measurers
(i.e., accountants) can agree that the selected method has been used without error or bias.
That is, the measurement results can be duplicated. Verification is useful in reducing
measurer bias, because by using the same method to repeat measurements, both unintentional and intentional errors are reduced.
Verification is a primary concern of auditing. The Certified Public Accountant (CPA)
is an independent professional who reviews (audits) the published financial statements
of a company. The performance of this duty is termed the attest function. It involves a
review of a sample of a companys transactions during a reporting period to provide
assurance that the recording and reporting of its financial information can be duplicated
substantially by an independent measurer. As a result of the review, the CPA issues an
auditors report. (We discuss audit reports in Chapters 4 and 6.) Verification does not,
however, ensure the appropriateness of the accounting methods used. That quality of
accounting information is representational faithfulness.
Representational Faithfulness
Accounting information has representational faithfulness when there is a relationship
between the reported accounting measurements or descriptions and the economic
resources, obligations, and transactions and events causing changes in these items. Social
scientists define this concept as validity. For instance, a company may record an item
leased on a long-term basis from another entity as an economic resource even though it
does not own the item. This recording increases the representational faithfulness of
the reported economic resources available to the company. Having a high degree of
representational faithfulness is useful in reducing measurement bias. Having representational
Qualitative Characteristics of Useful Accounting Information
faithfulness in one decision-making context, however, does not mean that accounting information will be relevant for other decisions. For instance, the current value of an economic
resource that a company expects to replace in the near future would be useful information,
but it might not be useful if the company has no intention of replacing it.
Neutrality
Accounting information is neutral when it is not biased to attain a predetermined result or
to influence behavior in a particular direction. Neutrality does not mean that accounting
information has no purpose or does not influence human behavior. The purpose of providing accounting information is to serve different users with many interests. Furthermore,
accounting information is intended to be useful in decision making, thereby influencing
the decision makers behavior, but not in a predetermined direction. Neutrality also
implies completeness of information. An omission of information can lead to bias if it is
intended to induce or inhibit a particular behavior. Sometimes, in conjunction with neutrality, you will hear that accounting information needs to be transparent. Transparent
accounting information is clear and not distorted, which allows external users to clearly
see the information they need to make decisions.
Comparability and Consistency

A secondary qualitative characteristic of accounting information is comparability
(including consistency). Information about a company is more useful if it can be compared with similar information from other companies (this is referred to as intercompany
comparison) or with similar information from past periods within the company
(intracompany comparison). Comparability is not a primary quality of useful information, like relevance and reliability, because it must involve more than one item of information. It is an interactive quality of the relationship between two or more items of
information. Comparability of accounting information enables users to identify and
explain similarities and differences between two or more sets of economic facts.
Closely linked to comparability is consistency. Consistency means conformity from
period to period, with accounting policies and procedures remaining unchanged.
Consistency, like comparability, is a quality of the relationship between numbers rather
than a quality of the numbers themselves. Consistency helps enhance comparability
across periods. Without consistency, it would be difficult for a user to determine whether
differences in results were caused by economic differences or simply by differences in
accounting methods. On the other hand, a change in accounting method is sometimes
desirable. Economic situations may change, or more preferable new accounting methods
may evolve. A company must make some sacrifice in consistency at certain times to
improve the usefulness of its accounting information.
Constraints to the Hierarchy

Two constraints to the hierarchy of qualitative characteristics help to identify further what
accounting information should be disclosed in financial reports. The first is a benefit/cost
constraint; the second is a threshold-for-recognition, or materiality, constraint.
Benefits Greater Than Costs

Accounting information is a commodity. Unless the benefits expected to be received from a
commodity exceed its costs, the commodity will not be sought after. The preparer (the company) initially incurs the costs of providing financial information and then passes the costs
on to consumers (external users). These costs include the cost of collecting, processing,
auditing, and communicating the information. The costs also include those associated with
losing a competitive advantage by disclosing the information. The benefits are enjoyed by a
diverse group of investors and creditors, by customers (because they are assured a steady
supply of goods and services), and by the preparer itself (for use in internal decision
43
44
making). To be reported, accounting information not only must be relevant and reliable
but it also must satisfy the benefit/cost constraint. That is, the FASB must have reasonable
assurance that the costs of implementing a standard will not exceed the benefits.
Materiality
The second constraint, that of materiality, is really a quantitative threshold constraint
linked very closely to the qualitative characteristic of relevance. Materiality refers to the
magnitude of an omission or misstatement of accounting information that makes it
likely the judgment of a reasonable person relying on the information would have
been influenced by the omission or misstatement. Materiality and relevance are both
defined in terms of the influences that affect a decision maker, but there is a difference
between the two terms. A company may make a decision to disclose certain information
because users have a need for that information (it is relevant) and because the amount is
large enough to make a difference (it is material). Alternatively, a decision not to disclose
certain information may be made because the user has no need for the information (it is
not relevant) or because the amount is too small to make a difference (it is not material).
The FASB did not set overall quantitative guidelines for materiality in the Statements
of Concepts. It felt that materiality involves judgment, and that no general standards could
be set that took into account all the elements of sound human judgment. Materiality
judgments should be concerned with thresholds of recognition. Is an item large enough
to pass over the threshold that separates material from immaterial items? To answer that
question, the FASB suggested that a company give consideration to:
the nature of the item (i.e., items considered too small to be significant when they
result from routine transactions might be material if they arose from abnormal
circumstances)
the relative size rather than absolute size of an item (i.e., a $10,000 error in inventory of a large company may be insignificant while a similar $10,000 error by a
small company may be material)
The FASB observed that quantitative guidelines have been and will continue to be set for
specific accounting issues where appropriate.
In regard to the relative size of a misstatement, some companies establish an initial
percentage threshold; for instance, 5% of net income for the income statement and 5% of
total assets for the balance sheet. Thus, if the misstatement of an amount is less than 5%
of net income it is not considered material for the income statement. External users feel
that some companies are using a percentage threshold as an absolute cutoff without
considering the qualitative factors of the information, such as the surrounding circumstances or the total mix of information. In response, several groups (the SEC, the
AICPA, and the Big Five Audit Materiality Task Force) have provided guidance in assessing the materiality of a misstated item for a company. These include, for instance,
whether the misstatement:
9.
has an effect on trends (particularly trends in profitability)

masks a change in earnings (and earnings per share)
is currently immaterial but may have a material impact in future periods because of
a cumulative effect
changes a loss into net income (or vice versa)
misrepresents the companys compliance with loan agreements
relates to a segment of the company that is of particular importance to the
companys long-run profitability
has the effect of increasing managements compensation.9
For a more extensive discussion, see Materiality, SEC Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 99 (Washington, D.C.:
Securities and Exchange Commission, August 12, 1999) and Audit Risk and Materiality in Conducting an
Audit, AICPA Professional Standards, Volume 1 (New York: AICPA, 2004), sec. 312.
Accounting Assumptions and Principles
45
Thus, companies may use a quantitative threshold as an initial step in assessing materiality,
but need to consider qualitative factors in making the final judgment on the materiality of
an item.
For accounting information to be useful for decision making, it must be understandable
to users who possess a reasonable knowledge of business and economic activities and
who are willing to study the information with reasonable diligence.
The primary qualities that make accounting information useful for decision making
are relevance and reliability.
Relevant information is available in a timely manner and assists users in predicting the
outcome of past, present, or future events or confirming prior expectations.
Reliable information is reasonably free from error and bias, and faithfully represents
what it is intended to represent.
External decision makers need accounting information that is comparable across different companies and consistent within a company over time.
Two constraints on the qualitative characteristics of accounting information are:
The costs of providing the information should not exceed the benefits received
from the using the information; and
The information should be material (capable of influencing a decision).
ACCOUNTING ASSUMPTIONS AND PRINCIPLES

