During the financial crisis voices were raised towards the regulatory framework IAS 39 recognition and measurement of financial instruments and pointed out that it was inadequate. The complexity of the framework contributed to the fact that it was difficult to apply. IASB accelerated the modeling of the new to be regulatory framework IFRS 9. In this study we will focus on the reliability of accounting information, which is an important aspect from the stakeholder?s point of view, for example, to be able to make the best decisions the accounting information should be proper.

Adam Smith?s economic theory is often subject to criticism, in which it is claimed to be inherently inconsistent. Recently, criticism from well-known scholars has arisen claiming Smith should be characterized a labor value theorist anticipating Karl Marx. This study seeks to analyze whether such criticism is legitimate. Firstly, the economic theory of Smith is discussed in terms of consistency, and secondly, a number of typical and main points of the critique, from the most influential of his contemporary critics, are lifted up and analyzed.

Introduction:By insight in the company and by monitoring the management, the board has an important function in creating trust in governance of the company. Furthermore, the board reduces the asymmetry of information between the owners and the management, which also is the function of the auditor, by auditing how the board governs the company and the accounting. In case the board does not effectively monitor the management, the auditor has to extend its monitoring, which increases the owners agency costs through the audit fee. The board composition can affect how effectively the board practices the monitoringProblem: How is the audit fee affected by the board composition?Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explain how the board composition affects the audit fee.Method: The study uses a quantitative method, where the data was collected from the annual reports of 112 limited companies listed on the NASDAQ OMX Large and Mid Cap lists on January 2, 2012.

Företag möter idag allt hårdare konkurrens, detta leder till att företag i allt högre grad samarbetar med aktörer i leverantörskedjan för att uppnå kostnadsreducering. I detta sammanhang benämns Open Book Accounting som ett användbart verktyg för att uppnå kostnadseffektivitet i leverantörskedjan. Tekniken bygger på den enkla logiken att ett eller båda företagen i enrelation ?öppnar upp sina redovisningsböcker? och avslöjar intern finansiell information som tidigare hållits hemligt inom organisationens gränser, exempelvis kostnader för produkter eller processer. Genom denna öppenhet kan företagen reducera kostnader och utveckla varandras verksamheter.

Enligt IAS 40 ? Förvaltningsfastigheter, definieras förvaltningsfastigheter som ?mark eller byggnader eller del av byggnad som innehas i syfte att generera hyresinkomster eller värdestegring?. Onoterade fastighetsbolag i Sverige har idag möjlighet att välja mellan att värdera sina fastigheter till anskaffningsvärde eller verkligt värde.IAS ? International Accounting Standards är en internationell redovisningsstandard inom EU som började tillämpas i januari 2001, men blev obligatorisk för börsnoterade bolag år 2005. Dessutom har alla medlemstater möjlighet att lagstifta om IAS-redovisning i icke-noterade bolag.

Inom redovisning finns en eftersträvan av enkelhet, vilket bland annat redovisningsstandarder syftar till att uppnå. Redovisningsstandarder kan antingen vara baserade på regler eller på principer och ska enligt standardsättarna besitta egenskaper som gynnar enkelhet. Hur användarna av redovisningsstandarder upplever enkelhet i standarderna är dock mindre betonat i litteraturen.Syftet med denna studie är att generera en ökad förståelse för hur användarna av redovisningsstandarder konstruerar enkelhet i redovisningen, samt vilken påverkan redovisningsstandarder har på konstruktionen.Studien har genomförts med ett användarorienterat socialkonstruktivistiskt perspektiv och datainsamling har skett genom ostrukturerade intervjuer med fem redovisningskonsulter där standarder ur regelverken K2 och K3 diskuterats. Detta har sedan analyserats genom att väsentliga citat bildat underkategorier samt kategorier.Studien når slutsatsen att användarna av redovisningsstandarder konstruerar enkelhet genom en legal konstruktion, avsaknad av alternativ, erfarenhet samt praktik inte teori. Vidare dras slutsatsen att redovisningsstandarder inte har någon betydelse för konstruktionen av enkelhet..

The value investing philosophy, which can be traced at least to the teaching of Graham and Dodd in the 1930?s, entails identifying and investing in potentially under valued stocks with a potential for extraordinary returns. The focus of this thesis is to identify patterns and characteristics in financial accounting data preceding creation of shareholder value. The authors of this thesis utilize a multivariate discriminant analysis in order to identify indicators of value creation and subsequent extraordinary returns in value stocks. A discriminant function is derived which successfully identifies which value stocks will eventually become growth stocks.

