نوع مقاله : مقاله پژوهشی

نویسندگان

• پویان محمدی ¹
• حمیده اثنی عشری ²
• محمدحسین صفرزاده ³

¹ دانشجوی دکتری حسابداری دانشگاه شهید بهشتی، تهران،ایران

² استادیار گروه حسابداری دانشگاه شهید بهشتی ، تهران، ایران

³ استادیار، دانشکده مدیریت و حسابداری، دانشگاه شهید بهشتی، تهران، ایران.

چکیده

هدف گزارشگری مالی ارائه واقعیت‍های تجاری است. در این میان نگرانی فزاینده‍ای وجود دارد که گزارشگری مالی بیش‌ازحد پیچیده شده است. بر همین اساس هدف از انجام پژوهش حاضر تبیین الگوی پیچیدگی گزارشگری مالی است. پژوهش حاضر با استفاده از روش داده بنیاد انجام شده است. جامعه آماری پژوهش شامل 26 نفر خبره در حوزه گزارشگری مالی است. داده‍های پژوهش با استفاده از روش مصاحبه و به‌صورت نیمه ساختار‍یافته جمع‍آوری شد. مقوله محوری پژوهش حاضر پیچیدگی گزارشگری مالی است که 12 علت شامل درک مفهوم پیچیدگی، دانش تهیه‍کنندگان، ساختار سرمایه شرکت، همکاری بین نهادها، نهاد استانداردگذار، نهاد قانون‍گذار، ذات استانداردها، ساختار کنترل‌های داخلی، وضعیت شرکت، هیئت‌مدیره شرکت، مهارت حسابرسان و توان استفاده‍کننده برای آن به‌عنوان شرایط علی شناسایی گردید. پس‌ازآن با توجه به شرایط زمینه‍ای (بستر کلان، بستر صنعت، بستر شرکت، بستر ساختار گزارش) و شرایط مداخله‍گر (میزان اطلاع‍رسانی، ویژگی‍های مدیران مالی، عوامل کلی، فناوری‍های نوین)، راهکارهایی (فرمت مناسب گزارش، استانداردگذاری مناسب، اعمال قوانین و مقررات، توانمندسازی منابع انسانی و ساختار کنترلی)، تدوین شد، سپس پیامدهای آن شامل پیامدهای سطح اقتصاد کلان، کاهش هزینه‍ها، سطح شرکت، سطح جامعه، سطح بین‍المللی و سطح گزارش، تعیین و الگوی نهایی بر اساس آن ارائه شد.

کلیدواژه‌ها

• پیچیدگی
• رویکرد داده بنیاد
• پیچیدگی گزارشگری مالی

موضوعات

• حسابداری مالی
• گزارش های حسابداری

عنوان مقاله [English]

Exploring the Pattern of Financial Reporting Complexity: A Grounded Theory Approach

نویسندگان [English]

• Pouyan Mohammadi ¹
• hamideh asnaashari ²
• MohammadHosien SafarZade ³

¹ Ph.D candidate of Accounting, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran

² Assistant Professor of Accounting, Faculty of Management and Accounting, Shahid Beheshti university.Tehran, Iran

³ Assistant Professor of Accounting, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran.

چکیده [English]

The purpose of financial reporting is to present commercial realities. Meanwhile, there is growing concern about the complexities involved in financial reporting. To this end, the present study set out to explain the complexity pattern of financial reporting by drawing upon a grounded theory approach. The statistical population of the study includes 26 experts in the field of financial reporting. The data for the research were collected using semi-structured interviews. The findings identified the complexity of financial reporting as encompassing 12 causes: understanding the concept of complexity, preparers' knowledge, the company's capital structure, cooperation between institutions, the standard-setting body, the legislative body, the accounting standards, the structure of internal controls, the company's financial position, the company's board of directors, the auditors' skills, and the users' ability to identify it as causal conditions. Then, according to the contextual conditions (macro, industry, company, and reporting structure) and intervening conditions (informing practices, characteristics of the Chief Financial Officer, macro factors, and new technologies), several strategies (appropriate report format, appropriate standardization, application of laws and regulations, and empowerment of human resources and control structure) were developed. Afterward, the consequences, including outcomes at the macroeconomic level, expense reduction, company level, societal level, international level, and report level, were determined, and the final pattern was presented accordingly.

Introduction

Financial statements should contain sufficient detail to help users analyze and evaluate the company’s performance results and financial position in order to make informed economic decisions (Mutiso & Kamao, 2013). The complexity of financial statements indicates the increasing difficulty in understanding, interpreting, and predicting financial statements (Filzen & Peterson, 2015). Glassman (2006) states that the main concern regarding the complexity of financial reporting is that if financial statements are complex and distort business and economic reality, capital will be used inefficiently, resources will be misallocated, investors will pay a high opportunity cost by investing in companies with unrealistic values, customers and suppliers will make important and strategic business decisions based on a flawed picture of economic reality, creditors will not be able to price loans according to the real risk assumed, and employees will make employment, retirement, and investment decisions based on an incorrect view of the employer's financial outlook. Complexity in financial reporting has many negative consequences for users of financial reports. Given the increasing complexity of the business environment and consequently of financial reports, in such circumstances, users need understandable reports on which they can make informed decisions. Providing a comprehensive model of financial reporting complexity can help users of financial reports reduce the level of complexity they face. Therefore, the problem addressed in the present study is the lack of such a comprehensive model. The main questions that arise are: What are the complex areas of financial reporting? What factors cause financial reports to become complex? And what is the comprehensive model of financial reporting complexity?
Research Questions
What is the comprehensive model of factors affecting the complexity of financial reporting?

