Audit Financiar-Februarie-2015

Anul XIII, nr.
122 - 2/2015
2/2015
Incursiune n
cercetarea de audit
i contabilitate
Incursion in the
Audit and Accounting
Research
l Reflecii privind msurarea
l Reflections on Accounting
contabil
l Managementul rezultatului
i calitatea raportrii
l Prezena femeilor
n comitetele de audit
l Situaii financiare
consolidate
Measure
l Earnings Management and the
Quality of Reporting
l The Women Presence into the
Audit Committees
l Consolidated Financial
Statements
Informaiile financiare i non-financiare / Financial and Non-Financial Information
Sumar / Content
Alain BURLAUD, Claude SIMON
Reflecii privind msurarea contabil: prioritatea bilanului

sau a contului de rezultate? Click here! .............................................3
Reflections on Accounting Measure: Priority of Balance
Sheet or Income Statement? Click here! ..........................................67
Elena NECHITA
Managementul rezultatului i calitatea raportrii financiare: O

analiz comparativ pre-post aplicare IFRS pentru societile
cotate la Bursa de Valori Bucureti Click here! ................................10
Earnings Management and the Quality of Financial Reporting:
A Pre-Post IFRS Adoption Comparative Analysis for
Companies Listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange Click here! ....74
tefana Maria DIMA, Adina Simona POPA, Nicoleta FARCANE
Informaiile financiare i non-financiare ntre raportare

sustenabil i raportare integrat Click here! ...................................21
Financial and Non-Financial Information in the Framework of
Sustainability and Integrated Reporting Click here!..........................85
Eugeniu URLEA, Mariana NEDELCU (BUNEA)
Studiu privind prezena femeilor n componena consiliilor de

administraie i a comitetelor de audit la nivelul sistemului bancar
din Romnia Click here! ...................................................................34
Study of the Women Presence into the Board Directors
and Audit Committees Level of Romanian Banks Click here! ..........97
Carmen-Alexandra BALTARIU
Situaii financiare consolidate: excurs n literatura de specialitate a

ultimilor doisprezece ani Click here! .................................................43
Consolidated Financial Statements: A Twelve Years
Literature Review Click here! .........................................................106
Ionela-Corina CHERSAN, Marilena MIRONIUC
Incursiune n cercetarea de audit i contabilitate pe orizontul unui

deceniu. Analiz intuitiv asupra articolelor publicate n revista
Audit Financiar Click here! .............................................................52
Incursion in the Audit and Accounting Research Over
One Decade. Intuitive Analysis on the Articles Published
in "Audit Financiar" Journal Click here! ..........................................116
Revist lunar editat de
Camera Auditorilor Financiari

din Romnia
Str. Sirenelor nr. 67-69, sector 5,
Bucureti, OP 5, CP 83
Director tiinific:
prof. univ. dr. Pavel NSTASE
Director editorial:
dr. Corneliu CRLAN
Redactor ef:
Cristiana RUS
Secretar de redacie:
Cristina RADU
Prezentare grafic i tehnoredactare:
Nicolae LOGIN
Colegiul editorial tiinific i colectivul
redacional nu i asum
responsabilitatea pentru coninutul
articolelor publicate n revist.
B.D.I.: http://www.ulrichsweb.com;
http://www.proquest.com;
www.ebscohost.com; www.cabells.com
Revista este indexat n trei baze de
date recunoscute de Consiliul Naional
de Atestare a Titlurilor, Diplomelor i
Certificatelor Universitare (CNATDCU)
Marc nregistrat la OSIM,
sub nr. M2010 07387
Telefon: (021) 410.74.43 interior 120;
Fax: (021) 410.03.48;
E-mail: revista@cafr.ro;
http: revista.cafr.ro
ISSN: 1583-5812,
ISSN on-line: 1844-8801
Tipar: Print Group S.R.L.,
oseaua Fundeni nr. 50B, Bucureti,
tel: 0744.638.772
Colegiul Editorial tiinific

Prof. univ. dr. Dinu AIRINEI - Universitatea Al. I. Cuza, Iai
Prof. univ. dr. Veronel AVRAM - Universitatea din Craiova
Prof. univ. dr. Sorin BRICIU - Universitatea "1 Decembrie 1918", Alba lulia
Conf. univ. dr. Ovidiu BUNGET Universitatea de Vest din Timioara
Prof. univ. dr. Alain BURLAUD Conservatorul Naional de Arte i Meserii, Paris
Prof. univ. dr. Tatiana DNESCU - Universitatea Petru Maior, Trgu Mure
Conf. univ. dr. Lilia GRIGOROI - Academia de Studii Economice din Moldova, Chiinu
Prof. univ. dr. David HILLIER - Leeds University Business School, Marea Britanie
Prof. univ. dr. Allan HODGSON - The University of Queensland, Australia
Prof. univ. dr. Emil HOROMNEA - Universitatea Alexandru Ioan Cuza, Iai
Prof. univ. dr. Robin JARVIS - ACCA, Universitatea Brunel, Marea Britanie
Prof. univ. dr. Maria MANOLESCU - Academia de Studii Economice, Bucureti
Prof. univ. dr. Dumitru MATI - Universitatea "Babe-Bolyai", Cluj-Napoca
Prof. univ. dr. Ion MIHILESCU - Universitatea "Constantin Brncoveanu", Piteti
Prof. univ. dr. Ana MORARIU - Academia de Studii Economice Bucureti
Lector univ. dr. Mirela PUNESCU - Academia de Studii Economice Bucureti
Conf. univ. dr. Irimie Emil POPA - Universitatea "Babe-Bolyai", Cluj-Napoca
Prof. univ. dr. Vasile RILEANU - Academia de Studii Economice Bucureti
Prof. univ. dr. Ion STANCU - Academia de Studii Economice Bucureti
Prof. univ. dr. Donna STREET - Universitatea Dayton, SUA
Prof. univ. dr. Ioan TALPO - Universitatea de Vest din Timioara
Prof. univ. dr. Eugeniu URLEA - Academia de Studii Economice Bucureti
Prof. univ. dr. Iulian VCREL membru al Academiei Romne
Important pentru autori!

Articolele se trimit redaciei la adresa de e-mail:
revista@cafr.ro, obligatoriu n format electronic, scrise n
program MS Office Word, n alb-negru.
Autorii sunt rugai s respecte urmtoarele cerine:
- limba de redactare a articolului: romn i
englez pentru autorii romni i englez pentru
autorii strini;
- textul n limba romn se redacteaz cu
diacritice, conform prescripiilor lingvistice ale
Academiei Romne;
- dimensiunea optim a articolului: 7-10 pagini /
2000 caractere grafice cu spaii pe pagin;
- n articol se precizeaz titlul, metodologia de
cercetare folosit, contribuiile autorilor i
referinele bibliografice;
- rezumatul se redacteaz la persoana a III-a i
prezint obiectivul cercetrii, principalele
probleme abordate i contribuia autorilor;
- 4-5 cuvinte cheie;
- clasificri JEL.
Tabelele i graficele se elaboreaz n alb-negru cu

maximum 6 nuane de gri i se trimit i separat, n cazul n
care au fost elaborate n programul MS Office Excel.
Evaluarea articolelor tiinifice se realizeaz de ctre
membri din Consiliul tiinific de Evaluare al revistei, n
modalitatea double-blind-review, ceea ce nseamn c
evaluatorii nu cunosc numele autorilor i nici autorii nu
cunosc numele evaluatorilor.
Criterii de evaluare a articolelor: originalitatea,
actualitatea, importana i ncadrarea n aria tematic a
revistei; calitatea metodologiei de cercetare; claritatea i
pertinena prezentrii i argumentrii; relevana surselor
bibliografice utilizate; contribuia adus cercetrii n
domeniul abordat.
Recomandrile Consiliului tiinific de Evaluare al revistei
sunt: acceptare; acceptare cu revizuire; respingere.
Rezultatele evalurilor sunt comunicate autorilor, urmnd a
fi publicate numai articolele acceptate de Consiliul tiinific
de Evaluare.
Detalii, pe site-ul www.revista.cafr.ro, la seciunile
Recenzii i Manuscrise.
Audit financiar,
XIII, Nr.msurarea
2(122)/2015, 3-9contabil: prioritatea bilanului sau a contului de rezultate?
Reflecii
privind
ISSN: 1583-5812; ISSN on-line: 1844-8801
Reflecii
privind
msurarea
contabil:
prioritatea
bilanului sau
a contului de
rezultate ?
Rezumat
Contabilitatea se bazeaz n special pe dou tiine:
metrologia - tiina msurri i taxonomia - tiina
clasificrii i reduce complexitatea unei entiti la cteva
cifre. Acest articol constituie un demers spre punerea n
discuie a conceptului de msurare i a modului n care
este utilizat acesta n contabilitate.
Trecerea de la costul istoric la valoarea de pia sau
controversa referitoare la prioritatea acordat stocului
sau fluxurilor sunt, n opinia autorilor, evenimente legate
de modul de guvernan al organizaiilor, care
genereaz comportamente, drepturi i obligaii ce
afecteaz ansamblul societii. De aceea, societatea nu
poate ignora n ce msur funcia principal a
contabilitii - reprezentarea fidel - este sau nu
ndeplinit.
Cuvinte-cheie: contabilitate, msurare, cost, valoare,
stocuri, fluxuri
Clasificare JEL: M41
Profesor emerit Alain BURLAUD,

