Fair Value Practice: Suitability in Accounting

Fair Value Practice: Suitability in Accounting Introduction The issue of the use of fair value as a model for financial standards and reporting has been subjected to significant debate and argument since the IASB[1] Framework was first introduced in 1989. As can be seen from a number of accounting industry responses, such as that of Peter Willams (2005), the use of fair value is becoming increasing contentious and could pose difficulties for the ISAB. Some fear that if this issue is not addressed to the satisfaction of all parties, it could affect the power and influence of the ISAB. The intention within this paper is to discuss the theoretical concept of â€Å"fair value† and to assess its suitability of use for accounting reporting purposes. The paper will also look at the practical application of the â€Å"fair value† measurement as determined by the IASB within their current international reporting and accounting standards. The Concept of Fair Value The concept of â€Å"fair value† is to enable recognition of the reliable economic future value of certain assets and expenses, the latter of which is intended to ensure the correct level of increase or decrease of balance sheet assets or liabilities. The result of this method is to create a defined link between income and expense to reflect the movement in the value of assets and liabilities. For those who promote the concept of fair value, or what is sometimes known as fair â€Å"market† value, it is the sale price achieved for an asset offered on the market at the time of the statement, based upon the reasonable opinion of a professional evaluator (A.M. King 2006, 45). Fair value at present has no specific and identifiable measurement definition within current international accounting standards. It is currently determined through an amalgamation of a number of different and diverse accounting measurements used by corporations in accounting and financial reporting, although these models all have their disadvantages. For example, in the case of the historical cost measurement basis, fair value is deemed to be at the measured at the date of purchase, as this reflects market value at that time. Although this model is seen as one of the least volatile methods of value measurements, it is perceived to have shortcomings. The main issues are that cost dates are earlier than sale date leading to a potential for profit overstatement, and that it is not the ideal model on which to based future business decisions. In fact some commentators see that the current moves on fair value, although they may signify a move away from the less volatile performance of the previously used historical cost method, produce a measurement that is more in line with the real volatility of life and business activity generally (Mary Barth 2006, p.324). An alternative measurement, which uses a price index system such as the RPI[2], and is still based on transactions, is current purchasing power. The fair value determination here is set to reflect the capital of the business in relation to the general price trends. The difficulty with this model is that it assumes all prices move in line with the index, which is clearly not the case and thus can create an artificial monetary unit. The replacement cost and net realisable value model (NBV) use a fair value system based upon market entry and exit costs respectively. The former has the advantage of being able to calculate current values on a realistic basis, and can therefore identify gains in operating and other business areas, thus preserving the capability of the business. However, its subjectivity is aggravated by the speed of technological development and the fact that this leads to the possibility of no similar asset being available to compare values. The NBV model is clearer as it is based upon the probable selling price of the asset. It also does away with the estimation of depreciation as that selling price already reflects this. However, NBV does not take into account that the majority of assets are not disposed of, but utilised within the business. The problem with this calculation of fair value can threaten the concept of the business being a going concern. The ISAB intend to move towards a definitive fair value model, which supporters see as a positive action, the cost of which will not â€Å"be significantly higher than the cost of trying to implement the mixed measurement system† (Langendijk et.al. 2003, p.292). Mary Barth (2006), a member of the IASB, agrees with this statement, adding that a more definitive â€Å"fair value† model will assist in the elimination of some of the perceived volatility presently in existence. However, the opponents are equally vocal in their objections. A.M. King (2006, p.45) poses the question whether â€Å"all assets on a balance sheet [should] be shown at Fair Value?,† continuing to comment that the ability to achieve a particular model does not necessarily mean that it should be implemented. De Vries (quoted in Langendijk et.al. 2003, p.174) also questions whether it is a move in the right direction for financial reporting, and