I. Overview of Accounting Information Quality
(A) the concept of accounting information quality
Quality is the sum of characteristics that ensure an entity's ability to meet specified or implied requirements. The quality of accounting information refers to the sum of the characteristics that accounting information meets the needs of information users. Different from ordinary products, the quality of accounting information is difficult to be quantitatively measured by technical means. Up to now, the standard for people to evaluate the quality of accounting information is still whether the information is true, reliable, relevant, important and timely. Accounting information with authenticity, reliability, relevance, importance and timeliness is accounting information that meets the quality requirements of accounting information, otherwise it does not meet the quality requirements.
(B) Accounting information quality requirements
1, authenticity is the overall quality characteristic. Whether accounting information can meet the needs of users depends on whether accounting information is "true" at present in China and even in the world. Authenticity is the life of accounting, which means that accounting information truly and objectively reflects various economic activities and accurately reveals the economic content contained in various economic activities.
2. Reliability is the basic requirement for the quality of accounting information. Reliability and quality requirements mean that an enterprise should truthfully reflect all accounting elements and other relevant information that meet the requirements of confirmation and measurement on the basis of actual transactions or events when confirming, measuring and reporting, so as to ensure the authenticity and integrity of accounting information. When there are no important errors or deviations in accounting information, and it can truly reflect the situation reflected by its principles and can be used as the basis for users, accounting information has the requirements of reliability and quality.
3. Relevance quality requirements mean that the accounting information provided by enterprises should be related to the economic decision-making needs of users of financial accounting reports, which is helpful for users of financial accounting reports to evaluate or predict the past, present or future situation of enterprises.
4. Importance requires that the accounting information provided by the enterprise should reflect all important transactions or events related to the financial status, operating results and cash flow of the enterprise. For important transactions or events, it should be reflected in detail separately; For transactions or events that are not important and will not lead to mistakes or misunderstandings of investors and other interested parties, rough reflections can be combined to save the cost of providing accounting information.
5. The value of accounting information lies in helping enterprises or other parties to make business decisions, which is time-sensitive. Even objective, comparable and relevant accounting information, if not provided in time, is meaningless to users of accounting information, and may even mislead users.
Second, the status of accounting information distortion and its causes
(A) the status quo of accounting information distortion
For some time, there have been a series of financial fraud incidents at home and abroad: for example, the Enron incident in the United States on 200 1, the Madoff financial fraud case in 2008, and the Daqing Lianyi and Star Power Company in China. As we all know, Chengdu Hong Guang Industrial Co., Ltd. was a big loss-making company before listing. In order to make the company go public, fictitious product sales, inflated product inventory and illegal accounting treatment are adopted to defraud the listing qualification. All these have caused great shock to the society, which makes the accounting information providers face unprecedented crisis of trust and pressure.
The distortion of accounting information leads to the out-of-control of national macro-control, which seriously affects the optimization of industrial structure, the rational allocation and effective flow of social resources, weakens the authority of national financial law and discipline, and leads to a large loss of tax revenue. False accounting information affects accounting information users to make correct investment decisions, damages the interests of investors and creditors, and dampens their investment confidence.
(B) the causes of accounting information distortion
1. Incomplete and insufficient enterprise reform is the deep reason for the distortion of accounting information.
In China, most private enterprises still have some problems, such as weak accounting foundation, poor accounting, chaotic financial management and imperfect internal management system, especially the phenomenon of pre-confirming income and whitewashing statements. If the rights and responsibilities of business operators are not completely solved, business operators will often conceal or falsely report their business results from their own interests, resulting in distortion of accounting information; The problem of separating government from enterprises has not been completely solved, and enterprises cannot become truly independent operators. The government often supports enterprises to make false reports intentionally or unintentionally for local interests or leadership achievements.
2, the legal system is not perfect, the law enforcement is lax, the concept of the legal system is diluted, and the laws are not complied with.
Accounting information reflects the economic activities of enterprises. The generation of accounting information depends on accounting system and accounting method. If the accounting system can not meet the needs of economic activities, accounting information can not truly and reliably record and disclose the economic activities of enterprises. The new "Accounting Law" regulates the behavior of accounting personnel in detail, and provides corresponding quantitative penalties for violations.
In recent years, the media and experts keep telling people that the new economy is changing our world. However, for a long time in the past, the legal system in the economic field was not perfect, which led to the weak legal concept of accountants, which was manifested in the lack of rigorous handling of various economic businesses; It is believed that the development of modern economy has gone out of the stage of relying on a large amount of investment in natural resources to support the expansion of economic scale, and even out of the stage of industrial civilization relying on a high concentration of capital factors. Information resources and human capital have become the main supporting factors for economic growth. However, the changes of China's accounting system failed to keep up with the changes of economic development, but adopted the original accounting methods to account for the economic activities of enterprises under the new economic environment. In addition, under the current situation in our country, many functional management departments fail to abide by the law, enforce the law lax, and even trade power and money, which makes the phenomenon of accounting information distortion more common.
3. The quality of accountants is not high.
Accounting personnel are the main body of accounting activities, and the quality of accounting information is produced in the process of accounting personnel confirming and measuring accounting elements. It is inevitable to estimate, reason and judge some uncertain factors in objective economic activities, and accountants with different qualities often have different accounting results.
