The purpose with this thesis is to demonstrate that other factors than the existing set of rules could influence the Management Group?s decision in regards to depreciation of goodwill. We have explained the conflicts between the management group and the stakeholders by using the Agency Theory and the Stakeholder Model. We have used the Positive Accounting theory to describe how the management group?s opportunistic behaviour decides which accounting method to use.

In 2010 mandatory audit was revoked for small and medium sized companies in Sweden. At the same time the authorization for accounting consultants was established with the aim of raising the knowledge and status of the profession. Even though The Swedish Companies Registration Office has discovered more errors in the accounting after the mandatory audit was eliminated, it especially concerns those companies who does not have neither an auditor or an accounting consultant. One of the reasons often mentioned to be audited is the auditors role when it comes to lending decisions. Our empirical studie show that the auditors most important function, being unbiased, is not what is of greatest importance for the credit institutions.Instead it was professional skills, and for small and medium enterprises (SME) it was consulting they requested the most.

The purpose of this master thesis was to examine how the corporations quoted on the A-list on the Stockholm Stock Exchange were affected by the introduction of IFRS 3 Business Combinations. Their opinion about the accounting rule and the acquired goodwill in particular was focused as well. The authors wanted to see if there were any changes in ROE, return on equity, after the introduction of the new accounting standard.Data for this study was collected through interviews, questionnaires and annual reports. Interviews were held with corporate accounting managers of Assa Abloy, WM-data, Electrolux, Ericsson and SCA. Questionnaires were sent by e-mail to 50 companies and were answered by 30 of them.

Recently, the IASB and the FASB initiated a joint project to determine which companies that could be defined as investment entities and thus subject to an exception from IFRS 10 Consolidated Financial Statements. The first draft, ED/2011/4 Investment Entities, was published in 2011 and included six criteria that a company must meet in order to be classified as an investment entity. Based on academic theory, the fact that the IASB and the FASB published a joint proposal is interesting for several reasons. Traditional Accounting theory tends to distinguish between two different approaches in standard setting: principles- and rules-based. The IASB is considered to have a principles-based approach, while the FASB is considered to have a rules-based approach.

SammandragGoodwill har de senaste åren fått en allt mer betydelsefull roll i svenska bolag och utgör idag majoriteten av köpeskillingen vid ett rörelseförvärv. Rådande redovisningsstandarder lämnar en stor del av ansvaret för köpeskillingsallokering hos bolagen själva, något som tidigare studier visat ger utrymme för opportunistiskt agerande. Vi undersöker i denna studie 213 rörelseförvärv gjorda på den svenska marknaden under åren 2011-2013. Via en multipel regressionsanalys finner vi belägg för att rörlig ersättning till företagsledare baserad på kortsiktiga resultatmål, tenderar att leda till en högre allokering till goodwill i relation till immateriella tillgångar vid rörelseförvärv. Resultatet kan tolkas som att företagsledare maximerar resultatet ur ett kortsiktigt perspektiv i syfte att också maximera sin egen lön.

AbstractFrom 1st of July 2003 it is compulsory for companies with an average number of ten employees the latest two financial years to account sick leave in the annual report.The government?s purpose with accounting of sick leave was partly to evoke an action from the companies? side in terms of motion as an effect due to the awareness of the level of the sick leave. The government was of the opinion that the companies had too deficient knowledge in sick leave and that the knowledge about causes and costs had to increase.In this paper three companies affected by the compulsory accounting of sick leave have been interviewed. The paper defines to only concern private companies. The companies were interviewed in purpose to form an opinion of whether the companies have changed their health promoting actions due to the application of the law.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explain which factors that affects Swedish listed companies choice of placement for the corporate governance report when the regulation gives different options.Methodology: The chosen research philosophy is positive, research strategy is deductive and methodology is quantitative.Theoretical Perspectives: As support for the dependent (placement) and independent factors agency theory, positive Accounting theory, accounting choice, legitimacy-, stakeholder-, and institutional theory are used.                  Empirical foundation:The sample consists of 249 companies. The empirical data consists of the companies Annual reports and Corporate Governance reports for financial year 2011 or when split financial year, 2010/2011. Limitations: A limitation of the study is that it is based on observations from only one year why it is not certain that the results should have been the same if a comparison between several years had been done.Conclusions: The factors size and growth explain the placement of the Corporate Governance Report in Swedish listed companies..