others fear that it will lead to less, rather than more reliance upon financial statements by investors and other stakeholders (Peter Williams, 2005). In the author’s opinion it appears that, whilst professional preparers of financial statements understand the concept of the â€Å"fair value† model being sought, those who utilize the statements as a basis for making investment and other business decisions, including stakeholders of all sizes, find difficulty equating the results with other factual information. In addition, the term fair value will only be valid at the date of preparation of the statement and, as a result, itself becomes historic from that moment. Thus, there is an argument for maintaining its use with the commonly used historical cost model. Use of Fair Value in accounting and reporting standards The term â€Å"fair value† is liberally spread throughout the international accounting and reporting standards. It is referred to in four of the IFRS[3]’s and at least fourteen of the international accounting standards, as shown in the summaries of the IAS (2006). The context of fair value within IFRS relates to treatment of the initial adoption of the standards, business combinations, insurance contracts and non-current assets and discontinued operations. In terms of the initial adoption, IFRS grants exemption of some non-current assets from the fair value model. The intention of the inclusion of fair value here is to ensure that the movement in the market value of an asset or liability, in other words the increase or decrease in value, is reflected within the financial statements at the prevailing date of those statements, identifying if this is different from actual cost. With the movements being recognised within the profit and loss, the anticipated result is to enable, a more accurate reflection of the capital (or share) value of the business at the given date (Antill and Kenneth 2005). In addition, IFRS demand that these fair value measurements be performed at each subsequent financial and accounting statement date, thus endeavouring to provide for the organisation’s Balance Sheet to reflect the impact of market conditions at all times. The inclusion of fair value within the international accounting standards is concentrated mainly within the areas of assets and liabilities, and in relation to specific business sectors, such as banks and similar financial organisations (IAS 30), Investment property (IAS 40) and agriculture (IAS 41). Two of the IAS’s do relate specifically to non balance sheet items. IAS 18 deals with fair value within the context of revenue. In this respect, it deals refers to the treatment of deferred income, where the fair value is achieved by the discounting of future receipts. The intention here is to take into account the change in revenue value by deferring the time of receipt, for example, how a rise in RPI[4] might influence the income in real terms. In IAS 21, which deals with foreign exchange transactions, the presenter of the financial statement is required to determine a fair value in the foreign currency in question before converting at the exchange rate applicable at the determination date. When dealing with the treatment of assets, impairment of assets and liabilities, as in IAS 16, 17 and 19, the fair value model intends the financial statements to include a valuation that accurately reflects the realisable worth in the marketplace of that asset or liability at the date of the valuation, notwithstanding whether the intention is to retain or dispose of that asset. In this respect fair value differs from historical cost accounting, which records the value of such items as at the date of purchase and, in many cases applies a depreciation content to the items, irrespective of their worth to a prospective purchaser. The historical cost result is twofold. Firstly, the financial statement recognition of any gain or loss against the real market value of an item may be delayed by several years and secondly, the statements will therefore not portray an accurate and fair view of the real value of the business at the date of the statements. The fair value model aim is to accurately align the varying fortunes of the business and its capital worth with the market forces of the date, allocating gains and losses within the period of time that they actually occur, rather than, as is the case with the historical cost model, creating an unrealistic movement in value within the space of one accounting period. A simple example of this in action is where, in the historical system, depreciation is attached to an asset at a predetermined annual rate, annually reducing the asset value. In reality, the sale of that asset would often achieve greater value than the statements showed, leading to a sudden annual increase in profits and growth in capital. Fair value proponents’ state that, by reassessing the market value on an annual basis, the real annual growth achieved by a business entity is more accurately defined, and that this provides investors with statements from which they can make more realistic judgments and use of as comparisons against