Literature Review

Managers may structure annual reports opportunistically and intentionally complicate financial reports in order to hide negative information from investors. When a company’s performance is poor, managers have an incentive to present information in an ambiguous manner, as the market may react slowly to information that is disclosed in a complex way. In other words, managers tend to obscure undesirable information by presenting complicated and ambiguous reports. In fact, they may attempt to conceal poor performance by increasing the volume of unnecessary information in annual financial reports. According to the management obfuscation hypothesis, managers present information they are reluctant to disclose in an ambiguous and incomplete manner to reduce the users' understanding of financial reports (Li, 2008). Existing accounting standards provide rules and guidelines on how companies should report. However, management still has discretion in deciding how to present financial information. Based on the opportunistic perspective of the positive accounting theory, managers choose the reporting method that suits their personal interests. As a result, they may publish financial information in a way that misleads investors (Pajuste et al., 2020). The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have all proposed projects to simplify and reduce the amount of information disclosed in financial reports. The Chairman of the FASB, Russell Golden, stated that “overly complex financial statements often hide important information that investors need to make appropriate decisions about capital allocation. A complex, opaque, and ambiguous standard also makes it difficult for preparers of financial statements to understand it, and even when an accounting procedure is clear, its use can be long, difficult, and costly” (Murphy, 2015).

Research Methodology

The present study is descriptive in terms of its fundamental purpose, descriptive in terms of data collection, and qualitative in nature, using the grounded theory method to analyze the data. Grounded theory refers to a theory derived from data that has been systematically collected and analyzed during the research process, involving a continuous back-and-forth between the data and emerging insights (Khanifar & Moslemi, 2019). This study develops and presents a comprehensive model of financial reporting complexity that includes causal factors, contextual factors, intervening factors, strategies, and consequences. It is also a cross-sectional study, as the interviews were conducted in 2024.

Results and Discussion

The findings showed that the financial reporting complexity model consists of 30 components. Causal factors affecting the complexity of financial reporting include understanding the concept of complexity, preparers' knowledge, the company's capital structure, cooperation between institutions, the standard-setting body, the legislative body, the accounting standards, the structure of internal controls, the company's financial position, the company's board of directors, the auditors' skill, and the users’ ability. Contextual conditions include the macro context, industry context, company context, and reporting structure context. Intervening conditions include informing practices, characteristics of the Chief Financial Officer, macro factors, and new technologies. Strategies to reduce the complexity of financial reporting include adopting an appropriate report format, appropriate standardization, application of laws and regulations, and empowerment of human resources and the control structure. Finally, the consequences, including the outcomes at the macroeconomic level, expense reduction, company level, societal level, international level, and report level, were identified, and the final model was presented accordingly.

Conclusion

Given the lack of a uniform definition and understanding of the complexity of financial reports, this has been identified as one of the causal factors affecting the complexity of financial reports. The second causal component is the preparers’ knowledge of financial reports. The more specialized knowledge (in accounting and finance) and experience financial managers possess, the clearer and less complex the financial reports are. Financial managers with greater knowledge and experience tend to make more appropriate and understandable disclosures in financial reports. The third causal component is the company's capital structure. It is expected that private companies and those not accountable to a wide range of stakeholders will publish more complex financial reports. In contrast, companies that are accountable to various stakeholders are subject to greater scrutiny, encouraging preparers to produce more transparent reports. The fourth to seventh components include the lack of cooperation between different institutions, the standard-setting body, the legislative body, and the accounting standards, respectively. Cooperation among institutions involved in financial reporting can reduce complexity, by fostering a unified disclosure framework across all industries. In addition, some accounting standards and areas are inherently complex (ACCA, 2009), for example, Hedge Accounting (IAS39), Share-Based Payments (IFRS2), and Pension Accounting (IAS19). The eighth component is the structure of internal controls. Companies with strong and well-designed internal control systems tend to present more transparent financial reports. The ninth component is the company's overall financial situation. Companies facing unfavorable financial conditions may manipulate their reports to appear more stable. The tenth component is the company's board of directors. In companies where the board members possess relevant knowledge, education, and accounting experience, financial report monitoring is generally more effective. The eleventh component is the auditors' skills. Auditors with higher levels of education and expertise are expected to examine financial reports more rigorously and ensure compliance with disclosure guidelines and accounting standards. The twelfth component is the users’ ability. If users of financial reports have higher education and possess up-to-date knowledge in various fields, particularly in finance and accounting, they are more likely to understand and analyze financial reports effectively. As a result, the perceived complexity of the reports is reduced for them.

کلیدواژه‌ها [English]

• Complexity
• Financial Reporting Complexity
• Grounded Theory Approach