This study aims to measure the effect of accounting conservatism and to identify thebusiness activities causing firms to undervalue owners? equity. To estimateaccounting conservatism, we have followed the hypothesis that no firm over time cangenerate a return greater than its cost of equity, i.e. CAPM. Thus, if a firm in factgenerates an excess return over time, we assume that the excess return is an estimateof accounting conservatism within that firm.The hypothesis originates from the corporate valuation model ?Economic ValueAdded®? which tries to adjust for accounting bias.

The connection between accounting and taxation goes back to the 1920s laws of the named areas. A proposal has now been brought forward, the so-called SamRoB-investigation, which means that the connection between accounting and taxations should be decoupled.The authors? aim with the study is to investigate what a possible decoupling between accounting and taxation, i.e. the formal connection and the untaxed revenues, implicates for the auditor´s work.A research has been done by interviewing two authorized auditors and one authorized consultant of accounting to get a view in how the auditor?s works could be affected.

Background: Small- and medium- sized businesses have during a long time had difficulties in raising long-term funding from external financiers, a reason for this is that these companies may have more information about their own business than the bank has. One way to reduce this problem is to hire a certified public auditor or a certified accounting consultant. Much has changed in recent years in the accounting profession. Mandatory audit has been abolished for small- and medium-sized businesses, which has led to major changes. Auditors are now not mandatory for these companies, which opens up the market for accounting consultant´s.

Although previous research conclude that mergers and acquisitions do not always lead to improved profitability or increased shareholder return, the number and size of M&A?s is steadily increasing. In this thesis we examine why an acquirer pays a price higher than the market value. Can accounting data explain the size of the premium? 618 European transactions between 1997 and 2008 are examined and relationships between the targets? accounting data and the premium is analysed through statistical regressions.

In recent years there have been major changes in the accounting field and the question of what is fair and accurate reporting is always a relevant issue. Defining the concept of true and fair view and to find an accurate synonym is difficult, still it may be considered that there is an implied meaning of the concept in the business of accounting. In 2004 BFN started the development of K2, a simplified regulatory framework for small companies. The purpose of K2 is to facilitate the accounting and reduce the administrative burden for these companies. In Sweden, 95 percent of all companies belong to the category of small companies and are allowed to use the new and simplified regulations, K2.

Property companies? results are affected by unrealized changes in value of properties. Since market values are never completely reliable there is always a risk with revaluation with property´s value. The fair value is determined only when a sale is completed. The paper studies how well the Swedish listed property companies reported under the accounting standard, IAS 40.

Strategin Big Bath Accounting betecknar situationer då VD upprättar externredovisning efter förutbestämda mål och medvetet ändrar företagetsredovisningsmetoder. Artiklar som ifrågasätter företags externa redovisningförekommer regelbundet i svensk affärspress. Journalister diskuterar med storskepsis sanningen kring vissa börsbolags redovisade resultat. Uppsatsen syftartill att undersöka om denna strategi förekommer bland företag påStockholmsbörsen. Big Bath Accounting operationaliseras i denna studie tillnedskrivning av goodwill vid VD-byte eller vid negativt resultat.

Background and problem: Financial reports are created for the users as decision support. Stakeholders are often subjects to information asymmetry. Banks represent one of the primary stakeholders and financiers of a company, and place great emphasis on financial reports in their credit assessment process. The question is, however, how useful the financial information actually is. According to previous research, banks consider accounting information as troublesome in some respects, mostly due to accounting choices and judgments.