1. BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCE icaew.com Brian Singleton-Green Financial Reporting Workshop, Rome: 13-14 June 2013 Financial reporting research – is it relevant to practice?

2. BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCE icaew.com © ICAEW 2013 Is FR research relevant to practice? Obvious answers Obstacles The IASB’s new approach Four styles of standard setting The IASB, research and the future

3. BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCE icaew.com © ICAEW 2013 Is it relevant to practice? Obvious answers No

4. BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCE icaew.com © ICAEW 2013 AAA membership YearPractitionersAcademics 19708,5004,000 19795,500 2009 6006,000

5. BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCE icaew.com © ICAEW 2013 Is it relevant to practice? Obvious answers No Yes

6. BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCE icaew.com © ICAEW 2013 Practitioner concerns What should I do? (practice) What should we be required to do? (policy)

7. BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCE icaew.com © ICAEW 2013 Corporate reporting questions Who uses corporate reporting? What use do they make of it? What other information do they use? What are the effects of corporate reporting (effects ≠ uses)? Eg, effects of different disclosures? Effects of different forms of measurement? Answers will depend on context

8. BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCE icaew.com © ICAEW 2013 The corporate reporting debate The standard setting debate

9. BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCE icaew.com © ICAEW 2013 Is it relevant to practice? Obvious answers No Yes Depends

10. BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCE icaew.com © ICAEW 2013 Obstacles Incomprehensible Disagreements Normative conclusions Perceived irrelevance

11. BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCE icaew.com © ICAEW 2013 AAA membership: what happened? Research changed Practice changed

12. BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCE icaew.com © ICAEW 2013 The IASB’s new approach Feedback Statement: Agenda Consultation 2011 (December 2012)

13. BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCE icaew.com © ICAEW 2013 … the IASB should establish, or facilitate the establishment of, a dedicated research capability to provide leadership in the thinking about financial reporting

14. BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCE icaew.com © ICAEW 2013 “Priority research projects” Emissions Trading Schemes Business Combinations under Common Control Discount Rates Equity Method of Accounting Intangible Assets; Extractive Activities; and Research & Development Activities Financial Instruments with the Characteristics of Equity Foreign Currency Translation Non-financial Liabilities (amendments to IAS 37) Financial Reporting in High Inflationary Economies

15. BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCE icaew.com © ICAEW 2013 Four styles of standard setting Codifying best practice Implementing a theory Doing what works Doing what people want Finding out what current practices are - Finding out what works -

16. BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCE icaew.com © ICAEW 2013 The IASB, research and the future

17. BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCE icaew.com © ICAEW 2013 IASB: motivations for change The financial crisis Unsuccessful projects The end of convergence Credibility

18. BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCE icaew.com © ICAEW 2013 What the IASB means by “research” Academic research Staff research Work

19. BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCE icaew.com © ICAEW 2013 The IASB and research: the future More use of academic research Will have to be positive results Research is not a panacea Change is reversible

20. BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCE icaew.com © ICAEW 2013 The long term Engage with the IASB Engage with practitioners Create forums for interaction

21. BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCE icaew.com © ICAEW 2013 Information for Better Markets Academic events ICAEW lectures and conferences

22. BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCE icaew.com © ICAEW 2013 ICAEW lectures and conferences “International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS): pros and cons”, Ray Ball, Accounting and Business Research (2006) Over 18,000 downloads from SSRN

23. BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCE icaew.com © ICAEW 2013 Information for Better Markets Conferences London, 16-17 December 2013 Reporting Financial Performance Alfred Wagenhofer (Graz) Charles Lee (Stanford) Robert Libby (Cornell) Steven Young (Lancaster)

24. BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCE icaew.com © ICAEW 2013 Information for Better Markets Academic events ICAEW lectures and conferences Reports

25. BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCE icaew.com © ICAEW 2013

26. BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCE icaew.com © ICAEW 2013

27. BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCE icaew.com © ICAEW 2013 The long term Engage with the IASB Engage with practitioners Create forums for interaction Communication: clear, short and simple Explain policy-relevance Impact

28. A world leader of the accountancy and finance profession BUSINESS WITH CONFIDENCE icaew.com