دیدگاه های دانشگاهی درباره مباحث حسابداری بین المللی

Given the increasing globalization of business, including the widening acceptance of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in the capital markets, the international dimension is of great importance to the accounting profession. The international accounting course plays a key role in the accounting curriculum in providing students with information about this critical area of accounting. This study examines the relative importance of various international accounting topics through a survey of members of the American Accounting Association's International Accounting Section. Results are compared with those of prior studies in order to determine whether and to what extent perspectives have changed over time. The findings should be helpful for faculty designing or updating an international accounting course or curriculum or desiring to integrate international issues into various accounting courses. They should also help practitioners identify with which areas their new hires are likely to be more familiar.

International accounting is increasingly important to accounting practice, and thus to the accounting curriculum, as the world has become more inter-connected politically and economically. Business is increasingly global in nature. As a result, accounting professionals in industry and public accounting must deal more and more with international accounting issues. Among key events in recent years, the acceptance of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) for financial reporting in many countries around the world, notably the European Union (EU) in 2005, makes international accounting an area to which all accounting students should at least be introduced. This study examines the perceptions of accounting educators who have an expressed interest in international accounting, for the purpose of ascertaining which international topics are perceived to be most important. There is a need for ongoing assessment of what topics are most important to the international accounting course, as events such as wider acceptance and changes to the IFRSs must be continually monitored (Nix and Smith, 2006). Results of the current study are compared to prior studies to determine if relative rankings have changed over time and if rankings vary depending on the geographic location of the respondent. The findings should be useful to educators as they plan which international accounting topics to cover, either in an international accounting course or spread over various accounting courses. In addition, business professionals may find the results useful for identifying areas in which their new hires are likely to be most familiar. The World Trade Organization estimates merchandise imports (exports) for the world exceeding seven trillion US dollars (WTO, 2005). Service imports and exports add over one trillion US dollars more to the total value of world trade. International trade is becoming an increasingly important part of the world economy. A major factor contributing to this globalization is the international movement of capital and the integration of financial markets, activities that are facilitated by transparent and harmonized accounting standards. In a speech, Michael Mussa (2000) of the International Monetary Fund stated that “…global economic integration today is greater than it ever has been and is likely to deepen going forward.” Given the heightened importance of international accounting in general, accounting students face an increased need to learn and understand relevant issues. Indeed, the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business requires that an “international dimension” be included in a university's general business curriculum before it can receive accreditation (AACSB, 2005). For many years, the American Accounting Association (AAA), too, has emphasized the importance of international accounting education; the Accounting Education Change Commission (AECC) has cited a need for increased attention to be paid to the international dimension of accounting education (Smith and Salter, 1996). The issue then becomes one of determining which issues are the “relevant” ones for today's accounting students. Accounting educators face an ever-increasing load of “vital” topics to cover in every class, including international accounting. In many cases, schools are unable to offer a specialized course in international accounting. These factors make it difficult for universities to ensure that their students receive adequate instruction in this important area. This study adds to the existing literature and helps shed light on which international accounting topics are currently of highest importance. A relevancy-ranked topic base, combined with a focused pedagogy, should help ensure that accounting students are receiving the best and most up-to-date education possible in this area. This would be true whether the most important topics are covered in a specialized international accounting course or incorporated into other accounting courses. To acquire data necessary for the study, accounting educators throughout the world were surveyed. Only individuals with a professed interest in international issues, determined by their membership in the International Accounting Section of the AAA, are surveyed to help ensure that rankings are based on the opinions of individuals with at least some expertise in the topic. First, topics were ranked on mean score to determine the relative order of importance. Next, the sample was split into two parts based on geographic location of the respondent (U.S. and non-U.S.); t-tests for equality of means (unequal variance) allowed comparison of mean scores across the two subsets. Last, the overall rankings from this study were compared with results in prior studies to determine if perceptions have changed over time. Results indicate that all respondents are in agreement regarding the six most important topics. However, U.S. and non-U.S. educators rate several items significantly differently. Most notably, U.S. educators place more weight on hidden reserves, while non-U.S. educators give a higher rating to social responsibility accounting, conceptual framework development, and international standard enforcement issues. Corporate social responsibility is a particularly high-profile issue in Europe (Bocconi University (Italy), 2005). Compared to prior studies, the very highest-ranked topics are much the same but there is considerable variability among topics ranked below the top few.

This study reports the results of a survey made of the members of the International Accounting Section of the American Accounting Association. Respondents provide their perceptions of the relative importance of various international accounting topics. Results are compared to results of prior studies. Some differences are identified in this longitudinal analysis, while some important similarities are also noted. For example, the five highest-ranked topics are consistent across studies: international standards, foreign currency translation, comparative standards and harmonization, reporting and disclosure problems of multinationals, and the impact of culture on accounting. Some differences are observed in relative rankings between U.S. and non-U.S. respondents, potentially due to the differences in business environments between countries. However, there is much agreement between the two groups with regard to the highest-ranked topics. In any case, faculty in different countries may choose to tailor the topics they cover to the specific issues unique to their locations. This study is intended to help universities, specifically, accounting programs, to cover the most relevant issues related to international accounting. The findings of this study will hopefully lend some improved insights regarding the importance of different topics to instructors attempting to create or revise an international course or include more international issues in various accounting courses.