Did the FASB Codification Reduce the Complexity of Applying US GAAP?

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Binz, Oliver; Hills, Robert; Kubic, Matthew
• 署名单位: INSEAD Business School; Pennsylvania Commonwealth System of Higher Education (PCSHE); Pennsylvania State University; Pennsylvania State University - University Park; University of Texas System; University of Texas Austin
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF ACCOUNTING RESEARCH
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0021-8456
• DOI: 10.1111/1475-679X.12480
• 发表日期: 2023
• 页码: 1479-1530
• 关键词: financial statement complexity; accounting restatements; reporting complexity; earnings quality; big 4; CONSEQUENCES; determinants; STANDARDS; cost; disclosure

摘要

We examine whether the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) Codification made it easier for preparers and auditors to locate relevant accounting guidance. We find that areas of U.S. GAAP with more dispersed and voluminous guidance before the Codification experience a larger post-Codification reduction in restatements. We find a similar decline in SEC comment letter questions referencing areas of U.S. GAAP with more dispersed and voluminous pre-Codification guidance. Our results suggest that before the Codification, preparers and auditors had difficulty in locating the appropriate accounting guidance and that the Codification mitigated this difficulty.