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Benchmark Management During Australia's Transition to International Accounting Standards
Author(s) -
BENTWOOD SOPHIE,
LEE PHILIP
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
abacus
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.632
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1467-6281
pISSN - 0001-3072
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-6281.2012.00357.x
Subject(s) - accounting , benchmark (surveying) , sample (material) , international financial reporting standards , business , earnings , balance sheet , transition (genetics) , balance (ability) , earnings management , finance , geography , medicine , biochemistry , chemistry , geodesy , chromatography , physical medicine and rehabilitation , gene
Practitioners and commentators have raised concerns that Australian companies exploited opportunities to benchmark manage during the transition to international financial reporting standards (IFRS). However, as yet, no paper has explored this possibility. This study analyses the reconciliations of AGAAP into AIFRS for 457 companies listed on the ASX 500. Results show that 16.85% of companies provided erroneous information of a material nature in their reconciliations and that, on the balance of probabilities, 5.03% of companies in the sample managed their prior year's earnings benchmarks. This has implications for countries considering whether to adopt IFRS and countries which have already established timetables for their transitions.