Conservatorul naional de arte i meserii, Paris, Frana,
e-mail: alain.burlaud@cnam.fr
Profesor emerit Claude SIMON,
ESCP Europe
Nr. 2(122)/2015
Introducere
Frenezia cuantificrii reprezint patologia care const n
dorina de a exprima totul n cifre. Neologismul a fost
imaginat de ctre sociologul Pitrim Alexandrovitch
SOROKIN n prima jumtate a secolului al XX-lea. Da,
lumea noastr este cuantofren. De ce? Nu exist
tiin fr msurare, respectiv fr cifre. Ori, n dou
secole, progresele tiinei au fost nu numai incontestabile,
ci inimaginabile. Chiar Jules Verne nu le-ar fi putut
imagina! De unde caracterul cvasi-divin al cifrelor utilizate
care a avut prioritate. Astfel, cifra a devenit argumentul
inevitabil al oricrui om politic n lips de credibilitate.
Totui, este cunoscut faptul c statisticile ministerului de
interne asupra delincvenei sunt rafinate prin intermediul
directivelor comisariatelor prin care curbele omajului sunt
degresate etc. Dar, din cauza faptului c ndoiala este o
stare mental dezagreabil, ne place s credem c cifra
exprim o certitudine. ntr-o lume cuprins de frenezia
cuantificrii, contabilitatea a descoperit un ecosistem prin
care poate prospera. Aceasta nu constituie numai o
afacere a comercianilor, ci se refer la tot ceea ce are
legtur cu toate organizaiile sau entitile: asociaii,
colectiviti publice (teritoriale, stat, persoane morale de
drept public internaional etc.), partide politice, conturi ale
diverselor campanii electorale, sindicate, ordine religioase
etc. Ea cerceteaz i colectiviti fr personalitate
moral, aadar fr patrimoniu propriu, similar naiunilor
care aplic o contabilitate naional.
Contabilitatea se sprijin pe numeroase tiine: drept,
economie, management etc. Dar nregistrarea contabil
se bazeaz mult mai precis pe dou dintre acestea:
tiina msurrii (metrologia) i tiina clasificrii
(taxonomia). ntr-adevr, contabilitatea unei operaii
presupune cunoaterea msurrii acesteia, atribuindu-i
o valoare exprimat n uniti monetare i ordonnd-o n
mai multe categorii (activ sau cheltuial? pasiv sau
venit?). Evident, aceasta nu explic importana rolului pe
care societile actuale l acord conturilor.
Din cea mai veche antichitate, oamenii au numrat
pentru a controla. Era necesar o msurare verificabil
a numrului de animale care compuneau o turm
ncredinat unui pstor. Mai trziu, comercianii trebuiau
s poat verifica situaia trezoreriei, creanelor i
datoriilor lor. Aceast funcie a contabilitii este
ntotdeauna de actualitate i, dac ar fi singura funcie,
contabilitatea ar rmne o afacere privat. Astfel, fiecare
gospodrie este liber s-i in sau nu conturile
conform metodei pentru care opteaz.
4
De ce contabilitatea a devenit o afacere public cu

norme, cu un drept contabil? Dincolo de funcia sa
probant n caz de litigiu, ea a devenit un instrument de
gndire. Cum se apreciaz i se judec situaia unei
ntreprinderi, performanele conductorilor ei? Se vede
bine c n conturi nu se afl multe elemente de
apreciere. Care va fi evoluia previzibil a pieei? Care
sunt proiectele concurenilor? Ce evoluii tehnologice
amenin bunurile i serviciile oferite? Care este climatul
social al ntreprinderii? Dar noi observm c toate
aceste ntrebri eseniale primesc un rspuns simplu.
Mai ru, fiecare dintre ele deschide cte o dezbatere n
care chiar specialitii vor fi contradictorii. Atunci, cum s
iei o poziie? Cum s te pui de acord pentru a exprima o
opinie comun? Complexitatea este anxioas i
paralizant.
Contabilitatea ofer un rspuns acestor temeri reducnd
complexitatea infinit a unei entiti, oricare ar fi
dimensiunea i forma sa juridic, la cteva cifre:
rezultatul exerciiului i variaia sa, cifra de afaceri,
nivelul de ndatorare etc. Aceste cifre sunt comparabile
n timp (principiul permanenei metodelor), dar i n
spaiu deoarece, prin normalizare, conveniile sunt n
esen aceleai i cifrele referitoare la dou ntreprinderi
sunt construite pe aceleai baze. Desigur, pertinena
acestor cifre rmne discutabil din cauz c descriu
trecutul n timp ce prin ele s-ar prefera cunoaterea
viitorului. Dar reducnd complexitatea, ele fac entitatea
uor de neles. Imaginea este fidel. Fidel cui? Este
o alt ntrebare care nu trebuie adresat. Important este
ca cifrele s inspire ncredere i s permit un consens.
Noiunea de consens desemneaz acordul explicit sau
implicit al indivizilor asupra valorilor eseniale ale
societii i voina lor de a rezolva conflictele care li se
opun, prin deliberare, n scopul de a face s triumfe
ceea ce este comun fa de ceea ce divizeaz1.
Contabilitatea ofer toate condiiile unui consens.
Procedurile, principiile general admise2, sunt codificate
i, astfel, legitime. n practic, aceast contabilitate
constituie de fapt un caz particular al fiecrei entiti,
fiind certificat de unul sau mai muli teri independeni i
acreditai, comisari de conturi (auditori) sau magistrai ai
Curii de Conturi, ceea ce i face credibili. Astfel,
preferina se ndreapt spre o pertinen limitat, dar
compensat printr-o complexitate redus, bazat pe o
1
2
Auroux, S. sub conducerea sa (1998), Encyclopdie philosophique universelle, PUF, p. 435

GAAP: generally accepted accounting principles
AUDIT FINANCIAR, anul XIII
Reflecii privind msurarea contabil: prioritatea bilanului sau a contului de rezultate?
msurare consensual. Consensul constituie un

substitut acceptabil al obiectivitii.
Vom studia acum msurarea contabil n trei etape:
caracterul social al msurrii;

conveniile msurrii contabile;
dilema ntre msurarea stocurilor i cea a fluxurilor.
1. Msurarea: un demers social

Obiectul msurrii i modalitatea de msurare reflect
valorile unei societi i organizarea sau maniera sa
specific de funcionare. Astfel, vom observa, spre
exemplu, c nu se msoar n acelai mod suprafeele
cultivabile dup epoci i locuri i c aceste diferene au
un sens. Vom vedea, de asemenea, c n tiinele
umane i sociale problema msurrii se pune de o
manier cu totul special n raport cu statutul su n
tiinele inginereti.
1.1. Conceptul de msurare

Termenul de msurare are mai multe sensuri. Cele dou
accepiuni ale sale par s se opun, pe de o parte, prin
finalitatea cantitativ (msurarea devine un etalon, o
norm) i, pe de alt parte, prin utilizarea foarte
calitativ (a aciona cu msur, cu nelepciune, cu
moderaie sau virtute). De fapt, aceast opoziie nu este
dect aparent, msurarea cantitativ se cere a fi i
virtuoas. Aceast conjuncie se regsete n utilizarea
termenului n vocabularul muzical: msurarea determin
un ritm (o cantitate) care trebuie s fie armonioas.
Evoluia n timp a sistemelor de msurare este, de
asemenea, instructiv: ele au trecut de la un homocentrism la un geocentrism (Guedj, D. 2010). Istoria
unitii de msurare a lungimii sau a suprafeei n Frana
ilustreaz bine aceast evoluie. nainte de Revoluie,
fiecare regiune, loc sau corporaie dispunea de unitile
sale de msurare, cum ar fi toise (ase picioare) sau
ouvre, o unitate de msur specific regiunii
Bourgogne (aceasta corespunde suprafeei pe care un
lucrtor agricol mediu sau normal o poate lucra ntr-o
zi). Aceste uniti, norme sau etaloane aveau
ntotdeauna omul ca reper iniial i relaia sa cu munca.
Ele erau practice (pe nelesul tuturor) i logice, iar
unitatea de msurare din Bourgogne trebuia s fie
diferit de cea a pantelor impresionante ale viilor nobile
din valea Moselle.
Nr. 2(122)/2015
Prin declaraia drepturilor omului i ceteanului,