Certain accounting assumptions and principles have had an important impact on the
development of GAAP. Exhibit 2-6 is useful in understanding the relationship among the
objectives, types of useful information, qualitative characteristics, accounting assumptions and principles, generally accepted accounting principles, financial reports, and elements of financial statements. We discuss the accounting assumptions and principles
listed in Exhibit 2-6 in this section. We will discuss others later in the book as they apply
to specific accounting standards.
Entity (Assumption)
Most of the economic activity in the United States can be directly or indirectly attributed
to business enterprises, termed economic entities. These entities vary in size from small,
one-owner companies such as hair salons or restaurants, to partnerships such as law or
accounting firms, and to large multinational corporations such as Wal-Mart. Financial
accounting is concerned with the economic activity of each of these entities, regardless of
its size, and involves recording and reporting its transactions and events. A transaction
involves the transfer of something of value between the entity and another party. In certain instances the financial records of related but separate legal entities may be consolidated (combined) to report more realistically the resources, obligations, and operating
results of the overall economic entity.
Because the entity assumption distinguishes each organization from its owners, each
separate entity prepares its own financial records and reports. The personal transactions
of the owners are kept separate from those of the business enterprise. Throughout this
book we refer to a business enterprise as a company (and when the discussion applies to a
type of company, we use the specific type of entity, e.g., corporation).
Conceptual
7 Understand the
accounting
assumptions
and principles
that influence
GAAP.
46
EXHIBIT 2-6
Framework of Financial Accounting Theory and Practice

Content
1. Provide information useful to external users in assessing amounts, timing, and
uncertainty of a companys cash flows.
2. Provide information about a companys economic resources, obligations, and
owners equity.
3. Provide information about a companys comprehensive income and its components.
4. Provide information about a companys cash flows.
5. Provide information about the stewardship responsibility of a companys management.
6. Provide full disclosure to help external users understand the preceding information.
Framework
Objectives
Types of
Useful Information
Qualitative Characteristics
of Useful Accounting
Information
Accounting Assumptions
and Principles
Generally Accepted
Accounting Principles
Financial Reports
Elements of
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Return on investment.
Risk.
Financial flexibility.
Liquidity.
Operating capability.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Decision usefulness.
Relevance (predictive value, feedback value, timeliness).
Reliability (verifiability, neutrality, and representational faithfulness).
Comparability (including consistency).
Benefits greater than costs, materiality.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Entity (assumption).
Continuity (going concern) (assumption).
Period of time (assumption).
Monetary unit (assumption).
Historical cost (principle).
Recognition (principle).
Matching and accrual (principles).
Conservatism (prudence) (principle).
1. Guidelines, procedures, and practices required by a company to record and report its
accounting information in audited financial statements.
2. Sources of GAAP are financial accounting standards established in pronouncements of
FASB, APB, AICPA, and SEC, and in other accounting literature (see Exhibit 1-4).
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Balance sheet.
Income statement.
Statement of cash flows.
Statement of changes in stockholders equity.
Notes to financial statements.
Supplementary and other information.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Assets, liabilities, and equity.

Revenues, expenses, gains, and losses.
Operating, investing, and financing cash flows.
Investments by and distributions to owners.
Continuity (Assumption)
The continuity assumption is also known as the going-concern assumption. This assumption is that the company will continue to operate in the near future, unless substantial evidence to the contrary exists. Obviously, not all companies are successful, and failures do
occur. However, the continuity assumption is valid in most cases and is necessary for many
of the accounting procedures used. For example, if a company is not regarded as a going
concern, the company should not depreciate its fixed assets over their expected useful lives,
nor should the company record its inventory at its cost, because the receipt of future economic benefits from these items is uncertain.
The continuity assumption does not imply permanence. It simply indicates that
the company will operate long enough to carry out its existing commitments. If a company
Copyright 2007 Thomson Learning, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part.
appears to be going bankrupt, it must discard the continuity assumption. The company
then reports its financial statements on a liquidation basis, with all assets and liabilities
valued at the amounts estimated to be collected or paid when they are sold or liquidated.
Period of Time (Assumption)

The profit or loss earned by a company cannot be determined accurately until it stops
operating. At that time the total lifetime profit or loss may be determined by comparing
the cash on hand after liquidating the business (plus any cash payments to the owners
during the period of operations) with the amount invested by the owners during the
companys lifetime. Obviously, financial statement users need more current information
to evaluate a companys profitability. Companies primarily use a year as the reporting
period. In accordance with the period-of-time assumption, a company prepares financial statements at the end of each year and includes them in its annual report.
Furthermore, the annual reporting period (called the accounting period or fiscal year) is
used for reports issued to government regulators such as the Internal Revenue Service
(IRS) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The period-of-time assumption is the basis for the adjusting entry process in accounting. If companies did not prepare financial statements on a yearly (or shorter time) basis,
there would be no reason to determine the time frame affected by particular transactions.
Historically, most companies adopted the calendar year as the accounting period.
However, many companies now choose a fiscal year that more closely approximates their
annual business cycle. (The yearly period from lowest sales through highest sales and back
to lowest sales is known as a business cycle.) For example, consider Exhibit 2-7, which
shows the annual sales pattern for Company G. Notice that peak sales occur each year in
January, while the lowest sales volume occurs in June. A company that sells ski equipment might have such a sales pattern. If Company G were to report on a calendar-year
basis, its financial reports would be prepared at about the time of peak yearly sales (i.e.,
the midpoint of the business cycle). Alternatively, a fiscal year that ended on June 30
would include a single complete annual business cycle. Many large retail chains have a
fiscal year-end that follows the peak Christmas selling season. For example, Wal-Marts
year-end is January 31, which is after most of the returns and allowances related to those
sales have occurred. Fiscal-year reports that include an annual business cycle contain
information that is more easily comparable to past and future periods because annual
sales patterns are not broken by the reporting period.
Company G Annual Business Cycle
Dollar sales volume
EXHIBIT 2-7
Jan.
2006
June
2006
Jan.
2007
June
2007
Jan.
2008
June
2008
In addition to annual reports, publicly traded companies issue financial statements

for interim (quarterly) periods. These interim periods are integral parts of the annual
period, and interim reports disclose summary information to provide investors with more
timely information.
47
48
Monetary Unit (Assumption)