other organisations, which is of benefit in their investment decision making process. Conclusion The core intention in the adoption of a fair value model as the most appropriate method of measurement for financial and accounting statement is to create a balance sheet and capital value of an organisation that accurately reflects the real market position of that organisation at the date of the statement. One difficulty and concern with this is the inherent problem in the evaluation and establishment of the fair value in respect of all of the items included within the statements. Langendijk et. al. 2003, p.52). At the time of this paper, the IASB has entered into further discussions with the various parties involved with, and affected by the fair value model. This is an attempt to arrive at a clearer definition of the model itself, and to seek a position on fair value, which is more acceptable for the future. References Antill, Nick and Lee, Kenneth (2005). Company Valuation Under IFRS: Interpreting and Forecasting Accounts Using International Financial Reporting Standards. Harriman House Publishing. UK Barth, Mary (2006). Fair Values and Financial Statement Volatility. International Accounting Standards Board, UK. ISAB Framework (2001). Framework for the preparation and presentation of Financial Statements. International King, A.M (2006). Fair Value for Financial Reporting: Meeting the New FASB Requirements. John Wiley Sons Inc., New Jersey, US. Langendijk, Henk., Swagerman, Dirk and Verhoog, Willem (eds) (2003). Is Fair Value Fair?: Financial Reporting from an International Perspective. John Wiley and Sons Ltd. UK Staff Team (2004). Fair Value Accounting and Financial Stability. European Central Bank. Occasional Paper Series, No. 13, April 2004. Retrieved 19 January 2007 from http://www.ecb.int/pub/pdf/scpops/ecbocp13.pdf Summary of International Accounting Standards (2006). International Accounting Standard Boards. Retrieved 20 January 2007 from http://www.iasb.org/Home.htm Williams, Peter (2005). Accounting – The next wave of convergence. Financial Director, 1 Feb 2005. 1 Footnotes [1] International Accounting Standards Board [2] Retail Price Index [3] International Financial Reporting Standards [4] Retail Price Index

Literature in contemporary societies Essay

The art of literature in contemporary societies has always led to more critical discussions between man and himself and between man and his neighbor. Literature pushes us to rethink our stance on normal societal norms and beliefs. Sula is such a work of art. It is the based on two women living at the †Bottom† in Ohio, a predominantly black community. Helen Wright is a socially conscious and quite a conservative woman. She has one daughter; Nel. Hannah Peace a beautiful flamboyant and a woman with many men at the Bottom is the mother of Sula. Sula is raised with Eva Peace, her grandmother who does not stifle her granddaughter’s freedom unlike Nel who comes from a restrictive household. Nel and Sula develop quite an inseparable and good friendship, a friendship that does not settle well with Helen who possesses grave misgivings due to the reputation of Sula’s mother however she does not object openly after her realization that Sula is a very polite house guest. After High School these two great friends diverge ways for 10 years. Sula goes to college where she experiences a new wave of sexual promiscuity much like her mother. Nel On the other hand is married by a Bottoms resident, Jude Green. Their separation last for period of three years before Sula comes back from the college and their relationship resumes without any hindrance. However, this relationship is cut short when Nel learns of the relationship between Sula and Jude. This affair ends both the relationship between Jude and Nel as well as that of Nel as Sula who leaves the bottom for three years. Nel is forced to raise her two children alone and she doesn’t communicate with Sula for the three years that she goes away. Their next meeting occurs when Sula is terribly sick and almost dying. Their last conversation before Sula dies constitutes the literary wealth of this masterpiece; it is the discussion between good and bad. She dies and is buried at the Bottom cemetery. Thereafter, Nel visits Eva Peace who is quite old and is kept in a nursing home where she tries to retell the moments she had together before Sula died. While walking home she begins to feel the loss of the relationship with the death of Sula, her single and true friend. Her judgment of Sula as bad begins to haunt her as she recalls an incident that happened when they were friends; the Chicken Little incident. Chicken little was a young boy who also lived at the Bottom. When playing on a tree, Sula lost grip and the child plunged in the river and drowned. They kept this secret for the whole of their lives. These are the memories that unsettled Nel emotionally, she begins to challenge the concepts of good and bad and the choices and sacrifices people make in life. Later on, she kills her drug addict sun as she struggles to raise his family single handedly. Sadly, we see her sitting and crying