Adunarea Constituant din 1794 se declara universal:
omul are peste tot aceleai drepturi i el nu trebuie s se
diferenieze dup regiune sau meserie. Metrul a aprut
din aceast voin: peste tot i pentru toi el reprezint a
zecea milioana parte din sfertul meridianului terestru.
S-a trecut astfel de la un homo-centrism la un
geocentrism.
Dup aceea, msurarea a devenit mai precis i s-a
universalizat: viteza luminii n vid absolut fiind de
299 792 458 m/s, metrul exprim distana parcurs de
lumin n vid n 1/299 792 458 secunde. Omul este
departe!
Dar dac este logic ca msurarea cantitilor fizice s fie
geocentrat i universal, este oare la fel i pentru
fenomenele i comportamentele sociale?
1.2. Msurarea fizic i msurarea n

tiinele umane i sociale
Msurarea unui bun material sau fizic (o mas sau un
cmp, spre exemplu) nu l afecteaz, n schimb, ntregul
proces de msurare afecteaz subiectul respectiv din
momentul n care el are contiina acestui proces pentru
care acesta constituie obiect. Este cazul unui individ sau
a unui grup social. Spre exemplu, notarea la coal
(care constituie o msurare) nu este neutr i finalitatea
sa const chiar n a realiza o aciune asupra obiectului
msurat, clasificndu-l, motivndu-l (sau nemotivndu-l)
ori selecionndu-l.
n lumea economic, msurarea (spre exemplu,
creterea PIB) constituie un semnal care modific
comportamentul agenilor economici i care genereaz
comportamente de retroaciune. Este de altfel funcia sa.
Informaiile contabile au un rol din ce n ce mai important
fa de cea mai mare parte a datelor economice. ntradevr, contabilitatea transmite semnale asemntoare
celorlalte evaluri economice i, mai mult, genereaz
drepturi la dividende sau bonusuri, cu alte cuvinte realiti. Ca i primarul care, pronunnd eu v declar
cstorii, creeaz o realitate care modific lumea
social, contabilitatea genereaz, ea nsi, realiti care
structureaz raporturi sociale. Ea este competitiv,
enun care constituie simultan actul la care se refer
(ex: eu v autorizez s plecai, care este o autorizare)
conform dicionarului Le Grand Robert al limbii
franceze. Enunul i actul se confund. Unul nu poate fi
disociat de cellalt.
5
Msurarea contabil are, aadar, un statut privilegiat. Ca

orice alt msurare, ea constituie un instrument dat
omului pentru a nelege mai bine realitatea, a-i oferi o
imagine, dar i, mult mai direct, pentru a crea un raport
social. Responsabilitatea sa, accountability, este
important. Ea nu poate fi, aadar, aplicat dect pe
baze clare i pe larg acceptate.
n acest sens, contabilitatea constituie unul dintre cele
mai importante domenii de aplicare a ntrebrilor
specifice msurrii.
2. Cum trebuie contabilitatea s

msoare valoarea?
Problema valorii este esenial n contabilitate deoarece
toate operaiile trebuie s fie exprimate n uniti
monetare. Aceast valoare trebuie s fie fixat odat
pentru toi (contabilitate n costuri istorice) sau ea trebuie
s fie constant actualizat (reevaluare sau valoare
just)? Dac da, pe baza cror criterii?
2.1. Costul istoric i valoarea de pia

Costul istoric exprim, relateaz despre acte reale ntre
dou persoane fizice sau morale (vnztor i
cumprtor). Prin aceste tranzacii, agenii economici
procedeaz la msurri i date ale acestora privind
soliditatea contractului. n acest sens, codul civil i codul
comercial constituiau baza contabilitii i, prin urmare,
cadrul su conceptual (de fapt, dreptul constituie
referentul de ansamblu al cetenilor). Contabilitatea
raporteaz despre evenimente concrete msurate de
ctre actori reali n cadrul unei construcii sociale
organizate de ctre drept.
Mark to market (i avatarul su, valoarea just) vrea s
creeze o reprezentare bazat pe o extrapolare de
evaluri marginale sau individuale, ceea ce nseamn
a msura cu un etalon variabil, manipulat de un
ansamblu de personaje anonime, numit pia. n mod
similar, aceasta pretinde universalitate! Un bilan, mai
ales ntr-o instituie financiar, cuprinde evaluri bazate
pe extrapolri de valori punctuale de pia, dar i valori
deduse din modele. Argumentul principal al celor care
determin valoarea just este c informaia ar fi mai
pertinent. Ea trebuie s reprezinte ct mai fidel posibil
modelul economic (business model) al ntreprinderii.
Valoarea just generalizat la toate activele (i nu numai
la cele financiare) ar informa despre valoarea de
folosin asimilat adesea unei valori lichidative a

acestor active pentru ntreprindere. Cu toate acestea,
este evident c un acelai activ poate avea o valoare de
folosin diferit conform activitii sau inteniilor celui
care le controleaz. IFRS sugereaz msurarea acestei
valori prin metoda fluxurilor nete actualizate. Dar oricine
tie c fiecare dintre ipotezele necesare aplicrii sale
(rata de actualizare, fluxuri de venituri i de cheltuieli)
reprezint un subiect de garanie i surs de
manipulare.
De altfel, dac n perioada celor treizeci de ani glorioi
inflaia punea o problem real contabilitii, astzi nu
mai este cazul n lumea occidental. n schimb,
volatilitatea s-a dezvoltat pe piee i luarea ei n
consideraie constituie o eroare:
ea nu poate fi luat n consideraie dect greit, din

cauza decalajului ntre data nchiderii conturilor i
cea a publicrii acestora;
ea este pro-ciclic (ceea ce a fost constatat n
perioada crizei ncepute n 2007);
ea este puin coerent. ntr-adevr, dac
volatilitatea se aplic portofoliului de titluri de
tranzacie (trading), ea nu poate fi luat n
consideraie n toate celelalte evaluri efectuate la
valoarea just (active pe termen lung, provizioane,
titluri evaluate conform modelelor).
Trecerea de la costuri istorice la mark to market
corespunde trecerii de la o construcie social extins
(dreptul = politica) la o construcie social restrns
(investitorii sau operatorii de pe piee).
2.2. Confruntarea valorii juste cu criza

aprut n 2007
Eecul principiului valorii juste i a mark to market a fost
foarte clar n toamna lui 2008. Criza avea dou efecte:
pentru anumite titluri pieele erau epuizate (niciun actor
nu mai voia s cumpere sau s vnd), pentru ceilali
valoarea lor se prbuise. Instrumentul de msurare
(valoarea de pia) fie nu mai exista, fie, dac era luat n
consideraie, conducea la constatarea unor pierderi
colosale, care ar fi generat un efect pro-ciclic evident,
dar neavut n vedere din punct de vedere economic i,
aadar, politic. La solicitarea grupului G8 (comunicatul
din 4 octombrie 2008), IASB a publicat la 13 octombrie
n acelai an un amendament intitulat reclasificarea
activelor financiare, care permitea prin derogare
excepional s se procedeze la reclasificarea acestor

active. Dac aspectul tehnic este complex, principiul
este relativ simplu. Fluctuaiile de curs ale unui titlu nu
afecteaz deintorul dect dac el nu are intenia de a-l
ceda rapid, invers, i mai ales dac este vorba de o
obligaiune sau un alt titlu de datorie, intenia de deinere
pn la scaden l face insensibil la variaiile de curs
nedatorate unui risc de rambursare din partea
emitorului. Conform normelor IFRS iniiale, n primul
caz (intenia de deinere scurt) pierderile legate de
scderea cursului trebuie s fie contabilizate prin
diminuarea rezultatului; n al doilea caz (intenia de
deinere pe termen lung sau foarte lung) pierderile pot,
dup caz, s fie contabilizate prin diminuarea
capitalurilor proprii i nu a rezultatului contabil. Prin
acest amendament IASB autoriza s se schimbe
afectarea (chiar retroactiv, de la 1 iulie 2008), schimbare
anterior interzis, pentru a extinde intenia de deinere
i, aadar, de a nu exprima scderea cursului printr-o
diminuare a rezultatului. Se putea atepta la un protest:
modificarea termometrului pentru a masca starea
bolnavului ar fi putut fi interpretat ca un indice
suplimentar de gravitate a crizei! Nu a fost cazul: pieele
salutar decizia IASB i timp de cteva zile valorile
financiare au fost n cretere! Singura interpretare
posibil este c pieele nu se comport n funcie de
realitate, ci de reprezentarea acesteia dat de
instrumentele de msurare manipulabile i manipulate n
mod cu totul transparent. Ct responsabilitate dat
contabilitii i msurrii rezultatelor!
De fapt, fair value, mark to market marcheaz n
realitate un recul. Acestea reprezint un regres fa de
avansul metrului adoptat de Constituant: se trece de la
un etalon recunoscut (preul exprimat n timpul
tranzaciilor) la un nou etalon corporatist (cum era acel
ouvre al viticultorilor), cel al traderilor: evaluarea
conform unei piee volatile i la valori marginale. n
absena pieei, normele prescriu simularea
comportamentului acesteia prin aplicarea metodei
fluxurilor nete actualizate sau a modelului Black &
Scholes (considerat de instituiile de normalizare
contabil c ofer o bun msur pentru orice opiune,
oricare ar fi termenul, atunci cnd toi specialitii cunosc
c opiunea este inoperant mai mult de ase luni). Dar
pn la nceputul crizei n 2007 caracterul autorealizator
al acestui model nu era supus discuiilor.
Contabilitatea nu pune dect problema tratamentului
variaiilor de valoare n timp. Vom observa c acele
Nr. 2(122)/2015
convenii pe baza crora ea este construit pot da

ntietate unor puncte de vedere diferite. Astfel, ar trebui
oare s se msoare stocul (un element al patrimoniului)
sau fluxurile (de exemplu, consumurile i produciile)?
Problema se pune n acelai mod cnd este vorba de
conturile unei ntreprinderi sau de contabilitatea
naional?
3. Msurarea stocurilor sau a