Since the time when gold and other precious metals were accepted in exchange for goods
and services, there has been a unit of exchange. This unit of exchange is different for
almost every nation. Accountants generally have adopted the national currency of the
reporting company as the unit of measure in preparing financial statements.
In using the dollar or any other currency as the unit of measure, accountants traditionally have assumed that it is a stable measuring unit. Prior to the FASB, accounting
policy-making bodies had felt that fluctuations in the value of the dollar were not a serious enough problem to affect the comparability of accounting information. Therefore,
any adjustment in the monetary unit assumption was not needed.
In todays world the assumption that the dollar or any other national currency is a
stable measure over time is not necessarily valid. Consider the building you are now in. If
you were to measure its width in feet and inches today, next year, and five years from now,
an accurate physical measurement would yield the same results each time. In contrast,
consider the monetary value of the same building. Real estate prices have changed
(increased or decreased) during the past several years and undoubtedly will continue to
vary, resulting in changing monetary measures of value even though the physical capacity
remains the same.
There are two primary reasons for changes in reported values over time:
1. The real value of the item in question may change in relation to the real value of all
other goods and services in the economy.
2. The purchasing power of the measuring unit (in this case the dollar) may change.
Currently the dollar is considered to be a stable monetary unit for preparing a companys
financial statements. As we mentioned earlier, however, to enhance comparability the
FASB encourages companies to make supplemental disclosures relating to the impacts of
changing prices.
Historical Cost (Principle)

The economic activities and resources of a company initially are measured using the
exchange price at the time each transaction occurs. For many economic resources, usually
the company retains the exchange price (the historical cost) in its accounting records as
the value of the resource until the company consumes or sells it and removes it from the
records. That is, a company usually delays recording gains and losses resulting from value
changes of assets (or liabilities) until another exchange occurs. The reason for using historical cost (as opposed to other valuation methods such as current market value or
appraisal value) is that it is reliable, and that source documents usually are available to
confirm the recorded amount. Also, historical cost provides evidence that an independent buyer and seller were in agreement on the value of an exchanged good or service at
the time of the transaction and thus has the qualities of representational faithfulness,
neutrality, and verifiability.
One of the most frequently heard criticisms of accounting comes from those who prefer alternative valuation methods that they believe would report information more relevant for user decisions. Accountants understand that historical cost information may not
always be completely relevant for all decisions, but it does have a significant degree of
reliability. In certain cases accounting standards require the use of valuation methods other
than historical cost to report the fair value of selected items in the financial statements.
These methods are required when they provide more relevant information and possess an
acceptable degree of reliability.10 However, it is often felt that the measurement problems
10. See, for instance, Fair Value Measurements, FASB Proposed Statement of Financial Accounting Standards
(Norwalk, Conn.: FASB, 2004).
inherent in alternative valuation methods are greater than those of historical cost. That is,
reliability often takes precedence over relevance. The FASB, however, understands the
significance of this relevance/reliability tradeoff and encourages companies to disclose
supplemental current value information in their annual reports. Also, you should understand that when a company changes the values of its assets and liabilities the company
must include these value changes in its comprehensive income for the period. We discuss
valuation methods in Chapter 4.
L INK
TO
E THICAL D ILEMMA
You have been hired as an accounting consultant to review the financial reporting policies of Parker Company as it enters merger negotiations with an interested buyer. Of particular interest is the way in which Parker Company accounts
for its property, plant, and equipment. As rumors of possible mergers began
several years ago, the companys management periodically began using independent valuation experts to determine fair market values for the companys net
assets. As a result of these analyses, management was able to determine that its
long-term productive assets had book values that were significantly less than
their market values. Citing the increased reliability provided by the valuation
experts, management decided to write the companys assets up to market value
to provide investors and creditors with the most relevant information possible
and to be consistent with the FASBs increasing use of fair value measurements.
Do you agree with this decision?
Recognition (Principle)
Recognition means the process of formally recording and reporting an item in the financial statements of a company. A recognized item is shown in both words and numbers,
with the amount included in the financial statement totals. The FASB has identified four
fundamental recognition criteria. To be recognized, an item must:
meet the definition of an element

be measurable
be relevant
be reliable
In regard to revenues, two other factors provide guidance for revenue recognition.
Revenues should be recognized when (1) realization has taken place, and (2) they have
been earned. These factors provide acceptable assurance of the existence and amounts of
revenues.
A company usually recognizes revenue at the time of sale because this is when realization occurs and its earning process is substantially complete. Realization means the process
of converting noncash resources and rights into cash or rights to cash; that is, when the
company receives cash or obtains a receivable. Actually, revenue is earned by a company
throughout the earning process as it adds economic utility to goods. This earning process
includes acquisition, production and/or distribution, sales, and the collection and payment
of cash. A company could recognize revenue at one or more points in this process. In this
regard, the FASB suggests that revenues are considered to be earned when a company has
49
50
substantially completed what it must do to be entitled to the benefits (i.e., assets) generated
by the revenues. Usually, this is the point of sale.11
Occasionally a company may advance (accrue) or delay (defer) the recognition of
revenue in the earning process to increase the relevance of its income statement. Thus, a
company may not recognize (record) revenue at the same time as realization. A company
might recognize revenue (1) during production, (2) at the end of production, or (3) after
the sale. In the case of certain long-term construction contracts extending over more than
one accounting period, a company usually recognizes revenue during production to better depict economic reality by the use of the percentage-of-completion method.
Similarly, revenue usually is recognized for certain long-term service contracts by use of
the proportional performance method. These methods allocate the revenues of each
contract to each period, based on an estimate of the percentage completed during the
period. We discuss these revenue recognition methods in Chapters 5 and 8.
A company might recognize revenue at the completion of production if there is a fixed
selling price and there is no limit on the amount that it can sell. This situation might be
the case for certain valuable minerals or for farm products sold on the futures market.
Finally, revenue may be recognized after the sale if the ultimate collectibility of the revenue
is highly uncertain. This situation might arise, for instance, in the case of real estate land
sales where a very small down payment is required and the payment terms extend over
many years. In situations of high uncertainty about collections, a company uses either the
installment or the cost-recovery method to recognize revenue. Under the installment
method, a portion of each receipt is recognized as revenue. Under the cost-recovery
method, no revenue is recognized until the cost of the product has been recovered.
Matching and Accrual Accounting (Principles)

Earlier, accrual accounting was defined as the process of relating the financial effects of
transactions, events, and circumstances having cash consequences to the period in which
they occur instead of to when the cash receipt or payment occurs. The matching principle
is linked closely to accrual accounting and to revenue recognition. The matching principle states that to determine the income of a company for an accounting period, the company computes the total expenses involved in obtaining the revenues of the period and
relates these total expenses to (matches them against) the total revenues recorded in the
period. Thus, some expenses are advanced (accrued) or delayed (deferred) in a manner
similar to revenues. The intent is to match the sacrifices against the benefits (i.e., the
efforts against the accomplishments) in the appropriate accounting period.
A company recognizes and matches expenses against revenues on the basis of three
principles:
association of cause and effect

systematic and rational allocation
immediate recognition
Expenses recorded as a result of associating cause and effect include sales commissions
and the product costs included in cost of goods sold. Expenses recorded on the basis of
systematic and rational allocation include depreciation of property and equipment and
amortization of intangibles. Immediate recognition is appropriate for period costs
those expenses related to a period of time, such as administrative salaries.12
Some smaller companies do not use accrual accounting and matching. Instead they
use cash basis accounting for simplicity. In cash basis accounting, a company computes
11.
Recognition and Measurement in Financial Statements of Business Enterprises, FASB Statement of

