2 nd Brunel Accounting Symposium Abstracts and Biographies 2012

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1 s and Biographies 2012 Implications of EU reforms for smaller entities on UK company law Vickie Wood The presentation will cover the new Accounting Directive s creation of a harmonised reporting regime for small companies, describe the changes this introduces and consider the implications for the UK s financial reporting framework. It will also consider the impact of the Micros Directive, which created a new category of business entity within EU legislation and describe the Government s plans for its implementation in the UK. Vickie Wood is Assistant Director Accounting Policy, BIS. Most recently this has involved negotiation of the EU proposals for a new accounting directive; and implementation into UK legislation of the directive relieving micro entities of financial reporting burdens. She has worked in a wide range of roles in central Government. She has experience of preparing agency accounts; the design and implementation of finance systems; and operation of systems of control at local, regional and national level. She worked many years supporting the delivery of Government training opportunities and was previously responsible for developing the Government s contract with Training and Enterprise Councils for the delivery of youth and adult training programmes. She worked with the Employment Service at national and regional office level in financial assurance and the delivery of employment training initiatives. She also has experience of further education policy where she was responsible for the governance framework and the development of innovative business models. IFRS for all debunking the myths David Cairns The development of both full IFRS and IFRS for SMEs has been, and is, hampered by several myths: the objective of financial reporting. The role of prudence, the use of fair value measurement and the frequency of complex transactions are just some of those myths. How can we debunk those myths and achieve a much simpler set of principles-based standards global standards that can be applied, when needed, by all businesses in all countries? David Cairns is Visiting Professor at the University of Edinburgh. He provides IFRS training and consulting services and is a member of the Financial Reporting Review Panel and the Financial Services and Other Special Industries Committee. He is also a member of the Bloomberg-BNA Accounting Policy and Practice Advisory Board. David was secretary-general 1

2 s and Biographies 2012 of the IASC from 1985 to He was a member of the IASB s Working Group on Accounting Standards for SMEs and director of the ICAEW s evaluation project on the implementation of IFRS in the EU. In 1995, David was appointed OBE for his services to the accountancy profession. He was also recognised by IFAC for his outstanding contribution to the international accountancy profession. Does capital structure dominate the demand for voluntary audit in micro-companies? Hannu Ojala We investigate capital structure as a determinant of voluntary audit in a large sample of micro-companies in Finland. Building on agency theory, we hypothesise and find that the likelihood of voluntary audit is higher in micro-companies funded by trade credit or bank finance than in those funded solely by owners equity. Surprisingly, we find that many micro-companies with no external debt funding, (i.e. those funded solely by owners equity), also opt for voluntary audit. Interviews with owner-managers of micro-companies, bank managers and the tax authorities not only validate our statistical results, but also provide rich insights that help explain this unexpected demand. These include factors such as the need for advice and internal control, as well as the owner-manager s need to focus on the core business rather than financial systems and records. Our results should be of interest to auditing professionals and regulators in EU Member States in the context of the new accounting Directive (2012/6/EU) relating to micro-entities, where there is little empirical evidence to guide policy-makers. Hannu Ojala is Assistant Professor at Aalto University School of Economics, Helsinki. He has a doctorate from the Helsinki School of Economics and has taught financial accounting at undergraduate and postgraduate level. His main research interests are auditing and international accounting and he has been a visiting researcher at Brunel University. Hannu is a member of Electronic Reporting Board in Finland and an alternative member of the Audit Oversight Board in Finland. He has 16-years experience in finance and general management positions in large listed companies. 2

