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WAS COMPARABILITY OVERSTATED FOR POLITICAL ADVANTAGE? (AN INTERNATIONAL COMPARISON OF AAS 25: FINANCIAL REPORTING BY SUPERANNUATION PLANS)
BibTeX
@MISC{Scheiwe_wascomparability,
author = {D. J. Scheiwe and Dan Schiewe},
title = {WAS COMPARABILITY OVERSTATED FOR POLITICAL ADVANTAGE? (AN INTERNATIONAL COMPARISON OF AAS 25: FINANCIAL REPORTING BY SUPERANNUATION PLANS)},
year = {}
}
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Abstract
Accounting for superannuation plans remains topical because relevant accountants still have to contend with two conflicting reporting frameworks and because criticism of Australia’s system for regulating its superannuation is continuing. As one device for increasing pressure for the acceptance of AAS 25, the accountancy profession claimed that it is consistent with international accounting standard IAS 26 and is based on best practice. Given that the introduction of AAS 25 was very controversial, there existed an incentive to overstate those claims. This paper reports on a test of the assertion that AAS 25 is consistent with IAS 26, and a test of the assertion that AAS 25 is based on international best practice. Given that the UK and USA are the major influences on Australian accounting practice, the assertions were tested by comparing AAS 25 with IAS 26, FAS 35, and SORP 1, on that basis of 12 criteria. It was found that in a high proportion of instances, significant differences existed. Thus it was concluded that AAS 25 is not consistent with its international, USA or UK counterparts. Accordingly it appears that the claim of consistency may have been overstated for political advantage. The purpose in this paper is to compare the reporting requirements of AAS 25 (Financial Reporting by Superannuation Plans) with the comparable International, United Kingdom and USA accounting pronouncements. Thus the four pronouncements
Keyphrases
international comparison aa financial reporting superannuation plan comparability overstated political advantage superannuation plan major influence usa accounting pronouncement standard ia financial reporting united kingdom australia system reporting requirement comparable international high proportion relevant accountant significant difference australian accounting practice uk counterpart accountancy profession political advantage