Financial Accounting Concepts No. 5 (Stamford, Conn.: FASB, 1984), par. 63 and 83.
12. Elements of Financial Statements, FASB Statement of Financial Accounting Concepts No. 6 (Stamford,
Conn.: FASB, 1985), par. 146149.
GAAP and Financial Statements
its income for an accounting period by subtracting the cash payments from the cash
receipts from operations. While this method may be convenient to use, it can lead to
incorrect evaluations of a companys operating results. This may happen because the
receipt and payment of cash may occur much earlier or later than the sale of goods or the
providing of services to customers (benefits) and the related costs (sacrifices). Because
cash basis accounting does not attempt to match expenses against revenues, it is not a
generally accepted accounting principle.
Conservatism (Principle)
The principle of conservatism states that when alternative accounting valuations are
equally possible, the accountant should select the one that is least likely to overstate the
companys assets and income in the current period. Over the years conservatism gained
prominence because of the optimism of management and the tendency, during the first
three decades of the twentieth century, to overstate assets and net income on financial
statements. Recently, conservatism has been criticized for being anticonservative in the
years following the conservative act. That is, a deliberate understatement of an asset with
a corresponding loss and understatement of income in one year will result in an overstatement of income in a later year when the asset is sold because of the greater difference
between the selling price and lower recorded value of the asset. Furthermore, conservatism can conflict with qualitative characteristics such as neutrality. For instance, conservative financial statements may be unfair to present stockholders and biased in favor of
future stockholders because the net valuation of the company does not include some
future expectations. This factor may result in a relatively lower current market price of the
companys common stock. These criticisms notwithstanding, conservatism has played an
important role in the establishment of certain generally accepted accounting principles.
The FASB has attempted to modify the principle of conservatism so that it is more
synonymous with prudence. That is, conservatism should be a prudent reaction to uncertainty so as to ensure, to the extent possible, that the uncertainties and risks inherent in
business situations are adequately considered. These uncertainties and risks should be
reflected in accounting information to improve its predictive value and neutrality.
Prudent reporting based on a healthy skepticism promotes integrity and best serves the
various users of financial reports.13
GAAP AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As we noted in Chapter 1, generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) are the guidelines, procedures, and practices that a company is required to use in recording and reporting
its accounting information in its audited financial statements. In its Conceptual Framework,
the FASB has identified various sources from which investors, creditors, and other users
might obtain information useful in decision making. Exhibit 2-8 shows this model of
financial reporting. We discuss components of this model in Chapters 4, 5, and 23.
Conceptually, the FASB identified the four specific financial statements listed in
Exhibit 2-8. In practice, companies prepare at least three major financial statements:
(1) the balance sheet (statement of financial position), (2) the income statement, and
(3) the statement of cash flows. Many companies also prepare a statement of changes in
equity as a major financial statement (or in a note to the financial statements).14 In this
section we discuss briefly these financial statements and the elements of the financial
13. FASB Statement of Financial Accounting Concepts No. 2, op. cit., par. 9597.
14. Each company also must report its comprehensive income and may choose to do so on its income statement, a statement of comprehensive income, or on its statement of changes in stockholders equity. We
will discuss these alternatives in Chapter 5.
8 Define the
elements of
financial
statements.
Reporting
51
52
EXHIBIT 2-8
Sources of Information Used in External Decision Making

All Information Useful for Investment, Credit, and Similar Decisions
Financial Reporting
Area Directly Affected by Existing FASB Standards

Basic Financial Statements
Specific Statements
Notes to
(and Parenthetical
Disclosures)
Financial
Statements
Statement of
Financial Position
Statements of Net
Income and Comprehensive Income
Statement of Cash
Flows
Supplementary
Information
Other Means of
Financial Reporting
Other
Information
Examples:
Examples:
Examples:
Examples:
Accounting Policies
Changing Prices
Disclosures (FASB
Statement No. 89)
Oil and Gas Reserves
Information (FASB
Statement No. 69)
Management
Discussion and
Analysis
Letters to
Stockholders
Analyst Reports
Contingencies
Inventory Methods
Number of Shares of
Stock Outstanding
Economic Statistics
News Article About
Company
Statement of
Investments by and
Distributions to
Owners
Adapted from diagram in Recognition and Measurement in Financial Statements of Business Enterprises, FASB Statement of Financial
Accounting Concepts No. 5 (Stamford, Conn.: FASB, 1985), p. 5.
statements. The elements of each financial statement are the broad classes of items
comprising it. In other words, they are the building blocks with which each financial
statement is prepared.15 We discuss the financial statements and their elements in more
depth in later chapters.
Balance Sheet
A balance sheet (or statement of financial position) is a financial statement that summarizes the financial position of a company on a particular date (usually the end of the
accounting period). The financial position of a company includes its economic resources,
economic obligations, and equity, and their relationships to each other. There are three
elements of a balance sheet:
1. Assets:
2. Liabilities:
3. Equity:
Assets are the probable future economic benefits obtained and

controlled by a company as a result of past transactions or events.
Liabilities are the probable future sacrifices of economic benefits arising from present obligations of a company to transfer assets or provide services in the future as a result of past transactions or events.
Equity is the owners residual interest in the assets of a company that
remains after deducting its liabilities.
15. The discussion in this section primarily is a summary of that presented in Elements of Financial
Statements of Business Enterprises, FASB Statement of Financial Accounting Concept No. 6 (Stamford,
Conn.: FASB, 1985) and Statement of Cash Flows, FASB Statement of Financial Accounting Standards
No. 95 (Stamford, Conn.: FASB, 1987).
In other words, the assets of a company are its economic resources, and the liabilities are
its economic obligations. The equity of a corporation is referred to as stockholders equity
because the owners are the stockholders.
Income Statement
An income statement is a financial statement that summarizes the results of a companys
operations (i.e., net income) for a period of time (generally a one-year or one-quarter
accounting period). A companys operations (sometimes called the earning process)
include its purchasing, producing, selling, delivering, servicing, and administrating activities. There are four elements of an income statement:
1. Revenues:
2. Expenses:
3. Gains:
4. Losses:
Revenues are inflows of assets of a company or settlement of its liabilities (or a combination of both) during a period from delivering or
producing goods, rendering services, or other activities that are the
companys ongoing major or central operations. Revenues increase
the equity of a company.
Expenses are outflows of assets of a company or incurrences of liabilities (or a combination of both) during a period from delivering or
producing goods, rendering services, or carrying out other activities
that are the companys ongoing major or central operations.
Expenses decrease the equity of a company.
Gains are increases in the equity of a company from peripheral or incidental transactions, and from all other events and circumstances during a
period, except those that result from revenues or investments by owners.
Losses are decreases in the equity of a company from peripheral or
incidental transactions, and from all other events and circumstances
during a period, except those that result from expenses or distributions to owners.
Revenues may be thought of as measures of the accomplishments of a company during

its accounting period, while expenses are measures of the efforts to achieve the revenues.
Gains are similar to revenues and losses are similar to expenses, except that revenues and
expenses relate to a companys primary operations, while gains and losses relate to its secondary activities.
Statement of Cash Flows

A statement of cash flows is a financial statement that summarizes the cash inflows and
outflows of a company for a period of time (generally one year or one quarter). There are
three elements of a statement of cash flows:
1. Operating Cash Flows:
2. Investing Cash Flows:
3. Financing Cash Flows:
Operating cash flows are the inflows and outflows of

cash from acquiring, selling, and delivering goods for
sale, as well as providing services.
Investing cash flows are the inflows and outflows of
cash from acquiring and selling investments, property,
plant, and equipment, and intangibles, as well as from
lending money and collecting on loans.
Financing cash flows are the inflows and outflows of
cash from obtaining resources from owners and paying
them dividends, as well as obtaining and repaying
resources from creditors on long-term credit.
In addition to these three elements, the statement of cash flows reconciles the amount of cash
a company reports on its balance sheets at the beginning and end of the accounting period.
53
54
Statement of Changes in Equity