over Sula’s grave at then cemetery as the story comes to an end. The story questions the decisions that people make in life; the calls for a rethinking of common societal problems. Critics mention the humor in the novel. For example the place called bottom is actually at the mountain top. The creation of binary oppositions in the novel not only makes it too interesting and informative but also lets the reader glance at the depth of common conventions in the community and the effect these societal conventions have on the lives of children who are supposed to be brought up in a comparatively free world where people are supposed to make free will. Satire as a theme is also developed in the story and it fuse well with the binary notion. The complexity of characters in the story conveys an account of human flaws in decision making and in the way we relate to other people in the community. While parents do everything in their power to ensure that their children justifiably lead a good life, little is done in ensuring that the children also get freedom. This makes the children not to acquire their own experiences in life but only proceed to copy the characters of their parents and grandparents. The fact that Sula turned out to be an exact replica of her mother and grandmother is an attestation to this fact. The book is feminine masterpiece and there is also an element of female chauvinism. This can be justified by the fact that all the major characters in the book are women and their actions are affected by men in a very little sense. Jude, Chicken Little and Nel’s son who became a drug addict after leaving the army are all victims of the women’s stereotyped dispositions. Shadrack being physically and emotionally scarred fro the experience of war is disowned and almost excommunicated by the community without the community fully understanding the reasons behind his behavior. Let us now give a critical analysis of Sula, the main character. Sula is the major influence on his friend Nel. Sula has been influenced by her mother leading to the passage of what can be argued to be a bad character trait through generations. Eva is a strong woman. She has endured loneliness, abject poverty but she is proud and unrelenting. Sula is quite an extraordinary woman, she is energetic but she has no suitable outlet to release her energies. This makes her potentially dangerous in that that she has no knowledge of wrongdoing. She does not understand that she sins when she sleeps with men and carelessly tosses them aside. Her sin is unintentional. The community, however do not understand the context of her upbringing or they simply do not care. They despise her but tolerate her. One very interesting aspect is that Sula is quite independent in her isolation, she does what she pleases and she simply does not care what everybody else does. She lives her the way it pleases her effectively earning her isolation from the community. After her death the rules shift suddenly, there is a renewed sense of acceptance, of defining right and wrong, good and bad. It is important to try and delve into the reasons why Nel and Sula united even after Sula betrayed their friendship by having an affair with Nel’s husband, Jude. Nel realizes that Sula was neither good nor evil; she was just indifferent to everything and everybody. Wives had to put extra effect in making sure that their husbands do not fall into bed with Sula, children were treated better so that they don’t grow into adults who are indifferent and uncaring like Sula. This is good fortune to the bottom community because they were held together in the rethinking process. Remember the National Suicide day? After Sula’s death the community did not have any productive outlet to channel their energies, they could not just sit and talk and so they become enraged and tear up the tunnel the result of unfocused energy. This eventual realization went a long way in ensuring that the residents of Bottom engaged in productive work for their survival. If Sula would have directed her energy to something else, maybe something a little more worthwhile would have resulted. Racial prejudice is highlighted when Jude is denied a chance to engage in the building of anew bridge, because of the color of his skin; he is denied the opportunity even though he is willing to do something productive. He stands in line for six days while the white boys get an opportunity to build the new River Road, his job at the hotel is demeaning and an insult to his masculinity. The scarcity of job opportunities remains to be the why Eva and Hannah had very little chance of gainful employment. They had to contend with the injustices being meted out on them because they were females and most importantly black. To escape the pangs of hunger in the winter, they have to prepare canned food in the summer. The life of Sula Peace, her childhood and her death in 1941is surrounded by the inability of the environment to shape her into a ‘good’ woman The black community residing in Medallion; â€Å"the bottom† is judgmental but not in any way assisting to solve the crisis within itself. Sula’s life story