Factors influencing true and fair view when preparing financial statements under IFRS: evidence from the Czech Republic

Abstract

Research background: Accounting records provide a wide range of data necessary for decisions of the management as well as for users of a company's financial statements. IFRS represents one of the widely accepted accounting principles, often mentioned in relation to the preparation of high-quality financial statements. Purpose of the article: The aim of this paper is to identify the factors contributing to the occurrence of misstatements when preparing financial statements under IFRS. The subsequent goal is to identify the possible influences of such misstatements on the users of the financial statements. Methods: The research itself focuses on perceived problems in IFRS application in the Czech Republic. The total tested population is 193 Czech companies preparing their financial statements under IFRS. Descriptive statistics, the chi-square test of independence along with proportional tests, are used for the statistical data analysis. Findings & Value added: The results indicate that, while misstatements in accounting do not occur regularly, a statistical dependence can be shown between the frequency of misstatements occurrence and the average size of misstatements. The frequency of the subsequently identified misstatements is also proven to be statistically dependent on the average size of misstatements. The IFRS themselves are not proven to influence misstatement occurrences in financial statements, which is in contrast with previous studies. Managerial pressures, similarly to other studies, are proven by the research to be affecting the quality of accounting information. This paper broadens the literature on the factors influencing the quality of financial statements prepared under IFRS and simultaneously reaches conclusions disproving the frequently noted benefits of IFRS implementation.