A statement of changes in equity summarizes the changes in a companys equity for a
period of time (generally one year or one quarter). For a corporation, the statement is
called the statement of changes in stockholders equity. There are two elements in a statement of changes in equity:
1. Investments by Owners:
2. Distributions to Owners:
Investments by owners are increases in the equity of a

company resulting from transfers of something valuable (usually cash) to the company in order to obtain
or increase ownership interests.
Distributions to owners are decreases in the equity of
a company caused by transferring assets, rendering
services, or incurring liabilities.
In addition to these elements, the statement of changes in equity also reconciles the
amounts of the equity items a company reports on its beginning and ending balance
sheets for such items as net income and other comprehensive income.
Reporting
Model of Business Reporting

The AICPA Special Committee on Financial Reporting issued a report that addressed concerns about the relevance and usefulness of reporting by companies. In this report the
committee developed a comprehensive model of business reportingthe information that
a company provides to help users with capital allocation decisions about the company.
The model was designed to help focus attention on a broader, integrated range of information than that addressed in the FASBs conceptual framework. The goal was to provide
the foundation for future improvement in business reporting. The model includes 10
items within five categories of information. These categories are designed to fit the decision processes of users to make projections, value companies, or assess the likelihood of
loan repayments. The framework of the model is as follows:
1. Financial and nonfinancial data including (a) financial statements and related disclosures and (b) high-level operating data and performance measurements that a
companys management uses to manage the business.
2. Managements analysis of the financial and nonfinancial data, including (a) reasons for
changes in the financial, operating, and performance-related data and (b) the identity and past effect of key trends.
3. Forward-looking information, including (a) the assessment of opportunities and
risks, including those resulting from key trends, (b) managements plans, including
critical success factors, and (c) a comparison of actual business performance to previously disclosed opportunities, risk, and managements plans.
4. Information about management and shareholders, including (a) directors, management, compensation, and major shareholders and (b) transactions and relationships among related parties.
5. Background about the company, including (a) broad objectives and strategies,
(b) scope and description of the companys business and properties, and (c) the
impact of industry structure on the company.
The model is responsive to users needs, but includes practical constraints to balance the
costs and benefits of reporting. Since the AICPA committee is not a standard-setting body,
the model is a recommendation to standard setters who have an interest in improving the
cost-effective quality of business reporting.16 We discuss components of this model in
Chapters 4, 5, and 6.
16. Improving Business ReportingA Customer Focus, AICPA Special Committee on Financial Reporting
(New York: AICPA, 1994), pp. 29.
Four basic assumptions underlie GAAP. These are:
The entity assumption, which relates economic activities to a particular economic
entity;
The continuity (going concern) assumption, which states that with no evidence
to the contrary, a company will continue to operate in the near future;
The period of time assumption which allows the life of a company to be

divided into artificial time periods and serves as the basis for the adjusting entry
process; and
The monetary unit assumption, which requires financial statement elements to be

expressed in terms of the dollar.
Four broad principles have greatly influenced the development of GAAP. These are:
The historical cost principle, which provides highly reliable, although not always the
most relevant, information by measuring economic activities at their historical
exchange price;
The recognition principle, which determines when an item is to be reported in the

financial statements (revenue recognition usually occurs when revenue is realized
and the earnings process is complete);
The matching principle, which applies accrual accounting by stating that expenses
should be recognized in the same period as the related revenues; and
The conservatism principle, which states that when given alternative accounting
valuations, the accountant should select the one that is least likely to overstate current period assets and income.
The FASB identified four basic financial statements (the balance sheet, the income statement, the statement of cash flows, and the statement of changes in stockholdersequity)
as sources of useful information.
Credit: Michael Reynolds/EPA/Landov
55
56
IASB FRAMEWORK
The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) has issued a Framework for the
Preparation and Presentation of Financial Statements that is similar, in many respects,
to the FASB Conceptual Framework.
The IASB Framework states that the objective of financial statements is to provide information about the financial position, performance, and changes in financial position of a
company that is useful to a wide range of users in making economic decisions. The
Framework has two underlying assumptions; that a company is a going concern and uses
accrual accounting. It identifies four qualitative characteristics of financial statements
understandability, relevance (including materiality), reliability (including faithful presentation, substance over form, neutrality, prudence, and completeness), and comparability.
Three constraints on relevant and reliable information are identified; they include timeliness, balance between benefit and cost, and balance between the qualitative characteristics.
The Framework calls for financial statements that present a true and fair view of the company and a fair presentation of the companys activities.
The IASB Framework identifies and defines the elements of a statement of financial
position (i.e., assets, liabilities, and equity) and a statement of performance (i.e., income
and expenses). It also discusses conceptual issues dealing with the recognition of the
elements of financial statements, measurement of the elements, and concepts of capital
and capital maintenance.
The IASB Framework is designed (1) to help the Board in developing future
International Accounting Standards and reviewing existing Standards and (2) to promote
the harmonization of regulations, accounting standards, and accounting procedures
regarding the preparation of financial statements.17
In 2004, the FASB and the IASB added to their respective agendas a project to develop
a common conceptual framework that is based on, and builds on, their existing frameworks. The Boards will focus on issues that are more likely to yield near term standardsetting benefits and cut across several current standard-setting projects. Issues relating to
the definitions of assets and liabilities, historical cost versus fair value measurements, and
relevance versus reliability will all be key concerns as the conceptual framework project
progresses. In addition to promoting international harmonization of future accounting
standards, the end result of this project should provide a more consistent and unified set
of concepts that will result in accounting standards that are principles-based.
OVERVIEW
We discuss the financial statements and their elements, as they fit into the FASBs model
of financial reporting and the AICPAs model of business reporting in depth in the later
chapters of this book. In addition, we discuss supplementary schedules and notes to the
financial statements, along with various recognition and measurement issues. As you
read the discussions, it may be helpful for you to place them in the context of the FASB
Conceptual Framework as we summarized in Exhibit 2-6, as well as the financial reporting
environment as we summarize in Exhibit 2-9.
17. For further discussion, go to International Accounting Reporting Standards (London: IASCF, 2004).
Summary
EXHIBIT 2-9
57
Financial Reporting Environment (Major Activities)
Sociopolitical
Environment
Accounting
Policy-making
Accounting
Concepts
Objectives, Qualitative
Characteristics, Assumptions,
and Conventions
FASB
AICPA
GAAP
SEC
PCAOB
Management
Preparation of
and Responsibility
for Financial
Reports
Companys
Economic
Activities
CPA Firms
Financial
Reporting
Auditing
Risk
Liquidity
Users
Financial
Analysis
International
Issues
SUMMARY
At the beginning of the chapter, we identified several objectives you would accomplish after reading the chapter. The objectives are listed below, each followed by a brief summary of the key points in the chapter discussion.
1. Explain the FASB conceptual framework. The FASB conceptual framework is a theoretical foundation of interrelated
objectives and concepts that leads to the establishment of consistent financial accounting standards. It provides a logical
structure and direction to financial accounting and reporting.
2. Understand the relationship among the objectives of financial reporting. The FASB conceptual framework consists of
four levels of objectives that proceed from the more general to the more specific. The top level is the general objective of
financial reporting, the next level is the derived external user objective, the third level is the derived company objective,
and the final level includes the specific objectives.
3. Identify the general objective of financial reporting. The general objective states that financial reporting should provide
useful information for present and potential investors, creditors, and other external users in making their investment,
credit, and similar decisions.
4. Describe the three specific objectives of financial reporting. The three specific objectives are to provide information about
a companys: (1) economic resources, obligations, and owners equity; (2) comprehensive income and its components; and
(3) cash flows.
58
5. Discuss the types of useful information for investment and credit decision making. For investment and credit decision
making, a companys financial reports should provide useful information about its return on investment, risk, financial flexibility, liquidity, and operating capability.
6. Explain the qualities of useful accounting information. Accounting information should be understandable and have
decision usefulness. The two primary decision-specific qualities are relevance and reliability. To be relevant, accounting
information must have predictive value, feedback value, and timeliness. To be reliable, it must have verifiability, representational faithfulness, and neutrality. In addition, accounting information should be comparable and consistent. Two
constraints in preparing and reporting accounting information are that the benefits must be greater than the costs of
preparing the information and that the information must be material.
7. Understand the accounting assumptions and principles that influence GAAP. Certain assumptions and principles play
an important role in the development of GAAP. These include the entity, continuity (going-concern), accounting period,
historical cost, monetary unit, recognition and realization, accrual accounting and matching, and conservatism (prudence) assumptions and principles.
8. Define the elements of financial statements. The elements of each financial statement are the broad classes of items comprising it. For a balance sheet, the elements are assets, liabilities, and equity. For an income statement, they are revenues,
expenses, gains, and losses. For a statement of cash flows, they are operating, investing, and financing cash flows. For a statement of changes in equity, they are investments by and distributions to owners.
QUESTIONS
Q2-1
What is the conceptual framework of the FASB?