In recent years, due to the rapid economic development and the relative shortage of accounting personnel, many people with low quality have entered the accounting team. They are not familiar with national policies and regulations and even fail to meet the requirements for professional knowledge. Low professional quality, lack of professional ethics, unconsciously violating national policies and regulations in daily accounting work; Or unable to carry out normal accounting treatment and accounting for economic business; Or in the process of accounting treatment, so-so, lack of due responsibility; Or just follow the boss's will and lose principle. There is a big gap between professional quality and professional ethics and the requirements of standardization and legalization of accounting work. The low quality of accountants has a great influence on the quality of accounting information. The professional quality is not high, the concept of professional ethics is not strong, and accountants lack scientific theoretical guidance and strict professional training. There is a weakening phenomenon in the management of daily assessment, continuing education and knowledge updating of accounting personnel, which greatly reduces the actual professional level of accounting personnel.
4. The illegal intervention of management departments and business leaders leads to the distortion of subjective accounting information.
In order to exaggerate political achievements or for some special purposes, some departments often give enterprises various economic indicators in the form of administrative orders regardless of the actual situation of enterprises and new market conditions to meet the needs of relevant departments. To a certain extent, this urges and induces enterprises to practise fraud and adjust accounting information, so that the accounting statements of enterprises make false profits and real losses. Some local governments also implement the management of index assessment, responsibility audit, rewarding the excellent and punishing the poor for business leaders. In order to complete the hard assessment index issued by the superior, enterprise leaders instigate, instruct or force accounting personnel to adjust accounting subjects, falsify income and expenditure and current accounts, falsify real accounts or real accounts, defraud honor and obtain political capital from the interests of small collectives and individuals.
5. Imperfect internal and external supervision mechanism leads to accounting information distortion.
In recent years, there is almost no information disclosure system for individual enterprises, even if there is a written system, it is only a formality, and the internal control system and internal audit system of enterprises are very lacking. From the perspective of the subject of internal accounting supervision, the accountant in charge of the enterprise is directly appointed by the enterprise operator, and the salary and remuneration of the accountant are directly determined by the enterprise operator, which means that the accounting work of the enterprise serves the enterprise operator in a certain sense and changes with the will of the enterprise operator. From the external supervision mechanism of enterprise accounting information, social intermediary audit and government audit supervision are limited by human and financial resources and the nature of post supervision, and all violations of law and discipline have not been found, which is also one of the important reasons for the distortion of enterprise accounting information.
6, law enforcement supervision is not enough.
The internal control system of most enterprises exists in name only, and the staffing of accounting personnel not only fails to meet the requirements, but also the division of posts is unclear, the restraint of posts is weakened, the examination and approval and reporting system of important economic business is not fulfilled, and the phenomenon of rewriting accounting records according to the will of operators exists in large numbers, thus making the internal out of control. Internal audit is controlled by unit leaders, so it is difficult to play its role. As the main body of social supervision, accounting firms failed to independently assume the responsibility of "objectivity, independence and impartiality". A few firms are driven by their own interests, with incorrect practice attitudes and weak risk awareness. In the audit process, they engage in human feelings, engage in private transactions, go through the motions, and even cheat for customers in violation of professional ethics and issue false reports, which contributes to the distortion of accounting information. The arbitrariness of administration according to law leads to the distortion of accounting information. Law enforcement is lax and arbitrary, which encourages the illegal behavior of some operators and makes the problem of accounting information distortion develop in the quantitative direction.
7. Some problems caused by computer bookkeeping.
It is a progress and trend to introduce computers into accounting work. However, due to the low computer literacy of accountants, the existing software is generally flawed in security, and there are often many loopholes in the internal control of computer-using units, which affect the importance and authenticity of accounting information. This problem may be more harmful because of its invisibility.
Third, the performance and harm of accounting information distortion
1. The distortion of accounting information has become an umbrella for some people with certain power to abuse power for personal gain. By making false accounts, some illegal acts can get away with it. If artificially adjusting income causes income distortion; Unrealistic cost list leads to inaccurate cost; Adjust inflated profits, inflated profits, inflated investment income, inflated liabilities and other profit indicators. This has contributed to the occurrence of bad phenomena such as bribery and corruption, and has caused serious harm to the development of the socialist market economy.
2, resulting in a large loss of tax revenue and national assets. At present, the main sources of tax revenue in China are turnover tax and income tax paid by enterprises. Many enterprises make false book profits and losses, and evade state taxes by making false accounts, inflating expenditures and concealing profits.
3. The asset accounts are inconsistent. If the depreciation method of fixed assets is artificially adjusted, the value of fixed assets is inconsistent with the actual situation; Enterprise inventory is seriously overstocked, the liquidity is poor, the book value is lower than the market price, and the accounting is still priced at historical cost, which does not reflect the misstatement of net realized value, organization expenses, deferred assets, gains and losses of pending property, etc. These behaviors seriously violate accounting principles, resulting in distortion of accounting information, affecting the decision-making of enterprise production and operation and rational allocation of resources, endangering the survival and development of enterprises, misleading investors and creditors, destroying the investment environment and other adverse consequences. "False accounts are true and false when they are true", and no one believes the real accounts. The consequences of the flood of false accounts are inevitably the distortion of accounting information, the failure of economic signals and the disorder of economic order, which are very serious to social and economic development and people's lives.