Previous research has, by studying large listed firms, identified cost reductions and knowledge transference as the primary reasons for outsourcing.  Previous research has also indicated that Business Process Outsourcing is likely to increase in popularity and experience high annual growth going forward. This study aims to explore why mid-sized and large firms decide to in Jämtlands län, fully or partly, outsource their finance/accounting activities. Theories regarding transaction cost economics and resource based view composes the foundation of this study and the information used has been gathered through the use of semi-structured interviews.  The results shows, like the chosen theories and previous research indicates, that the outsourcing decision is primary based on expected cost reductions.

Since January 1st 2005 all companies listed on a regulated stock exchange within the European Union are required to present their financial reports in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The intention of the introduction of IFRS is to achieve international harmonization of accounting rules in order to make financial reports more comparable between companies from different countries. The purpose of financial reports presented in accordance with IFRS is to provide information that is useful to the users of the information. The aim of this paper is to investigate whether the information regarding goodwill and the goodwill impairment test, presented in accordance with IFRS, in fact is useful to a specific group of accounting information users, namely equity analysts. An empirical study is conducted, based on interviews with seven Swedish equity analysts.

The thesis main objective is to establish the determinants for granting executive stock options and to examine their impact on performance for firms listed on OMXS30. The analysis is based on accounting data gathered from annual reports and Thomson Datastream. The empirical results display that firms grant stock options to mitigate the principal-agent problem. Furthermore, risk proves to be positively significant with executive stock options, implying that either executives increase the level of risk after being granted stock options or influence the decision of the remuneration towards stock options when the firm increase the level of risk, in purpose to boost the expected value of their options. No relation between executive stock options and firm performance could be established..

Studien tar sin utgångspunkt i teorin om mental accounting. Vi behandlar för det första kategoriseringen av tillgångar och utgifter i olika konton i det mentala bokföringssystemet. Konkret undersöks huruvida någon skillnad i vilka inkomster eller tillgångar som används till olika typer av utgifter kan påvisas. Kontona som vid operationaliseringen valdes för att beskriva finansieringen av ett köp var ?regelbunden inkomst?, ?plötslig inkomst?, ?sparade pengar? och ?avbetalning?.

The main aim of this paper is to consider the possible effects of a transition to a new accounting standard for goodwill. According to IASBs Exposure Draft of Proposed Amendments to IFRS 3 Business Combinations there is an inconsistency in the currently used purchased goodwill method. The full goodwill method is considered to be a superior alternative and is therefore suggested to become the standard from 2007. This paper comprises a quantitative study of the effects on certain key ratios for companies listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange, arising due to the proposed transition. The period examined is 2004 and 2005.

One of the most crucial entries in the financial statements is revenue. Despite the importanceof revenue a lot of mistakes are made concerning this entry because of the extensive room forjudgements. Especially in the construction companies where a lot of differences exist due tothe fact that different standards are used for similar business transactions.The research concerning IFRIC 15 and the new upcoming standard for revenue recognition isnot very extensive. Studies including both IFRIC 15 and the new standard are even morelimited. Therefore this study aims to compare the effects of IFRIC 15 and the new upcomingstandard for revenue recognition, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, in three Swedishconstruction companies.

A new theory for predicting the windprofile over a canopy has been evaluated. The theory was first presented by Harman and Finnigan (2007). The theory relies on the forming of a mixing-layer above the canopy, due to different mean wind in and above the canopy. Characteristics from both mixing-layer and Monin Obukhov similarity theory have been used to develop the governingequations that give the wind profile. The theory has been used to calculate wind profiles for sixdifferent atmospheric stabilities.

Background: The latest development within the business world has been characterized by deregulation and globalization which has made the company bigger and even more influential. The increased power has resulted in a shift of responsibility for the community from the public to the private sector. (Steinholtz och Löhman, 2003) There have been many trends regarding what accountability includes and how financial accounting can be complimented in a useful and reliable way. Some trends have come to stay whilst others have shown to be less successful or the world has not been ready for them. (Larsson, a, 2002) Purpose: The purpose with this paper is to look at the historical development towards accounting for sustainability and to investigate what factors that might have hade an impact on this development.