fluxurilor?
Conform relaiei de incertitudine a lui Heisenberg,
mecanica cuantic arat c exist un obstacol teoretic
insurmontabil ntre msurarea simultan a coordonatelor
spaiale ale unei particule (poziia sa) q i cantitatea
de micare (viteza sa) p. Cu alte cuvinte, determinarea
precis a uneia (poziia sau viteza) constituie un
obstacol n cunoaterea celeilalte (Saghroun et Simon,
1999).
Acest tip de demers poate fi transpus metaforic n
contabilitate: prioritatea dat de bilan (stocul sau
poziia) ar duna contului de rezultat (fluxul sau viteza)
i reciproc.
Pentru cea mai mare parte a operaiilor nu exist
contradicii i partida dubl permite obinerea unui
bilan (stocul sau poziia) i unui cont de rezultat
(fluxurile sau viteza) coerente. n schimb, n anumite
cazuri, calitatea unuia se opune calitii celuilalt. Dou
exemple simple ilustreaz acest fapt: n perioada inflaiei
metoda FIFO pentru evaluarea stocurilor permite
elaborarea unui bilan mai actualizat (stocurile sunt
evaluate n valorile cele mai recente), dar, n sens
invers, deformeaz contul de rezultat pentru care
costurile sunt evaluate la valoarea cea mai veche i,
aadar, mai puin semnificativ; metoda LIFO ar avea
exact efectul invers. n acelai sens, cheltuielile de
repartizat, n spiritul cutrii unei viziuni economice juste
a contului de rezultat, se exprim prin nonvalori n bilan
(activ fictiv). Alte exemple care se refer mai ales la
contabilizarea instrumentelor financiare ar putea fi
evocate, dar ar conduce n afara domeniului considerat
aici.
Prioritatea acordat stocului (bilanului) sau fluxurilor
(contului de rezultat) este oare privit n acelai mod n
cele dou familii de contabiliti care sunt ale entitilor
persoane morale sau fizice, pe de o parte, i ale
conturilor naiunii, pe de alt parte?
7
3.1. Prioritatea stocurilor sau fluxurilor n

contabilitatea entitilor?
Acordarea prioritii bilanului (stocurile) sau contului de
rezultate (fluxurile) nu este socialmente neutr. Conform
planului contabil general francez, bilanul se concentreaz asupra patrimoniului persoanei i, prin urmare, asupra proprietarilor. El reprezint relaia dintre proprietari i
entitate care devine referin. n schimb, contul de
rezultat, mai ales dac are n vedere cheltuielile dup
natur, ofer avantaj relaiilor dintre entitate i diferite
pri interesate: clieni, furnizori, salariai
Alegerea nu este, aadar, socialmente neutr. innd
seama de puterea de antrenare a conceptelor
americane asupra ansamblului sistemelor contabile
mondiale, analiza succint a ultimelor evoluii arat
totui o adevrat micare pendular.
Pn n 1978 prioritatea este de partea contului de

rezultat ceea ce se exprim mai ales prin principiile
general enunate (n principal prin Statement of
financial accounting concepts - SFAC nr. 1), dar i
prin practicile explicite din anumite norme care
permit, spre exemplu, etalarea cheltuielilor.
Dar principiile au evoluat pe parcursul elaborrii
diferitelor SFAC-uri care constituie ceea ce s-a
convenit s se intituleze cadrul conceptual. Astfel
SFAC nr. 3 (decembrie 1980) amendat prin SFAC
nr. 6 (septembrie 1985) consacr o profund
schimbare de optic, acordnd, n mod evident, o
prioritate conceptual bilanului.
Dar va trebui s ateptm 1997 i FAS 130
(Reporting comprehensive income) pentru ca saltul
s se realizeze. Prin aceast norm relativ la
rezultatul global, prioritatea bilanului se
manifest chiar dac probabil prin teama de a nu
tulbura prea mult pieele i ali utilizatori ai
conturilor, elementele complementare rezultatului
net care trebuie s figureze n rezultatul global,
conform acestei norme, pot fi trecute fie la
capitalurile proprii, fie la baza contului de rezultat.
Dar mutaia este real i complet. Pornind de la
aceast dat, toate normele i mai ales cele
relative la instrumentele financiare vor fi
construite pe baza unei concepii bilaniere.
IFRS-urile elaborate de IASB se vor alinia complet la
poziia american cu o concepie complet bilanier.
8
Normele numite internaionale (cele elaborate de FASB

i IASB) au ajuns, aadar, la o mare coeren: o logic
bazat pe prioritatea bilanului i o aplicare, cea mai
extins posibil, a valorii juste consacr supremaia
absolut a unei finaliti a contabilitii fa de proprietari
i, prin urmare, fa de piee, n detrimentul altor pri
interesate. Aceast evoluie este concomitent cu alte
mutaii care s-au produs pe parcursul aceleiai perioade
pentru a consacra, ntr-o logic de inspiraie neoliberal,
o puternic micare de dereglementare, mai ales pe
pieele financiare.
3.2. Prioritatea stocurilor sau fluxurilor n

contabilitatea naiunilor?
Principiile care au ntietate la nivelul entitilor se pot
ele transpune la nivelul rilor? i mai mult, chiar la
nivelul de ansamblu al planetei? Vom arta c rspunsul
nostru este negativ.
Dac o entitate i poate concentra analiza i msurarea
asupra patrimoniului, considernd creterea potenial a
acestuia infinit (sau n orice caz poate avea un
potenial foarte important), aceasta nu este situaia unei
ri i cu att mai puin a tuturor rilor lumii. ntr-adevr,
creterea este finit i limitat.
Msurarea creterii fluxurilor de producie, ceea ce
nseamn produsul intern brut (PIB), ignornd faptul c
el corespunde foarte exact (principiul partidei duble) unui
flux de consum fr a msura efectul asupra
patrimoniului net arat, din punctul nostru de vedere, o
slab competen. Astfel, ntregul kilometru parcurs de
ctre un vehicul este contabilizat ca o cretere a PIB i
deci considerat de ctre comentatorii economici i
politici ca o contribuie pozitiv. Atunci cnd consumul
acestui vehicul (capacitate cilindric mai mare) este
crescut, indicatorul principal, care nu este PIB-ul nsi,
ci variaia sa (cea mai pozitiv posibil), nu va fi apreciat
dect favorabil1.
Cu toate acestea, efectul asupra patrimoniului mondial,
resursele naturale n exemplul nostru, constituie un
aspect pozitiv. Prin analogie cu contabilitatea privat, se
constat o diminuare n activ a stocului de energie fosil
disponibil cu contrapartid n cheltuieli, variaia negativ
a acestui stoc. Dar combustia are, n plus, consecine
ecologice n msura n care ea emite CO2, un gaz cu
1
Alfred SAUVY, demograf i economist francez, explica c,

dac pe parcursul unei cltorii ai avea un accident, PIB-ul
ar crete i mai mult datorit costului reparaiei!
efect de ser. Costul consecinelor ecologice va fi

suportat de generaiile viitoare. Toate acestea ar
nsemna necesitatea provizionrii acestor cheltuieli,
nregistrndu-le n pasiv.
Orientarea contabilitilor naionale asupra logicilor de
flux, i nu de stoc, genereaz, aadar, comportamente
puin responsabile fa de ali locuitori prezeni i viitori
ai globului terestru. Se va opune dificultatea tehnic a
msurrii stocurilor disponibile n activ (ar trebui, spre
exemplu, s se ncorporeze energiile fosile
neconvenionale precum gazul de ist i care este
nivelul acestora?) sau chiar a pasivului suportabil (care
este limita nivelului de CO2)?
Totui, considerm c n lipsa msurrii stocurilor
(active i pasive) contabilitile naionale ar trebui cel
puin s msoare i s publice variaiile acestor stocuri:
care este consumul anual de energie fosil? Care este
degajarea anual de CO2 fa de evalurile PIB?
Concluzie
Pentru ce msurarea contabil ar fi ea nsi o miz a
societii? Ea creeaz (1) comportamente i (2) drepturi
care (3) afecteaz publicul nsui, chiar dac nu a avut
relaie contractual cu entitatea respectiv (externaliti).
Msurarea contabil produce semne care genereaz
comportamente. Aceste semne sunt elemente ale
guvernanei organizaiilor. Astfel, spre exemplu, atunci
cnd conductorul salariat al unei ntreprinderi risc s
nu ndeplineasc obiectivul de rentabilitate a capitalurilor
proprii, el va fi tentat:
s modifice semnalul manipulnd conturile i/sau
s ia msuri care vor ameliora efectiv rezultatul pe

termen scurt fr a sacrifica termenul lung,
reducnd cheltuielile de cercetare i dezvoltare
(R&D).
Dac semnalul este neadecvat, comportamentul indus
va fi, n general, neconform. De unde, responsabilitatea
celui care definete semnul i modul su de realizare.
n plus, semnul este performant, n sensul c el
genereaz drepturi i obligaii. Rezultatele, aa cum
contabilii le-au calculat, vor stabili dreptul la un dividend
pentru acionari, o participare la beneficii pentru salariai
i mandatarii sociali, un impozit pentru stat. Prile
interesate sunt numeroase i noi gndim c ele nu pot fi
reprezentate legitim dect de Puterile publice.
Comportamentele, drepturile i obligaiile care decurg
din semnul contabil afecteaz ansamblul societii. De
acum ncolo, nu se mai contest faptul c toate
entitile, nu doar ntreprinderile, au o responsabilitate
social. Ele particip direct la politicile de amenajare a
teritoriului, a locurilor de munc, ale cercetrii etc. Pe
scurt, ele produc externaliti care sunt adesea n afara
cmpului de cercetare al contabilitii, fapt care
constituie una dintre limite.
Programele de tratament al textului au nregistrat un
mare progres acum aproximativ 30 de ani, cnd s-a
introdus WYSIWYG (Ceea vezi este ceea ce primeti).
Cu alte cuvinte, ceea ce vedei (pe ecran) reprezint
ceea ce vei obine (imprimat pe hrtie). n acelai mod,
nu se administreaz bine dect ceea ce se vede. Ori,
funcia principal a contabilitii este de a prezenta, dac
este posibil n mod fidel. Societatea nu se poate
dezinteresa de ceea ce ea arat sau nu.
BIBLIOGRAFIE
Burlaud, A., Simon, C. (1999), Controlul de gestiune,
Bucureti, Editura CNI Coresi
Burlaud, A. et al. (2004), Contrle de gestion, Paris,
Vuibert
Desrosires, A. (2008), Pour une sociologie historique
de la quantification, Paris, Mines ParisTech
Desrosires, A. (2008), Gouverner par les nombres,
Paris, Mines ParisTech
Guedj, D. (2010), Le mtre des Lumires, premire
Nr. 2(122)/2015
mondialisation, Lempreinte de la technique,