What are the titles of the Statements of Concepts issued by
the FASB?
Q2-12 What is the continuity assumption and why is it
Q2-2
What is the most general objective of financial

reporting? Who are investors and creditors?
it important in financial accounting?
Q2-3
What is the derived external user objective and

why is it important?
and reliability.
Q2-4
What is the derived company objective and what

types of information about a company should be reported to
satisfy this objective?
factors provide guidance for revenue recognition? Why is

revenue usually recognized at the time of sale?
Q2-5
to the matching principle?
List the reasons why external users use information

about a companys (a) economic resources and claims to
these resources, (b) comprehensive income and its components, and (c) cash flows.
important in financial accounting?
Q2-13 What is the period-of-time assumption and why is

Q2-14 Discuss the relationship between historical cost
Q2-15 What is recognition? What is realization? What two
Q2-16 What is accrual accounting and how does it relate

Q2-17 List the three principles for matching expenses
against revenues.
Q2-6
Q2-18 What is conservatism and how might it conflict
Q2-7
Q2-19 Define a balance sheet and list its three elements.
Define (a) return on investment, (b) risk, (c) financial flexibility, (d) liquidity, and (e) operating capability.
What is the overall qualitative characteristic of useful
accounting information and what are its two primary qualities?
Q2-8
What is relevant accounting information?

Identify and define the ingredients of relevant accounting
information.
Q2-9
with neutrality?
Q2-20 Define an income statement and list its four

elements.
Q2-21 Define a statement of cash flows and list its three

elements.
What is reliable accounting information? Identify

and define the ingredients of reliable accounting information.
Q2-22 Define a statement of changes in equity and list its
Q2-10 Identify the secondary quality of useful accounting
Q2-23 For the IASB Framework, list the objective of finan-
information. Why is this important and how does it relate to

consistency?
cial statements and identify the underlying assumptions,

qualitative characteristics, and constraints.
Q2-11 What is materiality and how does it relate to

relevance?
two elements.
Cases
M U LT I P L E C H O I C E
( A I C PA Ad a p t e d )
M2-5
Select the best answer for each of the following.
M2-1 Accruing net losses on non-cancelable purchase

commitments for inventory is an example of the accounting
concept of
a. Conservatism
c. Consistency
b. Realization
d. Materiality
M2-2 The information provided by financial reporting
pertains to
a. Individual companies, rather than to industries or the economy as a whole or to members of society as consumers.
b. Individual companies and industries, rather than to the
economy as a whole or to members of society as
consumers.
c. Individual companies and the economy as a whole, rather
than to industries or to members of society as consumers.
d. Individual companies, industries, and the economy as a
whole, rather than to members of society as consumers.
M2-3 According to Statement of Financial Accounting
Concepts No. 2, an interim earnings report is expected to
have which of the following?
Predictive
value
No
Yes
Yes
No
a.
b.
c.
d.
59
Feedback
value
No
Yes
No
Yes
An accrued expense is an expense

a. Incurred but not paid
c. Paid but not incurred
b. Incurred and paid
d. Not reasonably
estimable
M2-6
Which of the following accounting concepts states

that an accounting transaction should be supported by sufficient evidence to allow two or more qualified individuals to
arrive at essentially similar measures and conclusions?
a. Matching
c. Periodicity
b. Verifiability
d. Stable monetary unit
M2-7
Which of the following is considered a pervasive constraint by Statement of Financial Accounting Concepts No. 2?
a. Benefits/costs
c. Timeliness
b. Conservatism
d. Verifiability
M2-8
The valuation of a promise to receive cash in the

future at present value on the financial statements of a company is valid because of the accounting concept of
a. Entity
c. Going concern
b. Materiality
d. Neutrality
M2-9
Under Statements of Financial Accounting

Concepts No. 2, which of the following relates to both relevance and reliability?
a. Timeliness
c. Feedback value
b. Neutrality
d. Consistency
M2-10 Under Statement of Financial Accounting Concepts
M2-4
A patent, purchased in 2004 and being amortized

over a 10-year life, was determined to be worthless in 2007.
The write-off of the asset in 2007 is an example of which of
the following principles?
a. Associating cause
c. Systematic and
and effect
rational allocation
b. Immediate recognition
d. Objectivity
No. 6, which of the following, in the most precise sense, means

the process of converting noncash resources and rights into
cash or claims to cash?
a. Allocation
c. Recognition
b. Recordation
d. Realization
CASES
C O M M U N I C AT I O N
C2-1 Qualitative Characteristics
In FASB Statement of Concepts No. 2, several qualitative characteristics of useful accounting information were identified.
The following is a list of these qualities as well as a list of
statements describing the qualities.
A. Comparability
C. Relevance
B. Decision usefulness
D. Reliability
E. Predictive value
F. Feedback value
G. Timeliness
H. Verifiability
I. Neutrality
J. Representational
faithfulness
K. Consistency
L. Materiality
60
1. Ability of measurers to form a consensus that the

selected accounting method has been used without error or bias.
2. Making information available to decision makers
before it loses its capacity to influence decisions.
3. Capacity to make a difference in a decision.
4. Overall qualitative characteristic.
5. Absence of bias intended to influence behavior
in a particular direction.
6. Reasonably free from error and bias.
7. Helps decision makers forecast correctly.
8. Validity.
9. Interactive quality; helps explain similarities and
differences between two sets of facts.
10. Quantitative threshold constraint.
11. Conformity from period to period.
12. Helps decision makers confirm or correct prior
expectations.
Required
Place the appropriate letter identifying each quality on the
line in front of the statement describing the quality.
C2-2 Accounting Assumptions and Principles

