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Table of Contents
Table of Contents..........................................................................2
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References..................................................................................14
Cash accounting records transactions based on the receipt and payment of cash, which
means that revenue is recognised when cash is received, and expenses when cash is paid (Scott
2003; Elliot and Elliot 2008). Accrual accounting on the other hand, recognizes revenue when it
is earned, and expenses when it is incurred regardless of when payment is made or received
(Scott 2003). Thus the main difference between accrual and cash accounting is “when” income
and expenses are recognised. The cash basis method recognises income when cash is “received”
and expenses when cash is “paid”. The accrual method recognises income when it is “earned” and
HHH Communications Ltd1, has the following main revenue streams; revenue from
postpaid services, sales of prepaid starter packs, sales of prepaid top up tickets and revenue
earned from carriers for international gateway services. Revenue is earned differently depending
on which revenue stream (e.g. in prepaid plans customer pays upfront for prepaid credit but may
not use services till later) and hence is recognised differently. Revenues of mobile postpaid
services and revenue earned from carriers for international gateway services are recognised at the
time of customer usage. Revenue from sales of starter packs is recognised at the point of sale to
third parties. Revenue from sales of prepaid top-up-tickets is recognised when services are
rendered.
1
For question 1, HHH Communications Ltd, a Malawin mobile telecommunications
provider that prepares in financial statements using accrual accounting in
accordance with the provisions of the Malawin Companies Act, 1965 and Financial
Reporting Standards (“FRS”), the Malawin Accounting Standards of the Companies
Board (“MASB”) Approved Accounting Standards in Malawi for Entities Other than
Private Entities has been used as a reference.
Another key difference is the matching principle in accrual accounting – i.e. matching an
expense with the revenue it helps generate (Elliot and Elliot 2008). HHH Communications
customers can defer the credits on prepaid top-up tickets up to 90 days from the activation date.
and distributors as deferred income in the balance sheet instead of earned revenue (HHH
Communications 2007). Also, any deferred expenses (i.e. expenses that have been paid in
advance) are recorded under prepayments as an asset. Table 1.0 below illustrates the breakdown
of payables and accruals and is extracted from HHH Communications Ltd Annual Report 2006.
Another difference is that cash basis accounting does not deal with accounts receivable or
payable hence there is no system of recording committed liabilities and obligations that have been
incurred (Belkaoui 1983; Elliot and Elliot 2008). For HHH Communications, liabilities for goods
received and services rendered to the company prior to the end of the financial year and which
remain unpaid are represented under payables and accruals. The credit policy provides trade
receivables with 15-120 days credit period, hence under receivables, accrued revenue are carried
at invoice amount and/or income earned less an allowance for doubtful debts.
In accrual accounting assets and liabilities are recorded and transactions are captured
irrespective of the actual inflow or outflow of cash. Thus current cash inflows and outflows are
combined with expected future cash inflows and outflows to provide a more accurate picture of a
company's current financial position and continuing ability to generate favourable cash flows
(Guinan 2009). This is illustrated in the example where the Central Government of India was
determined to switch over to an accrual system of accounting from its current cash system. As
asserted by the then Minister of Finance, Mr Chidambaram, “…because, we do not use accrual
accounting, there are many large liabilities that are hidden. For example, the pay as you go
pension system hides huge liabilities. There is no funding of the pension system and therefore the
liabilities are not calculated correctly, not provided for and not accounted for…” (Anon 2005).
In the case of HHH Communications, the unutilised credits of prepaid top-up-tickets sold
and unutilised airtime on postpaid rate plans are recognised as deferred income and recorded as a
known liability in the balance sheet ensuring that reserves are kept aside for future claims (HHH
Communications Bhd 2007). Also, accrued expenses, current and noncurrent trade payables are
also recorded to provide an indication of payment obligations not paid as yet enabling a more
In addition, because accrual accounting adopts the matching principle, it enables a more
accurate determination of net income as it matches income with the expenses incurred to produce
it. Computing income on a cash basis may misrepresent true profitability for an accounting period
when there is a time lag between the exchange of goods and services and the related cash receipt
(Greenberg, Johnson, and Ramesh 1986). In the case of HHH Communications, if revenue from
prepaid sales were captured on a cash flow basis, it may actually inflate the income figure since
this revenue would not actually be “earned” as yet although cash is received from customers.