3 s and Biographies 2012 Accounting for SMEs from a non-anglo-saxon perspective Issues for translation of IFRS Axel Haller The IFRS for SMEs has been discussed controversially within the EU. One of the countries in which most of the accounting regulation constituencies are not in favor of the application of the standard or are even critical about it, is Germany. To understand this critical position, it is important to reflect the general accounting concept and perception that has shaped the content of financial reporting rules, given reasoning for their differentiation, and defined the functions, financial statements are expected to fulfill since. The presentation explains this conceptual background, major developments in German SME accounting during the last years and the current situation of accounting regulation and practices of SMEs in Germany. It also highlights the major arguments that are put forward in Germany with regard to a potential application of the IFRS for SMEs. Besides the conceptual and normative reasoning some evidence from empirical studies will also be presented. Axel Haller is Professor of Financial Accounting and Auditing at the University of Regensburg, Germany and has a doctorate from the University of Augsburg. He has taught financial and managerial accounting at undergraduate and postgraduate level and has been a visiting professor at universities in Austria, France, Spain, Sweden, Serbia, Australia, the UK and the USA. His main research interests are international accounting and the evolution of accounting regulation and practice in different countries. Axel is member of the European Accounting Association s Financial Reporting Standards Committee, on the scientific committee of the European Financial Reporting Research Group (EUFIN) and part of the International Business Economics Accounting Collaborative Network (ibeacon). He is associate editor of Accounting in Europe and on the editorial boards of several German journals. Developing standards that reduce the burden on small and micro-entities Darrel Scott The IFRS for SMEs is nearing the end of its first phase. More than 80 countries have adopted the standard or have plans to adopt it; many more countries have implemented amended versions of the standard. As the IASB nears the end of its first review of the standard, the debate is moving from the technical to the strategic. Darrel Scott will be presenting some of the thinking behind the scenes on the future position of the standard within the IFRS family. 3

4 s and Biographies 2012 Darrel Scott is a member of the IASB and chair of the Small and Medium Enterprises Implementation Group (SMEIG). He was formerly a member of the IASB's International Financial Reporting Interpretations Committee (IFRIC) and has also been a member of the IFRS Foundation's Standards Advisory Council (SAC), now called the IFRS Advisory Council. Darrel was also CFO of the FirstRand Banking Group, one of the largest financial institutions in South Africa. 4

5 s and Biographies 2012 Robin Jarvis is Professor of Accounting at Brunel University. He is also a Special Adviser to ACCA and Policy Adviser to the European Federation of Accountants and Auditors (EFAA) on SME policy. His membership of international and European committees and working groups include the following: EFRAG: Supervisory Board, Planning and Resource Committee, Nominating Committee and SME Working Group; IASB: IFRS for SMEs Implementation Group; European Banking Authority: Bankers Stakeholder s Group, where he chairs the Consumer Working Group; Chartered Banker: Professional Standards Board; Chair of the Advisory Panel. He is on the editorial boards of four academic journals. In 2013 Robin received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the British Accounting and Finance Association. Richard Martin is Head of Corporate Reporting at the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA). He is responsible for monitoring developments in financial reporting (particularly IFRS), analysing the impact of changes and developing ACCA's policy on these issues. Richard is a member of FEE s Accounting Working Party and the Financial Reporting Policy Group. He is also chairman of EEFAA s Accounting Expert Group and a member of UNCTAD s Accounting and Reporting Group of experts where he is particularly involved with developing reporting guidelines for small and medium-sized businesses. Len Skerratt is Associate Professor at Brunel University, Visiting Professor at Loughborough University and Emeritus Professor at Manchester University. He was educated at the LSE (economics and accounting) and Trinity College, Oxford (theology) and has held posts at the universities of Lancaster, Durham (Professor) and Manchester (Professor). He has published over 30 books as well as numerous papers in international research journals (including two prize winning papers). In 2009 Len received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the British Accounting Association. Mike Page is Professor Emeritus of Accounting at the University of Portsmouth and an Associate Professor at Brunel University. He is a member of the Accounting Standards Board's Committee on Accounting for Small Entities. He was formerly chair of the British Accounting Association and the Committee of Heads of Accounting and Finance. In 2010/11 he was awarded a BAFA Lifetime Achievement Award. He organises the annual CDAF BAFA Research Methods Workshop for accounting academics developing their research skills. Mike graduated in Mathematics before qualifying as a Chartered Accountant with Coopers and Lybrand. He spent two years training accountants in Zambia before joining the University of Southampton and subsequently the University of Portsmouth as Professor of Accounting. He has published in the areas of financial reporting, especially in relation to small companies, and corporate governance. In 2010 Mike received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the British Accounting Association. 5