Certain accounting assumptions and principles have had an
important impact on the development of generally accepted
accounting principles. The following is a list of these
assumptions and principles as well as a list of statements
describing certain accounting practices.
A. Entity
E. Monetary unit
B. Continuity
F. Realization
C. Period of time
G. Matching
D. Historical cost
H. Conservatism
1. The business, rather than its owners, is the
reporting unit.
2. Depreciation costs are expensed in the periods
of use rather than at the time the asset is
acquired.
3. Accounting measurements are reported in dollars.
4. The year is the normal reporting unit.
5. In the absence of evidence to the contrary, the
business will operate long enough to carry out
its existing commitments.
6. Revenue is usually recognized at the time of sale.
7. Exchange price is retained in the accounting
records.
8. An accounting alternative is selected that is least
likely to overstate assets and income.
Required
Select the accounting assumption or principle that justifies
each accounting practice and place the appropriate letter on
the line preceding the statement.
C2-3
The FASB has identified several objectives of financial

reporting. These objectives proceed from the more general
to the more specific and are intended to act as guidelines for
providing accounting information in financial reports.
Required
Starting with the most general objective, prepare a written
report that identifies and briefly explains the objectives of
financial reporting.
C2-4 Qualities of Useful Accounting

Information
A friend of yours, who is not an accounting major, is concerned about the usefulness of accounting information.
The friend states: I have watched you prepare many financial statements in completing your homework assignments.
But how do you determine whether the information in these
financial statements is useful? What are the characteristics or
qualities of useful accounting information?
Required
Prepare a written response for your friend that identifies and
explains the qualitative characteristics of useful accounting
information.
C2-5 Cost and Expense Recognition

A I C PA Ad a p t e d An accountant must be familiar
with the concepts involved in determining earnings of a
company. The amount of earnings reported for a company is
dependent on the proper recognition, in general, of revenue
and expense for a given time period. In some situations costs
are recognized as expenses at the time of product sale; in
other situations guidelines have been developed for recognizing costs as expenses or losses by other criteria.
Required
1. Explain the rationale for recognizing costs as expenses at
the time of product sale.
2. What is the rationale underlying the appropriateness of
treating costs as expenses of a period instead of assigning
the costs to an asset? Explain.
3. Some expenses are assigned to specific accounting periods on the basis of systematic and rational allocation of
asset cost. Explain the underlying rationale for recognizing expenses on this basis.
C2-6 Characteristics of Useful Information

C M A Ad a p t e d Financial accounting and reporting
provide information that is used in decision making regarding
the allocation of resources. In Statement of Financial
Accounting Concepts No. 1, Objectives of Financial Reporting
by Business Enterprises, the FASB defined the following basic
objectives of financial reporting:
Financial reporting should provide understandable information to present and potential users:
That is useful in making rational decisions.
That facilitates assessing the amounts, timing, and
uncertainty related to the companys cash flows.
About the companys economic resources, its claims
to those resources, and the changes in its resources
and obligations occurring from earnings and other
operating activities.
Cases
The qualitative characteristics of useful accounting information were identified in the FASBs Statement of Financial
Accounting Concepts No. 2, Qualitative Characteristics of
Accounting Information. These characteristics distinguish
better information (more useful) from inferior information
(less useful).
Required
1. For the primary quality relevance,
a. define relevance
b. explain the meaning and importance of each of the
three ingredients of relevance
2. For the primary quality reliability,
a. define reliability
b. explain the meaning and importance of each of the
three ingredients of reliability
3. Explain the concepts of
a. comparability
b. consistency
c. materiality
C2-7 Objectives, Users, and Stewardship

C M A Ad a p t e d The owners of CSC Inc., a privately
held company, are considering a public offering of the companys common stock as a means of acquiring additional
funds. Prior to making a decision about a public offering, the
61
owners had a lengthy conversation with John Duncan, CSCs

chief financial officer. Duncan informed the owners of the
reporting requirements of the Securities and Exchange
Commission, including the necessity for audited financial
statements. At the request of the owners, Duncan also discussed the objectives of financial reporting, the sophistication
of users of financial information, and the stewardship responsibilities of management, all of which are addressed in
Statement of Financial Accounting Concepts No. 1,
Objectives of Financial Reporting by Business Enterprises.
Required
1. Discuss the primary objectives of financial reporting.
2. Describe the level of sophistication that can be expected
of the users of financial information.
3. Explain the stewardship responsibilities of management.
C2-8
Segment Reporting
The FASB requires that a company organized in different

operating segments disclose the revenues, profits, and
assets of each of its major operating segments.
Required
Prepare a short memo that briefly explains what types of useful information for investment decision making is provided
by requiring these disclosures.
C R E AT I V E A N D C R I T I C A L T H I N K I N G
C2-9
Relevance versus Reliability
You are listening to two accounting majors, both of whom

are seniors. They are debating the merits of having relevant
versus reliable accounting information for external decision
making. One student states: In my decision making, if given
a choice between relevant and reliable accounting information, I would prefer to have relevant information. The other
student replies: Nonsense! If you cannot rely on the information, then of what use is it?
Required
Based on your knowledge of the FASBs conceptual framework, define the qualitative characteristics of relevance and
reliability. Include definitions of the ingredients of each.
Which do you think is more important?
C2-10 Inconsistent Statements on Accounting

Principles
A I C PA Ad a p t e d The following two statements
have been taken directly or with some modification from the
accounting literature. Each of them is either taken out of
context, involves circular reasoning, and/or contains one or
more fallacies, half-truths, erroneous comments, conclusions, or inconsistencies (internally or with generally
accepted principles or practices).
Statement 1 Accounting is a service activity. Its function is to
provide quantitative financial information that is intended
to be useful in making economic decisions about and for

economic entities. Thus the accounting function might be
viewed primarily as being a tool or device for providing
quantitative financial information to management to facilitate decision making.
Statement 2 Financial statements that were developed in
accordance with generally accepted accounting principles,
which apply the conservatism convention, can be free from
bias (or can give a presentation that is fair with respect to
continuing and prospective stockholders as well as to retiring stockholders).
Required
Evaluate each of the preceding numbered statements as follows:
1. List the fallacies, half-truths, circular reasoning, erroneous comments or conclusions, and/or inconsistencies.
2. Explain by what authority and/or on what basis each
item listed in (1) can be considered to be fallacious, circular, inconsistent, a half-truth, or an erroneous comment or conclusion. If the statement or a portion of it is
merely out of context, indicate the context(s) in which
the statement would be correct.
C2-11 Accounting Entity

A I C PA Ad a p t e d The concept of the accounting
entity often is considered to be the most fundamental of
accounting concepts, one that pervades all of accounting.
62
Required
1. a. What is an accounting entity? Explain.
b. Explain why the accounting entity concept is so fundamental that it pervades all of accounting.
2. For each of the following indicate whether the accounting concept of entity is applicable; discuss and give
illustrations.
a. A unit created by or under law
b. The product-line operating segment of an enterprise
c. A combination of legal units and/or product-line operating segments
d. All of the activities of an owner or a group of owners
e. An industry
f. The economy of the United States
C2-12 Timing of Revenue Recognition