Paris, LHarmattan, p. 35-41.
Lorino, Ph. (2011), Du chiffre, ador ou excr, au
chiffrage pratiqu, Comptabilit, contrle et
socit, Paris, Foucher
Saghroun, J., et Simon, C., (1999), Primaut du bilan ou
du compte de rsultat, le principe du pendule,
Comptabilit, contrle, audit, Tome 5, volume 1,
p. 59-76.
Audit financiar, XIII, Elena

Nr. 2(122)/2015,
10-20
NECHITA
ISSN: 1583-5812; ISSN on-line: 1844-8801
Managementul
rezultatului i
calitatea
raportrii
financiare:
O analiz comparativ
pre-post aplicare IFRS
pentru societile
cotate la Bursa de
Valori Bucureti
Rezumat
Cercetarea urmrete analiza fenomenului de
management al rezultatului n condiiile implementrii
Standardelor Internaionale de Raportare Financiar
(IFRS) pentru situaiile financiare individuale ntocmite
de ctre companiile listate la Bursa de Valori Bucureti
(BVB), ca o cerin de reglementare ncepnd cu
exerciiul financiar 2012. Debutnd cu descrierea
cadrului legislativ de raportare financiar din Romnia,
cercetarea dezvluie prin intermediul unei analize
comparative pre-post IFRS n ce msur exist dovezi
ale practicilor de netezire a rezultatului pentru
companiile listate la BVB dup adoptarea IFRS, precum
i dac valorile contabile ale acestor firme prezint o mai
mare relevan din punct de vedere al evoluiei preului
aciunilor odat cu trecerea la IFRS. Cercetarea
contribuie la mbogirea literaturii de specialitate prin
punctarea implicaiilor adoptrii IFRS la nivelul
economiilor emergente.
Cuvinte-cheie: managementul rezultatului, calitatea
raportrii financiare, Standardele Internaionale de
Raportare Financiar, societi cotate, Bursa de Valori
Bucureti
Clasificare JEL: M41
Economist, drd. Elena NECHITA,
Academia de Studii Economice, Bucureti, Romnia,

e-mail: elena.nechita@live.com
10
Managementul rezultatului i calitatea raportrii financiare
Introducere
La nivel mondial are loc un proces de internaionalizare a
ntreprinderilor, n special prin extinderea aplicrii
Standardelor Internaionale de Raportare Financiar
(International Financial Reporting Standards IFRS,
engl.), proces determinat de schimburile de capitaluri i
informaii care depesc graniele pieelor locale i care
conduc la constituirea grupurilor de interese. Cercetri
anterioare au evideniat c, pentru cea mai mare parte a
companiilor, valoarea capitalului deinut de proprietari
calculat conform IFRS este sau se ateapt s fie mai
mare dect cea a capitalului calculat prin aplicarea
normelor contabile naionale (Jermakowicz et al., 2006),
iar aseriunea unanim este aceea c trecerea la IFRS
reprezint un proces att costisitor, ct i complex.
Studiind influena adoptrii obligatorii a IFRS, Christensen
et al. (2013) au artat c la nivelul tuturor rilor analizate,
dintre care 20 membre ale Uniunii Europene, 2 ri
membre ale Zonei Economice Europene, precum i alte
11 state din afara UE, raportarea obligatorie n conformitate cu IFRS are un impact sczut asupra lichiditilor i
nu genereaz niciun beneficiu cu privire la piaa de capital
ca urmare a implementrii acestor standarde.
Alte cercetri dezvoltate pe analiza managementului
rezultatului dup implementarea IFRS ndeosebi de
ctre economiile emergente au condus la obinerea unor
rezultate variate, n anumite cazuri acestea fiind chiar
contrare (Karampinis i Hevas, 2013; Lin i Wu, 2014).
Pe de o parte, Karampinis i Hevas (2013),n studiul
efectuat la nivelul societilor din Grecia, sugereaz c
reducerea interferenei fiscalitii n contabilitate inerent
adoptrii IFRS limiteaz influena unui important
determinant al practicilor manageriale oportuniste i, n
consecin, conduce la reducerea managementului
rezultatului. Pe de alt parte, Lin i Wu (2014), n
cercetarea condus la nivelul societilor din Taiwan,
furnizeaz rezultate conform crora managerii din
statele emergente au o motivaie mai puternic n ceea
ce privete manipularea rezultatelor prin alterarea
valorilor contabile. O posibil explicaie pentru
rezultatele contrastante ale studiilor efectuate la nivel de
ar este oferit de Albu et al. (2013) i se refer la
faptul c au fost trecute cu vederea particularitile
contextelor individuale sau maniera n care aceste
caracteristici influeneaz aplicarea IFRS, respectivele
studii rezumndu-se doar la evidenierea dificultilor
ntmpinate la aplicarea IFRS sau a nivelului sczut de
conformitate.
Nr. 2(122)/2015
Pentru o bun nelegere a contextului economic i

legislativ din Romnia n ceea ce privete contabilitatea
societilor cotate, sunt prezentate n continuare
reglementrile aplicabile.
Contextul economic actual la nivel

naional
Pe plan naional, reglementrile contabile au fost pn
de curnd reprezentate de Ordinul ministrului finanelor
publice nr. 3055/2009 pentru aprobarea reglementrilor
contabile conforme cu directivele europene. Aceast
reglementare a fost nlocuit prin Ordinul ministrului
finanelor publice nr. 1802/29 decembrie 2014 pentru
aprobarea reglementrilor contabile privind situaiile
financiare anuale i situaiile financiare anuale
consolidate publicat n M.O. nr. 963, p I, din 30
decembrie 2014.
La baza cercetrii propuse se afl o reglementare din
octombrie 2012, respectiv Ordinul ministrului finanelor
publice nr. 1286/2012 pentru aprobarea reglementrilor
contabile conforme cu Standardele Internaionale de
Raportare Financiar, aplicabile pentru societile
comerciale ale cror valori mobiliare sunt admise la
tranzacionare pe o pia reglementat. Astfel, toate
societile cotate pe o pia de capital reglementat vor
pregti n mod obligatoriu situaii financiare individuale n
conformitate cu Standardele Internaionale de Raportare
Financiar ncepnd cu exerciiul financiar 2012. Prin
urmare, acest lucru implic faptul c situaiile financiare
individuale ale exerciiului financiar 2012 vor furniza
informaie contabil comparativ inclusiv pn la
nceputul exerciiului financiar 2011, conform
standardului IFRS 1 Adoptarea pentru prima dat a
Standardelor internaionale de raportare financiar, n
cazul n care entitile vizate nu au mai aplicat IFRS la
ntocmirea situailor financiare individuale din anii
anteriori.
Metodologia cercetrii
Cercetarea propune analiza existenei practicilor de
netezire a rezultatului, precum i analiza relevanei
valorilor contabile la nivelul societilor cotate la Bursa
de Valori Bucureti, n condiiile implementrii IFRS
pentru situaiile financiare individuale, ca o cerin de
raportare financiar ncepnd cu exerciiul financiar
2012.
11
Elena NECHITA
Descrierea datelor care stau

la baza cercetrii
n ceea ce privete alegerea perioadei de timp analizate,
s-a optat pentru intervalul post-IFRS 2010-2013, ntruct
aplicarea IFRS pentru ntocmirea situaiilor financiare individuale a avut loc ncepnd cu exerciiul financiar 2012,
cu prezentarea comparativ a valorilor retratate conform
IFRS i pentru exerciiile 2011 i 2010.n ceea ce privete
perioada anterioar aplicrii IFRS, primul an de analiz
este 2005, ntruct anumii indicatori cuprini n modelul
de cercetare sunt disponibili doar ncepnd cu anul 2005.
Din cele 79 de companii cotate n anul 2010 n cadrul
seciunii BVB, categoriile I i II, au fost excluse 11
instituii financiare bancare i nebancare i 6 societi
pentru care informaiile necesare au fost indisponibile ca
urmare a suspendrii lor la tranzacionare n anii 2010
sau 2011, rmnnd astfel un numr de 62 de societi.
Pornind de la eantionul de 62 de societi, pentru
analiza pre-post aplicare IFRS au fost excluse societile
pentru care nu au fost disponibile suficiente date n

perioada 2005-2010. n aceast situaie s-au ncadrat
companiile nfiinate n perioada 2005-2010 (n numr de
6), precum i companiile care au fost transferate pe BVB
de pe piaa RASDAQ n perioada de analiz pre-aplicare
IFRS (respectiv 17). Componena eantionului pentru
analiza pre-post aplicare IFRS potrivit celor menionate
const astfel ntr-un numr de 39 de societi. S-a optat
pentru eliminarea din eantion a instituiilor financiare
din considerente legate de asigurarea omogenitii
datelor, precum i pentru c se aliniaz unui cadru de
reglementare diferit. Tabelul 1 evideniaz distribuia pe
industrii a companiilor care formeaz eantionul pentru
analiza pre-post aplicare IFRS. Cea mai mare parte a
companiilor este reprezentat de societile din industria
manufacturier n proporie de 71,8% din total eantion.
De asemenea, ntruct anumite variabile utilizate n
modele de regresie sunt calculate ca indicatori de
variaie fa de anul precedent, rezult opt intervale de
timp ce conduc la un numr total de 312 observaii
firm-an pentru perioada 2005-2013.
Tabel 1. Clasificarea companiilor pe industrii* (39 societi)

