The role of regulatory body, culture, and political system in the financial reporting practices of selected ASEAN countries in the pre-ASEAN integration period

• Main Authors: De Paz, Pacifico R., Go, Jervin Lexus A., Guingcangco, Christian Mark G., Langga, Stela Marie V.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2016
• Subjects: Accounting > Standards > Southeast Asia
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_bachelors/6122
• Institution: De La Salle University

In line with the proposed ASEAN economic community, an integration of the ten member states located on the Southeast region of Asia, issues regarding the differences in the national GAAP and local accounting standards appears to be in the up rise. Uniformity and comparability issues of financial reports from different ASEAN members is a matter that could be solved by convergence to a similar set of accounting standards and it would be essential to maximize the benefits that could be derived by businesses and investors within the region from this ASEAN integration. This research aims to provide information about the factors that potentially cause differences between the local accounting standards among the selected ASEAN members (Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam). The research wished to determine whether regulatory bodies, cultural differences, and political systems of each country cause differences in their respective financial reporting practices. The conclusion answers all three research issues of our study. The research method of this paper is separated in two, that of a systematic review and that of a personal interview conducted with key persons directly involved and knowledgeable of the thesis topic. First, the systematic review done revealed that the three factors specifically chosen by the researchers cause the differences in the practice of IFRS in the selected ASEAN countries. All of the articles (five out of five) chosen for the factors of regulatory bodies and culture agreed that the two factors cause differences in the practice while only three out of five articles for the political systems, still an acceptable ratio, said that the different political systems cause the irregular application of IFRS in the selected ASEAN Countries. Furthermore, the personal interview conducted with the AFA president and the partners from the Big 4 accounting firms practicing in the country showed a relatively similar result to that of the systematic review. Through the interview, the researchers were able to see the bigger picture when it comes to IFRS convergence in the ASEAN and international region. First, both the partners and AFA president believe that IFRS is the best accounting standards to be practiced for a better economic performance, despite it being imperfect. Second, the AFA, together with the partner professional accounting organizations in each ASEAN countries, are keen on addressing the unsuccessful de jure convergence of IFRS in the region. The president emphasized the relevance of the Statements of Members Organization (SMOs), which is required from each member state of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), for in it are the efforts of each country to converge the seven (7) areas of accounting including that of the IFRS. Third, the partners think that the three factors are factors in the differences while the president thinks that only that of regulatory bodies and culture causes the difference in the practice. Lastly, when asked regarding the main catalyst for the unsuccessful de jure convergence of IFRS in the region, the partners consider culture as the main catalyst while the AFA president believes that it is the regulatory bodies that is the most influential of the three.