A I C PA Ad a p t e d Revenue usually is recognized at
the point of sale. Under special circumstances, however,
bases other than the point of sale are used for the timing of
revenue recognition.
Required
1. Why is the point of sale usually used as the basis for the
timing of revenue recognition?
2. Disregarding the special circumstances when bases other
than the point of sale are used, discuss the merits of each
of the following objections to the sales basis of revenue
recognition:
a. It is too conservative because revenue is earned
throughout the entire process of production.
b. It is not conservative enough because accounts receivable do not represent disposable funds; sales returns
and allowances may be made; and collection and bad
debt expenses may be incurred in a later period.
3. Revenue may also be recognized (a) during production
and (b) when cash is received. For each of these two bases
of timing revenue recognition, give an example of the circumstances in which it is properly used and discuss the
accounting merits of its use in lieu of the sales basis.
C2-13 Accruals and Deferrals

A I C PA Ad a p t e d Generally accepted accounting
principles require the use of accruals and deferrals in the
determination of income.
Required
1. How does accrual accounting affect the determination of
income? Include in your discussion what constitutes an
accrual and a deferral, and give appropriate examples
of each.
2. Contrast accrual accounting with cash accounting.
collections will occur periodically over the construction

period based upon the degree of completion.
B. Company B is a retailer. It makes sales on a daily basis
for cash and on credit cards.
C. Company C is a health spa. It has recently signed contracts with numerous individuals to use its facilities over
a two-year period. The contract price was collected in
advance.
D. Company D is a land development company. It has
recently begun developing a retirement community and
has sold lots to senior citizens. The sales contract requires
a small down payment and periodic payments until completion of the roads and a clubhouse, after which the
remainder of the purchase price is due. Prior to this point,
a purchaser may cancel the contract and receive a refund
of all payments.
Required
Describe when revenue should be recognized by each company. If revenue should not be recognized at the time of sale,
indicate what method should be used to recognize the revenue. Justify your decision.
C2-15 Violations of Assumptions and

Principles
The following are accounting procedures and practices used
by several companies.
A. As soon as it purchases inventory, Sokolich Company
records the purchase price as cost of goods sold to simplify its accounting procedures.
B. At the end of each year Sloan Company records and
reports its economic resources based on appraisal values.
C. Ebert Company prepares financial statements only every
two years to reduce its costs of preparing the statements.
D. Guthrie Company sells on credit and records revenue at
that time, even though it knows that collection is highly
uncertain and very significant efforts have to be made to
collect the accounts.
E. Because of inflation, Cross Company adjusts its financial
statements each year to show the current purchasing
power for all items.
F. David Thomas combines his personal transactions and
business transactions when he prepares his companys
financial statements so that he can tell how well he is
doing on an overall basis.
G. At the end of each year Vann Company reports its economic resources on a liquidation basis even though it is
likely to operate in the future.
Required
Identify what accounting assumption or principle each procedure or practice violates, and indicate what should be
done to rectify the violation.
C2-14 Revenue Recognition

The following are brief descriptions of several companies in
different lines of business.
A. Company A is a construction company. It has recently
signed a contract to build a highway over a three-year
period. A down payment was collected; the remaining
C2-16 Conceptual Framework

C M A Ad a p t e d The Financial Accounting Standards
Board has developed a conceptual framework for financial
accounting and reporting. The FASB has issued 7 Statements
of Financial Accounting Concepts. These statements set
Cases
forth objectives and fundamentals that will be the basis for

developing financial accounting and reporting standards.
The objectives identify the goals and purposes of financial
reporting. The fundamentals are the underlying concepts of
financial accounting concepts that guide the selection of
transactions, events, and circumstances to be accounted for;
their recognition and measurement; and the means of summarizing and communicating them to interested parties.
The purpose of Statement of Financial Accounting
Concepts No. 2, Qualitative Characteristics of Accounting
Information, is to examine the characteristics that make
accounting information useful. The characteristics or qualities of information discussed in Concepts No. 2 are the ingredients that make information useful and are the qualities to
be sought when accounting choices are made.
Required
1. Identify and discuss the benefits which can be expected to
be derived from the FASBs conceptual framework study.
2. What is the most important quality for accounting information as identified in Statement of Financial
Accounting Concepts No. 2? Explain why it is the most
important.
3. Statement of Financial Accounting Concepts No. 2
describes a number of key characteristics or qualities for
63
accounting information. Briefly discuss the importance

of understandability, relevance, and reliability for financial reporting purposes.
C2-17 Ethics and Income Reporting

You have been hired as an accounting consultant by Watson Company to evaluate its financial reporting policies. Watson is a small
corporation with a few stockholders owning stock that is not
publicly traded. In a discussion with you, Chris Watson, the
company president, says For the Watson Companys annual
income statement, it is our policy to always record and
report revenues when we collect the cash and to record and
report expenses when we pay the cash. I like this approach
and I think our stockholders and creditors do too. This policy results in income that is reliable and conservative, which
is the way accounting should be. Besides, it is easy to keep
track of our income. All I need are the receipts and payments
recorded in the companys checkbook.
Required
From financial reporting and ethical perspectives, how
would you reply to Chris?

Chapter 2 - Financial Reporting - Its Conceptual Framework

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CHAPTER

Credit: Image Source

should be objectivesoriented. This principlesbased standard setting

Study Pursuant to Section

approach should be built on

based accounting standards

an improved and consistently

and the implications for

Oxley Act of 2002 on the

applied conceptual frame-

accounting standard setting,

Adoption by the United

consult the Business &

States Financial Reporting

Company Resource Center

(BCRC) and the Internet:

Based Accounting System,

provide sufficient detail and

Securities and Exchange

structure so that the standard

Rebecca Toppe Shortridge,

can be applied consistently,

Mark Myring, The CPA

work. This framework should

minimize exceptions to the

108(d) of the Sarbanes-

Journal, 0732-8435, August

Chapter 2 Financial Reporting: Its Conceptual Framework

the objectives of financial reporting

FASB CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

FASB Conceptual Framework

Relationship of FASB Conceptual Framework and Standard-Setting Process

Objectives and Concepts

Identify goals and

Guide the selection of

Establish methods and

Chapter 2 Financial Reporting: Its Conceptual Framework

Conceptual Framework Projects for Financial Accounting and Reporting

OBJECTIVES OF FINANCIAL REPORTING

Objectives of Financial Reporting by Business Enterprises, FASB Statement of Financial Accounting

Objectives of Financial Reporting

Objectives of Financial Reporting

Provide information that is useful to

Provide information that is useful to

Provide information to help investors,

Information Useful in Decision Making

Information Useful to External Users in Assessing Future Cash Receipts

Chapter 2 Financial Reporting: Its Conceptual Framework

Information Useful in Assessing Company Cash Flows

Information About Economic Resources and Claims to These Resources

Information About Comprehensive Income and Its Components

evaluating managements performance

Objectives of Financial Reporting

We discuss comprehensive income in Chapter 5.

Information About Cash Flows

help understand its operations

explanations of certain transactions, events, and circumstances

Chapter 2 Financial Reporting: Its Conceptual Framework

TYPES OF USEFUL INFORMATION