Industrie
Alte servicii
Comer i reparaii auto
Construcii
Furnizare electricitate, gaz
Hotelier i de consum
Imobiliar
Manufacturier
Minier
Transport i depozitare
Total
*Not:
Frecven
Procent
2
1
1
1
1
1
28
1
3
39
5,1
2,6
2,6
2,6
2,6
2,6
71,8
2,6
7,7
100,0
Procent cumulat
5,1
7,7
10,3
12,8
15,4
17,9
89,7
92,3
100,0
Clasificarea industriilor conform International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities, Rev.4
Surs: Prelucrare proprie IBM SPSS Statistics 22
Datele pentru perioada pre-IFRS 2005-2010 au fost

colectate din baza de date internaional Thomson
Reuters Eikon pentru variabilele bazate pe indicatori din
situaiile financiare ale societilor ce formeaz
eantionul, precum i din informaiile publicate de Bursa
de Valori Bucureti, pentru variabilele bazate pe
indicatori de pe piaa de capital. Datele pentru perioada
post-IFRS 2010-2013 au fost colectate manual din
situaiile financiare individuale publicate pe site-ul BVB
sau pe paginile web oficiale deinute de companiile care
formeaz eantionul. Sursa datelor pentru perioada
12
2010-2013 este determinat de faptul c baza de date

Thomson Reuters Eikon nu include informaii financiare
complete pentru perioada de timp analizat la nivelul
tuturor societilor selectate.
Descrierea modelelor de regresie

utilizate n cercetare
Modelele de cercetare pe care se bazeaz studiul
efectuat reflect deopotriv efectele asociate sistemului
de raportare financiar, precum i efectele atribuibile
altor factori, dintre care se pot meniona mediul

economic i motivaia pentru manipularea rezultatelor.
Pornind de la studii anterioare din literatura de
specialitate care utilizeaz o metodologie similar (Barth
et al., 2008 i Lang et al., 2006), cercetarea este
condus pe dou tipuri de modele: modele de analiz a
managementului rezultatului, care se axeaz pe
determinarea indiciilor de netezire a rezultatelor i
modele de analiz a relevanei valorilor, axate pe
stabilirea corelaiei dintre valorile contabile i valorile de

pia. n continuare, sunt detaliate modele de regresie
utilizate.
Modele bazate pe analiza managementului

rezultatului
Pentru analiza fenomenului de netezire a rezultatului se
utilizeaz urmtoarele modele (Barth et al., 2008):
i) variaia rezultatului net raportat la total active (NI) interpretnd o variaie mai mic a indicatorului ca reprezentnd
un indiciu de netezire a rezultatului:
NI it= 0+ 1SIZEit+ 2GROWTHit+ 3EISSUEit+ 4LEV it+ 5DISSUEit+ 6TURNit+ 7CF it+ 8AUDit+ it,
(1)
unde:
SIZE = logaritm natural din valoarea de pia a capitalului;
GROWTH = variaia vnzrilor;
EISSUE = variaia numrului de aciuni;
LEV = datorii totale raportat la total capitaluri proprii;
DISSUE = variaia datoriilor totale;
TURN = vnzri raportate la total active;
CF = fluxuri nete de trezorerie raportat la total active;
AUD = indicator care este 1 dac auditorul este din cadrul Big 4 (PwC, KPMG, E&Ysau D&T) i 0 n caz contrar.
ii) variaia fluxurilor nete de trezorerie (CF), raportat la variaia rezultatului net (NI), pstrndu-se variabilele din
ecuaia (1) societile cu un cash flow volatil sunt caracterizate i de un rezultat net volatil; dac firmele folosesc
tehnici de manipulare a rezultatului, atunci variaia rezultatului net ar trebui s fie mai mic dect variaia fluxurilor de
trezorerie:
CF it= 0+ 1SIZEit+ 2GROWTHit+ 3EISSUEit+ 4LEV it+ 5DISSUEit+ 6TURNit+ 7CF it+ 8AUDit+ it
(2)
iii) corelaia Spearman dintre fluxurile nete de trezorerie (CF) i alte elemente care nu au impact asupra lichiditilor
(ACC - accruals, engl.), acestea din urm fiind calculate ca diferen ntre NI i CF. O legtur mai puternic ntre
cele dou elemente reprezint un indiciu c nu sunt utilizate practici de netezire a rezultatelor prin intermediul
contabilitii de angajamente. n acest sens sunt comparate valorile reziduale obinute n urma aplicrii regresiilor pe
baza ecuaiilor de mai jos (din modelul de regresie se exclude variabila CF):
CF it= 0+ 1SIZEit+ 2GROWTHit+ 3EISSUEit+ 4LEV it+ 5DISSUEit+ 6TURNit+ 7AUDit+ it;
(3)
ACC it= 0+ 1SIZEit+ 2GROWTHit+ 3EISSUEit+ 4LEV it+ 5DISSUEit+ 6TURNit+ 7AUDit+ it
(4)
Spre deosebire de modelul de regresie utilizat de Barth

et al. (2008), n cercetarea noastr s-a optat pentru
excluderea variabilelor legate de listarea companiilor pe
alte piee financiare dect cea analizat (NUMEX,
XLIST, CLOSE), ntruct societile analizate sunt cotate
exclusiv la Bursa de Valori Bucureti.
Nr. 2(122)/2015
Modele bazate pe relevana valorilor

contabile
Pentru analiza relevanei valorii contabile (value
relevance, engl.) se utilizeaz o regresie n dou etape a
preului aciunii, dup cum urmeaz:
13
Elena NECHITA
primul pas const n regresia preului aciunii n

funcie de industria n care activeaz societatea
(societile au fost clasificate utiliznd International
Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic
Activities, Rev.4), n vederea controlului impactului
pe care l poate avea acest factor;
valorile reziduale obinute n baza regresiei de la
pasul anterior (P*) sunt utilizate n urmtoarea
ecuaie de regresie (5), n vederea analizei msurii
n care preul aciunii este explicat de valoarea
capitalului propriu i a rezultatului net:
P*it = 0 + 1BVEPSit + 2 NIPSit + it
(5)
unde:
P = valoarea aciunii;
BVEPS = capital propriu/aciune;
NIPS = rezultat net/aciune;
Mergnd pe urmele cercetrilor anterioare (Barth et al.,
2008 i Lang et al., 2006), n vederea asigurrii faptului
c informaia contabil a fost fcut public, preurile
aciunilor au fost evaluate la trei luni de la data nchiderii
exerciiului financiar. Aplicnd modelul de regresie dat
de ecuaia (5), analizm valoarea R2 obinut, interpretnd un rezultat mai mare ca reprezentnd un indiciu
al unei relevane a valorii contabile mai ridicate pentru
societile cotate la BVB, explicat de o corelaie mai
puternic ntre preurile aciunilor i valorile contabile.
Rezultatele cercetrii
n vederea efecturii analizei de tipul pre-post aplicare
IFRS, metodologia cercetrii, aa cum a fost expus
anterior, a fost aplicat secvenial asupra celor 39 de
societi ce formeaz eantionul, nti pentru perioada
de timp 2010-2013 cu aplicare IFRS, iar apoi pentru
perioada de timp 2005-2010 cu aplicare a
reglementrilor naionale. Se formeaz astfel dou subeantioane, primul care aplic IFRS cuprinznd un
numr de 117 observaii firm-an aferente celor 3
intervale de timp din perioada 2010-2013, respectiv al
doilea, care aplic reglementrile naionale, format dintrun numr de 195 observaii firm-an aferente celor 5
intervale de timp cuprinse n perioada 2005-2010. Dup
cum s-a menionat i anterior, exerciiul financiar 2010
este primul din seria de timp pentru care societile au
prezentat n situaiile financiare individuale informaii
14
comparative ntocmite n conformitate cu IFRS. n urma

