This document outlines seminar questions for a course on accounting theory and issues. It covers various topics in 13 weekly sections, including the objectives of financial reporting, users and suppliers of financial reports, accounting regulation, conceptual frameworks, reactions of capital markets, positive accounting theory, inflation accounting, and future trends in accounting. Students are prompted to discuss issues like the form of financial rules, the role of research, differences in postulates/concepts/principles, public vs private regulation, and challenges to developing new accounting practices.
This document outlines seminar questions for a course on accounting theory and issues. It covers various topics in 13 weekly sections, including the objectives of financial reporting, users and suppliers of financial reports, accounting regulation, conceptual frameworks, reactions of capital markets, positive accounting theory, inflation accounting, and future trends in accounting. Students are prompted to discuss issues like the form of financial rules, the role of research, differences in postulates/concepts/principles, public vs private regulation, and challenges to developing new accounting practices.
This document outlines seminar questions for a course on accounting theory and issues. It covers various topics in 13 weekly sections, including the objectives of financial reporting, users and suppliers of financial reports, accounting regulation, conceptual frameworks, reactions of capital markets, positive accounting theory, inflation accounting, and future trends in accounting. Students are prompted to discuss issues like the form of financial rules, the role of research, differences in postulates/concepts/principles, public vs private regulation, and challenges to developing new accounting practices.
This document outlines seminar questions for a course on accounting theory and issues. It covers various topics in 13 weekly sections, including the objectives of financial reporting, users and suppliers of financial reports, accounting regulation, conceptual frameworks, reactions of capital markets, positive accounting theory, inflation accounting, and future trends in accounting. Students are prompted to discuss issues like the form of financial rules, the role of research, differences in postulates/concepts/principles, public vs private regulation, and challenges to developing new accounting practices.
ACW 467 / ACW 367 – SEMINAR IN ACCOUNTING THEORY & ISSUES
Seminar Questions Week 2
Introduction to Accounting Environment: Issues, Theory and Research
1. What are the objectives and scopes that should have been incorporated in the financial statements when reporting to external users?
2. Who are the users of financial reports and what are their demands for financial information?
3. Who are the suppliers of financial reports and what are the incentives available or obstacles faced while supplying the information?
4. How much financial ruling is needed and in what form?
5. What is meant by research and to what extent does research
help to play an important role in developing accounting theory?
Page 1 ACW 467 / ACW 367 – SEMINAR IN ACCOUNTING THEORY & ISSUES
Seminar Questions Week 3
Accounting Theory Structure
1. What are the differences between accounting postulates,
concepts and principles?
2. How does the three elements above help to influence the
structure of the accounting theory?
3. How and on what basis do the three elements are formed,
chosen and used?
Page 2 ACW 467 / ACW 367 – SEMINAR IN ACCOUNTING THEORY & ISSUES
Seminar Questions Week 4
Regulation of Accounting
1. What is meant by accounting regulation (setting of the
accounting standards)? To what extent the public regulation can be differentiated from the private regulation?
2. Discuss the supporting and the opposing opinions of
accounting regulation.
3. Compare the accounting regulation system in Malaysia and in
the Western countries particularly in the UK and the USA?
4. Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of accounting standard
setting system that is based on private regulation with a particular attention on Malaysia and another country?
5. If accounting regulation is needed, to what extent there is an
ideal form in which it should be developed, who should be responsible to develop the standards and how it should be implemented?
Page 3 ACW 467 / ACW 367 – SEMINAR IN ACCOUNTING THEORY & ISSUES
Seminar Questions Week 5
Accounting Theory: Conceptual Framework
1. What is meant by conceptual framework?
2. Why there should be a conceptual framework?
3. Issues relating to conceptual framework – opinions about
earnings, definitions, capital maintenance concepts, measurement methods – which one should be chosen and on what basis?
4. Development of conceptual framework – examples of
experience of the USA, UK, IASC, Malaysia etc.
5. What should be the objectives of financial reporting?
6. Basic concepts – Qualitative characteristics and basic elements
7. Malaysian/IASC experience in developing their/its conceptual
framework.
Page 4 ACW 467 / ACW 367 – SEMINAR IN ACCOUNTING THEORY & ISSUES
Seminar Questions Week 6
Accounting Theory: Conceptual Framework
1. Problems experienced by the accounting standard setters.
2. Conceptual issues in developing accounting standards.
3. Can conceptual framework resolve accounting problems?
How?
4. What is your evaluation about the existing conceptual
framework?
5. Is there another alternative to conceptual framework?
6. How can Malaysia apply the conceptual framework?
Page 5 ACW 467 / ACW 367 – SEMINAR IN ACCOUNTING THEORY & ISSUES
Seminar Questions Week 9
Reactions of Capital Markets to Financial Reporting
1. What is meant by Efficient Market Hypothesis? How does this
affect financial reporting?
2. Discuss the implications of efficient market research on
financial reporting by giving extra attention on (1) Users of financial information (2) Content of the corporate report (company annual report).
3. Should the company annual report be prepared on the basis of
decision usefulness? If yes, what kind of problems would emerge?
4. Under which conditions and for which user groups would the criteria for financial reporting would be different from what is obtained from the efficient market research?
Page 6 ACW 467 / ACW 367 – SEMINAR IN ACCOUNTING THEORY & ISSUES
Seminar Questions Week 10
Accounting Theory: Positive Approach
1. What is meant by Positive Accounting Theory approach? How
does approach differ from the normative approach?
2. Discuss the importance of agency theory and contracting costs
in choosing accounting policies.
3. Discuss the importance of political costs in choosing
accounting policies.
4. Evaluate critically the contribution of Watts and Zimmerman
(1990) in their article entitled “Positive Accounting Theory: A Ten Year Perspective” The Accounting Review, 65, pp. 131- 156.
Page 7 ACW 467 / ACW 367 – SEMINAR IN ACCOUNTING THEORY & ISSUES
Seminar Questions Week 11 Inflation Accounting
1. Explain the capital maintenance concept for General Price
Level Accounting and discuss the opinions that support and oppose this concept.
2. Show the numerical examples to illustrate the concept above
(General Price Level Accounting).
3. How do the empirical studies about “Current Purchasing
Power” have contributed to the extent debate on inflation accounting?
4. How does Current Value Accounting differ from the two
concepts mentioned above?
Notes: Many terms have been used to explain “Current
Purchasing Power [CPP]”. Listed below are some of the terms commonly used for CPP with the same intended meanings.
General Purchasing Power
Constant Purchasing Power Current Purchasing Power
Page 8 ACW 467 / ACW 367 – SEMINAR IN ACCOUNTING THEORY & ISSUES
Seminar Questions Week 12
Financial Accounting Issues
1. What are the controversial issues with regard to the
accounting topic discussed?
2. How does the problem being resolved by the responsible
bodies?
3. Is it possible to come up with a solution? Why?
Page 9 ACW 467 / ACW 367 – SEMINAR IN ACCOUNTING THEORY & ISSUES
Seminar Questions Week 13
Future Trends in Accounting
1. What is so important or special about the accounting that is
being discussed?
2. Discuss about the catalysts that would make such accounting
possible.
3. What are the hurdles that must be overcome to make the
introduction of the accounting possible?
4. How should Malaysia act specifically to champion this? i.e. to
introduce this accounting practice in Malaysia what are needed (actions, regulations, sentiments, belief etc.)?