shows us how the community and family can shape somebody’s identity. She not only displays how children are nurtured but also her later relationship with the same community who natured her. She is a strong independent character but the community does not see her positive potentiality. To go against these societal norms she is not married and she sleeps around. The Peace family has been frowned upon by the Bottom community. This could have elicited an element of antagonism from Sula because she does not follow accepted societal conventions but in this case she is the protagonist and not the community. The novel poses her as the central character and the community constitutes only bits and pieces that seem to knit her life together in a predetermined fashion from the time of her birth to death. If change is to take place the community remains the playing field and Sula undoubtedly remains one of the players in the field. Whether she deserved to be rewarded for fearlessly instigating the rethinking process is not a matter of discussion as it is evident that her one and truly friend had in her own way knowingly or unknowingly lent credit to her stance in life by crying over her grave at the cemetery after realizing what Sula stood for. The character Sula is structure less, that any character interaction with her only invokes an element of structurelessness. This is because philosophically her evil is not her own but a reflection of what had been unknowingly imparted in her. Fortunately, her story is one where what is regarded as evil triggered change in the society. In analyzing one of the important masterpieces in the history of black American writing it is prudent to expunge on the growth of protagonism and non conformism in the society. The society’s vilification of the ‘heroine’ Sula who does not fit into the society’s conformation of a heroine is a classic example of the inability of a people to look within themselves and try to solve the problems within its own structures. Works Cited Daniel Dawkins: A Character Analysis of Sula; Considering Morrison’s Main Character as the Protagonist. 2008 Black Community Racism Racist Essays. Solomon O. Iyasere and Marla W. Iyasere. Understanding Tony Morrison’s Beloved and Sula: Selected Essays and Criticisms of the works of Nobel prize winning author. 2000

Cmgt 442 - 1468 Words

Risk Assessment Introduction Sioux Falls, SD is one of McBride’s locations. McBride Financial Services utilizes sensitive equipment and toxic chemicals during its manufacturing process. These high end and dangerous items place the location at risk. Some of the threats include: use of toxic chemicals, public transportation, crime, and acts of terrorism. It is McBride’s responsibility to mitigate these threats. Use of Toxic Chemicals McBride Financial Services must control the risk of its use of toxic chemicals. â€Å"In its 2009 report Science and Decisions: Advancing Risk Assessment, the NAS recommended a process to address and communicate the uncertainty and variability inherent in a risk assessment†¦Ã¢â‚¬ Ã¢â‚¬ ¦show more content†¦Although there is no actual risk to the Sioux Falls headquarters from the bus terminal itself, a bus stop is to be found a few yards from the headquarters. 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Was Hamlet Faking His Insanity Essay - 572 Words

In Hamlet, he seems to be mad, but there is a question that everyone asks when reading or watching this play â€Å"was it, or was it not true that Hamlet was faking his insanity, really suffering, or maybe even both.† First, this is what insanity is: insanity is acting crazy, but not knowing that they’re acting crazy. Also, it’s going through a lot of stress at the same time causing you to act stranger then a normal person. Hamlet was not totally insane. It doesn’t fit. I’m not saying that Hamlet was faking the whole thing. I mean, having your dad die is bad, but to have your mom marry your uncle. Also to see the ghost of your dead dad. That might make you a bit crazy, but not as crazy as everyone thought Hamlet was. If it wasn’t for†¦show more content†¦If people think you are insane, you can get away with anything. That is what Hamlet was thinking. It was a really a good plan. Secondly, if Hamlet saw the ghost, and went insane from that, don’t you think that Horatio, and the guards would have gone insane from seeing him as well? I really don’t think that Hamlet would become crazy out of seeing something that 3 other people did. Later on, Hamlet lets out to his friends and his mom his plan to pretend to act insane. He tells Horatio that he is going to feign madness†, and that if Horatio notices any strange behaviour from Hamlet, it is because he is putting on an act. Some of the other people also come to notice that Hamlet is not crazy. Claudius says that Hamlets actions although strange, do not appear to stem from madness. Also Polonius says that Hamlets actions and words have a method to them, there might be a reason behind them, and they make sense over all. Through the play Hamlet looks like he’s insane then sane again. 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