verificrii datelor cu privire la existena valorilor extreme
de natur s influeneze semnificativ rezultatele
regresiilor, a fost necesar o rafinare adiional pentru
asigurarea eterogenitii datelor. Dup aplicarea acestei
proceduri, numrul de observaii pentru sub-eantionul
post-IFRS rmne de 82 de observaii firm-an, iar
pentru sub-eantionul pre-IFRS rmne un numr de
131 de observaii firm-an.
Cu scopul asigurrii unei corespondene 1 la 1 ntre
societile din perioada pre-aplicare IFRS i cele din
perioada post-aplicare IFRS, o societate care aplic IFRS
n intervalul 2010-2013 este comparat cu aceeai
societate care aplic reglementrile naionale n perioada
2005-2010, beneficiind de avantajul unui control asupra
faptului c rezultatele obinute sunt determinate exclusiv
de modificarea reglementrilor contabile aplicabile. Totui,
aceast abordare prezint cel puin dou limitri, prima
legat de faptul c numrul de ani pentru fiecare set de
reglementri aplicabil este diferit (4 ani pentru IFRS,
respectiv 6 ani pentru reglementrile contabile locale),
ceea ce conduce la un eantion neechilibrat ca numr de
observaii firm-an. Iar a doua reinere n interpretarea
rezultatelor se refer la procesul de trecere gradual ctre
adoptarea IFRS care a avut loc n Romnia, inclusiv prin
preluarea n reglementrile naionale a anumitor prevederi
ale standardelor internaionale, ceea ce determin o
diminuare a diferenelor privitoare la calitatea raportrii
financiare nainte i dup adoptarea IFRS. Studiul
condus de Cai et al. (2014) a analizat n ce msur
diferenele existente ntre standardele internaionale i
reglementrile naionale influeneaz efectele adoptrii
IFRS, iar rezultatele au reliefat c beneficiile obinute ca
urmare a implementrii IFRS sunt mai mari pentru rile n
care nivelul de divergen dintre normele locale i IFRS
naintea adoptrii a fost mai ridicat.
Tabelul 2 prezint statistici descriptive comparative ale

variabilelor utilizate n modelele de cercetare aplicate
pentru analiza pre-post IFRS la nivelul celor 39 de
societi care formeaz eantionul.
O centralizare a principalilor indicatori obinui dup
aplicarea celor dou modele pentru fiecare dintre cele
dou perioade analizate este prezentat n Tabelul 3.
Se poate observa o cretere semnificativ a reprezentativitii modelului care explic variaia rezultatului net
n perioada post-IFRS fa de perioada pre-IFRS
(R2 post-IFRS 12,83% > R2 pre-IFRS 2,43%), subliniat
i de creterea pragului de semnificaie. Nu aceeai
evoluie se obine n cazul CF, unde R2 post-IFRS de

11,69% este mai mic dect R2 pre-IFRS n valoare de
12,35% pentru CF. Dei diferena la nivelul
reprezentativitii modelului nu este la fel de mare ca n
cazul variaiei rezultatului net, pragul de semnificaie al

erorilor n perioada pre-IFRS este de 3,6%, fapt ce
sporete validitatea modelului comparativ cu cea din
perioada post-IFRS.
Tabel 2. Statistici descriptive analiz pre-post aplicare IFRS
NI
CF
CF
ACC
P
BVEPS
SIZE
GROWTH
EISSUE
LEV
DISSUE
TURN
AUD
N
Post-IFRS 2010-2013
Abatere
Variabile
Medie Median
medie
ptratic
Variabile de test
Variaia rezultat net/total active
-0.1971 -0.1376
1.3618
Variaia flux net de trezorerie/total active
0.1444 -0.0636
1.0768
Flux net de trezorerie/total active
0.0698 0.0263
0.0888
Accruals (NI - CF)/total active
-0.0629 -0.0479
0.1037
Pre aciune
0.5935 0.4143
0.6007
Capital propriu/nr. aciuni
0.9308 0.4849
1.7011
Variabile de control
LN(Capitalizare bursier)
17.8524 17.6314
1.9937
Variaia CA (%)
0.0265 0.0408
0.2155
Variaia nr. Aciuni(%)
0.0153 0,0000
0.0936
Datorii totale/Capitaluri proprii
0.1861 0.3555
6.4998
Variaia datorii totale (%)
0.1780 0.0365
0.9328
CA/total active
0.6917 0.6488
0.3775
Auditor Big 4 = 1/alii= 0
0.2927 0.0000
0.4578
Nr. observaii
82
82
82
Pre-IFRS 2005-2010
Abatere
Medie
Median
medie
ptratic
-0.0685
0.2482
0.0561
-0.0515
0.7556
0.0012
-0.2654
-0.0055
0.0262
-0.0169
0.4010
0.0004
1.1738
1.1174
0.0729
0.0997
0.9565
0.0024
18.0341
0.0251
0.2899
1.0231
0.1693
0.7092
0.2366
131
17.8922
0.0269
0,0000
0.4912
0.1130
0.6644
0.0000
131
1.8737
0.2772
2.5450
7.4319
0.4610
0.3492
0.4267
131
n ceea ce privete valoarea coeficienilor obinui pentru

variabilele incluse n model, n cazul regresiei rezultatului
net n perioada post-IFRS, coeficientul n valoare de
-0,3776 al variabilei DISSUE este cel mai semnificativ la
un prag al erorii de 10%, evideniind i o legtur invers
proporional ntre variaia datoriilor i variaia rezultatului
net. Cel mai mare coeficient al modelului este cel aferent
variabilei CF n valoare de 1,7396, care arat puternica
legtur dintre fluxurile de trezorerie i rezultatul net. n
cazul aplicrii modelului de regresie pentru perioada preIFRS, niciunul dintre coeficienii rezultai nu este
semnificativ diferit de 0, fapt ce confirm relevana mai
mare a modelului n perioada post-IFRS.
Pentru modelul de analiz a variabilitii fluxurilor nete de

trezorerie dat de ecuaia (2), un coeficient reprezentativ
obinut n perioada post-aplicare IFRS este cel al
variabilei GROWTH n valoare de 1,3082, obinut cu un
prag de semnificaie a erorii de 5%. Aceasta subliniaz
evidenta influen pozitiv a variaiei vnzrilor asupra
variaiei rezultatului net. De asemenea, similar regresiei
variaiei rezultatului net pentru aceeai perioad, o
valoare important de 0,8282 este obinut i pentru
coeficientul variabilei CF. ns, cea mai semnificativ
influen a cash-flow-ului asupra modelului de regresie a
rezultat n perioada pre-IFRS, cu un coeficient n valoare
de 4,1835, la un prag de semnificaie a erorii de 1%.
Tabel 3. Principalii indicatori statistici ai modelelor de regresie

Model
N
Regresia NI - ecuaia (1)
82
Regresia CF - ecuaia (2)
82
** Cu semnificaie la pragul de 5%
Surs: Prelucrare proprie
Nr. 2(122)/2015
Post-IFRS 2010-2013
R2
F
Sig.
0,1283
1,3430
0,2360
0,1169
1,2082
0,3060
DW
1,9722
2,1910
N
131
131
Pre-IFRS 2005-2010
R2
F
Sig.
0,0243
0,3803
0,9290
0,1235
2,1497
0,036**
DW
2,0837
2,0796
15
Elena NECHITA
Prin urmare, potrivit celor previzionate, influena

factorilor externi asupra evoluiei rezultatului net raportat
la total active se diminueaz dup aplicarea IFRS,
evideniind o cretere a calitii rezultatelor raportate.
ns, contrar ateptrilor, n cazul variabilitii fluxurilor
nete de trezorerie, acestea prezint o calitate mai
sczut determinat de o influen mai mare a altor
factori dect cei controlai la nivelul modelului n
perioada post-IFRS. Testul Fisher subliniaz acest
rezultat, iar valorile nregistrate de coeficientul DurbinWatson arat c nu exist indicii ca variabilele reziduale
s fie autocorelate.
Dup aplicarea celor dou modele de regresie date de

ecuaiile (1) i (2),se compar variaia valorilor reziduale
(evideniate prin asterisc *) obinute pentru rezultatul
net raportat la total active (NI*) i fluxurile nete de trezorerie raportate la total active (CF*) pentru cele dou
perioade analizate. Prima presupunere este aceea c o
variaie mai mic a rezultatului net reprezint un indiciu
de netezire a rezultatului, iar cea de-a doua presupunere
este c n cazul n care firmele folosesc tehnici de
manipulare a rezultatului, atunci variaia rezultatului net
ar trebui s fie mai mic dect variaia fluxurilor de
trezorerie. Tabelul 4 prezint aceast comparaie.
Tabel 4. Variana valorilor reziduale ale regresiei rezultatului net comparativ

cu variana valorilor reziduale ale regresiei fluxurilor de trezorerie
Indicator
Variaia NI*
Variaia CF*
Variaia NI*,
raportat la variaia
CF*
Nr. observaii
*Valorile
Post-IFRS 2010-2013
Abaterea
Media
medie
Variana
ptratic
0,0000
1,2715
1,6166
0,0000
1,0119
1,0240
Pre-IFRS 2005-2010
Abaterea
Media
medie
Variana
ptratic
0,0000
1,1594
1,3443
0,0000
1,0461
1,0943
Diferen n
varian (%)
+20,26%
-6,42%
1,5787
1,2285
+28,50%
82
131
reziduale ale variabilelor
n urma analizei se observ o cretere cu 20,26% a