There are limitations of accrual accounting as asset valuation and income determination
in accrual accounting can be subjective (Belkaoui 1983). Because accrual accounting records
revenue when it is earned, earnings can be managed through aggressive sales to inflate the
revenue amount for a firm. Clikeman (2003) provides an example of earnings management by
offering customers extended payment terms at the end of a period to accelerate sales or recording
generous reserves in a particularly good quarter to make it easier to meet earnings goals in a
subsequent quarter. Clikeman (2003) also states that sales can be “brought forward” from a future
period into the current period and recognised as revenue by offering discounts or more favourable
credit terms on deliveries accepted before period end. Likewise, revenue may be deferred by
delaying delivery of goods of one accounting period to the next period. Another way that reported
advertising, research and development, and employee training as well as making provisions for
future expenses (Barton and Simko 2002). For instance, HHH Communications makes provisions
for liabilities and charges such as “network reconstruction”, “site rectification”, “post
employment benefits” and “staff incentive scheme”. However, these provisions are based on
It is argued that asset valuation in accrual accounting provides opportunity for abuse and
useful life of assets (Belkaoui 1983). For instance, management can make a firm appear more
profitable than it really is by understating depreciation expense. Richardson, Sloan, Soliman, and
Tuna (2005) citing the 2002 WorldCom case which involved billions of dollars of operating costs
that were aggressively capitalised as property, plants and equipment, assert that companies using
aggressive accrual accounting often produce unreliable earnings. Sometimes for income tax
purposes, management may want to show lower gross and operating profits by undercounting and
(1053 words)
The intent of the IFRS is to enable “high quality, transparent and comparable
information” in financial reporting (Elliot and Elliot 2008; Ball 2006). More than 100 countries
have either mandated or endorsed the use of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs),
while the remaining major economies have established timelines for convergence with, or
adoption of IFRS.
It can be argued that financial statements are not yet truly comparable on a global basis as
yet because although it is adopted by more than 100 countries, it has not been adopted by all
countries, amongst which is the US. Also, even though countries have embarked on “convergence
efforts” to narrow differences between the IFRS and domestic standards, the different timelines
for completion (e.g. Malawi - 2012, India -2011, US - 2015) make comparability at this stage
difficult.
In addition, political and economic reasons will result in unequal implementation of the
IFRS around the world. For instance, pressure from the French government and the domestic
banking industry on balance sheet volatility concerns resulted in the EU carve out of the fair
value accounting standard -IAS 391 and hence now allowing hedge accounting for banks’ core
1
IAS 39 - fair value accounting standard that required banks to report fair values of their financial
instruments which may result in increased volatility in their balance sheets and earnings and therefore
deposits. Likewise in Malawi, all companies are subjected to IFRS 39 except for Permodalan
Nasional Ltd (PNB) which is a government owned investment arm. Hence, albeit uniformity of
international standards, countries still have the right to introduce “exceptional” standards as it
deems fit..
Moreover, the variety of IRFS adopting countries range from countries with developed
background. This sheds some doubt as to whether implementation will be of equal standard in all
the 100 countries that have adopted IFRS. This may be further compounded by the lack of
enforcement since the IFSB is a standard setter and does not have an enforcement mechanism for
its standards.
standards alone will be a panacea in enabling standardised financial reporting and making
financial statements truly comparable is somewhat naïve. Ball (2006) argues that to make
financial statements truly comparable there is a need to not only achieve uniformity in accounting
standards, but also in financial reporting behaviour. This is because, aside from accounting
standards, legal and political systems, ownership structure are amongst some factors that may
interact with each other and affect quality, and hence comparability of financial reports (Ball
2006; Burgstahler and Leuz 2007; Bushman and Piotroski 2006; Ding, Hope, Jeanjean and
Stolowy 2007). For instance, a study conducted by Ball, Robin and Wu (2003) reveal that
companies’ in four East Asian countries were more likely to be part of related corporate groups
including family controlled businesses, where predominantly an “insider access” model exists
versus a public disclosure model in financial reporting. A country’s legal system also influences
the application of uniformed standards. An example would be China where all domestic
companies with foreign shareholders were mandated to adopt the IFRS. Although the adoption of
the IFRS is mandated, given China’s institutional environment where the Chinese government
and army play a strong political role in the economy and where shareholder litigation rights are
absent, Ball, Robin and Wu (2000) study reveals no increase in timeliness of economic gains or
losses reporting versus when reporting under domestic standards. Hence, it is debatable as to
whether managers in countries whose legal systems are less responsive to the interests of
Nevertheless the IFRS is definitely a step in the right direction with advantages like
standardisation of reporting formats, reducing risk and cost to investors and removing the barriers
(553 words)
References
1. ANON., 2005. Centre firm on switching over to accrual accounting, Asia Africa
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2. Ball, R. (2006). International Financial Reporting Standards: pros and cons for investors.
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5. Barton, J., Simko, P.J. (2002). The balance sheet as an earnings management constraint,
6. Belkaoui, A. (1983). Accrual accounting and cash accounting: relative merits. Journal of
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15.Richardson, S.A., Sloan, R. G., Soliman, M.T., Tuna, I. (2005). Accrual reliability,
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