variaiei rezultatului net raportat la total active n
perioada post-aplicare IFRS, comparativ cu cea din
perioada n care societile cotate la BVB aplicau
normele naionale, evoluie ce poate fi interpretat ca
indiciu al unei probabiliti mai sczute de recurgere la
practici de netezire a rezultatului dup implementarea
IFRS. Se valideaz astfel prima presupunere. Pe de alt
parte, se observ o scdere a variaiei fluxurilor nete de
trezorerie n perioada 2010-2013, comparativ cu
perioada 2005-2010. Eliminnd influena variaiei
fluxurilor nete de trezorerie asupra variaiei rezultatului
net, se constat c variaia rezultatului net determinat
de ali factori crete de la 1,2285 n perioada pre-IFRS la
1,5787 n perioada post-IFRS, validndu-se i a doua
presupunere bazat pe variaia rezultatului net raportat
la variaia fluxurilor nete de trezorerie. n plus, la fel ca n
cazul rezultatelor obinute n seciunea anterioar,
variabilitatea rezultatului net este semnificativ mai mare
16
dect variabilitatea fluxurilor nete de trezorerie att

nainte, ct i dup aplicarea IFRS. Prin urmare, ambele
rezultate constituie dovezi ale faptului c nu exist indicii
de management al rezultatului prin utilizarea unor
practici de netezire la nivelul societilor cotate la BVB n
perioada ulterioar trecerii la IFRS.
Urmtorul indicator statistic utilizat n analiza
comparativ pre-post aplicare IFRS asupra
managementului rezultatului se bazeaz pe corelaia
Spearman dintre elementele nemonetare i fluxurile nete
de trezorerie. Astfel, se compar corelaiile determinate
de coeficientul Spearman dintre valorile reziduale
obinute din aplicarea ecuaiilor de regresie (3) i (4),
CF* i ACC*, unde ACC se calculeaz ca NI minus CF.
Se interpreteaz o corelaie mai ridicat a fluxurilor nete
de trezorerie i elementelor nemonetare ca un indiciu c
societile nu recurg la tehnici de netezire a rezultatului
prin utilizarea contabilitii de angajamente. Rezultatele
astfel obinute sunt reflectate n Tabelul 5.
Tabel 5. Corelaiile dintre elementele nemonetare i fluxurile de trezorerie

Correlations
Spearman's
rho
CF*
ACC*
Correlation Coefficient
Sig. (2-tailed)
N
Sig. (2-tailed)
N
Post-IFRS 2010-2013
Pre-IFRS 2005-2010
CF*
CF*
1,0000
1,0000
82
-0,6520***
0,0000
82
ACC*
-0,6520***
0,0000
82
1,0000
82
131
-0,4590***
0,0000
131
ACC*
-0,4590***
0,0000
131
1,0000
131
*Valorile reziduale ale variabilelor

***Corelaiile
sunt semnificative la un prag de 1% (testare bilateral).
Rezultatele evideniaz o legtur negativ mai ridicat

ntre fluxurile nete de trezorerie i elementele care nu au
inciden asupra trezoreriei n perioada ulterioar aplicrii
IFRS, fa de perioada n care societile cotate aplicau
reglementrile naionale, diferena ntre valorile coeficientului Spearman post-aplicare i pre-aplicare IFRS fiind
destul de semnificativ(de la -0,4590 la -0,6520).Corelaia
negativ ntre cei doi indicatori evideniaz c valoarea
elementelor nemonetare evolueaz n sens contrar valorii
fluxurilor nete de trezorerie, determinnd astfel un efect
de anulare a impactului fluxurilor nete de trezorerie
asupra variaiei rezultatului net. n aceast situaie,
elementele care nu au inciden asupra trezoreriei
contribuie la reducerea volatilitii rezultatului net, putnd

reprezenta o dovad a tehnicilor de netezire a rezultatului.
Conform rezultatelor regresiei valorilor reziduale ale
preului aciunii neafectat de industrie (P*) cu valoarea
capitalului propriu pe aciune i valoarea rezultatului net
pe aciune, se constat o reprezentativitate mai mare a
modelului n perioada post-aplicare IFRS dect n perioada aplicrii normelor contabile naionale. Tabelul 6
sumarizeaz principalii indicatori statistici care conduc la
concluzia c n perioada ulterioar adoptrii IFRS
relevana valorilor contabile este mai mare dect cea din
perioada pre-IFRS.
Tabel 6. Comparaia principalilor indicatori statistici ai regresiei preului aciunii

Indicator statistic
R2
F
F critic
Sig.
DW
Spearman BVEPS/P*
Spearman NIPS/P*
N
* Valorile
***
Post-IFRS 2010-2013
Pre-IFRS 2005-2010
0,3602
22,2402
19,4831
0,0000
2,3209
0,7790***
0,4420***
82
0,3446
33,6435
19,4879
0,0000
2,0341
0,5220***
0,4020***
131
Reprezint semnificaie la un prag de 1%
Surs: Prelucrare proprie
n primul rnd, se observ o cretere a reprezentativitii

modelului de la 34,46% la 36,02% odat cu aplicarea
Standardelor Internaionale de Raportare Financiar,
interpretnd acest rezultat ca semn de mbuntire a
Nr. 2(122)/2015
calitii raportrii financiare prin creterea relevanei

informaiei contabile furnizate din punct de vedere al
influenei acesteia asupra evoluiei preului aciunii.
Valoarea testului Fisher depete n ambele perioade
17
Elena NECHITA
analizate valoarea critic, evideniind validitatea

modelului de regresie utilizat, riscul apariiei unei erori
situndu-se mult sub pragul de semnificaie de 5%. De
asemenea, valorile coeficientului Durbin-Watson
demonstreaz c poate fi acceptat ipoteza de
neautocorelare a erorilor.
n al doilea rnd, valorile nregistrate de coeficientul
Spearman nainte i dup adoptarea IFRS confirm
rezultatul menionat anterior, artnd o cretere a
corelaiei dintre capitalurile proprii pe aciune i preul
aciunii, precum i dintre rezultatul net pe aciune i preul
aciunii. Mai mult dect att, coeficientul Spearman n
valoare de 0,7790 se apropie semnificativ de 1, valoarea
maxim pe care o poate atinge, rezultatul evideniind fr
urm de ndoial o legtur foarte strns ntre valoarea
capitalurilor proprii si evoluia preului aciunii n perioada
2010-2013 dup implementarea IFRS. Toate valorile
coeficientului Spearman sunt obinute cu un prag de
semnificaie al apariiei erorii de 1%.
Se poate concluziona astfel c aplicarea IFRS de ctre
societile cotate la BVB pentru ntocmirea situaiilor
financiare individuale a determinat o cretere a influenei
capitalurilor proprii i a rezultatului net asupra evoluiei
preului aciunii, fapt ce poate fi interpretat ca
reprezentnd o sporire a relevanei informaiilor
contabile furnizate n raportrile financiare ale acestor
societi. Acest rezultat este n conformitate i cu cel
obinut de Barth et al. (2008).
n vederea validrii rezultatelor obinute au fost aplicate

teste de control pentru a stabili n ce msur datele utilizate ntrunesc ipotezele statistice de validitate a datelor
n cazul modelelor de regresie multipl. Analiza s-a
bazat pe verificarea independenei valorilor reziduale, a
homoscedasticitii erorilor, a inexistenei multicoliniaritii,
a respectrii distribuiei normale, precum i a inexistenei
valorilor extreme semnificative. Se poate concluziona,
dup aplicarea testelor de verificare a validitii datelor, c
sunt ntrunite criteriile statistice de validitate necesare n
vederea obinerii unor rezultate veridice.
Concluzii, limitri i cercetri

viitoare
Obiectivul cercetrii este acela de a determina n ce
msur implementarea Standardelor Internaionale de
Raportare Financiar de ctre societile cotate la Bursa
de Valori Bucureti pentru ntocmirea situaiilor
financiare individuale ncepnd cu exerciiul financiar
2012 conduce la creterea calitii raportrii financiare
prin reducerea probabilitii utilizrii practicilor de
management al rezultatului, precum i prin creterea
relevanei valorilor contabile furnizate.
Centralizarea rezultatelor evideniaz c din cele 4
ipoteze formulate n ceea ce privete impactul
implementrii IFRS asupra calitii situaiilor financiare
pentru societile cotate la Bursa de Valori Bucureti au
fost validate 3 ipoteze, dup cum reiese i din Tabelul 7.
Tabel 7.Privire de ansamblu asupra analizei pre-post aplicare IFRS

Perioada analizat
Model de analiz
Ipoteza
Modele bazate pe analiza existenei practicilor de netezire a rezultatului

Variaia NI*
Post > Pre
Variaia NI*, raportat la variaia CF*
Post > Pre
Corelaia dintre CF* i ACC*
Post > Pre
Model bazat pe analiza relevanei valorilor contabile
R2 pentru regresia P*
Post > Pre
* Valorile
Post-IFRS 2010-2013
Pre-IFRS 2005-2010
82 de observaii
131 de observaii
1,6166
1,5787
-0,6520
1,3443
1,2285
-0,4590
0,3602
0,3446
Punnd n balan rezultatele cercetrii, se poate

concluziona c implementarea IFRS la nivelul
18
societilor cotate la BVB pentru conturile individuale a

condus la o cretere a calitii raportrii financiare.
n ceea ce privete limitrile cercetrii, o prim meniune

este cea legat de faptul c analiza a fost bazat pe
indicatorii rezultai din aplicarea IFRS n primii doi ani de
la adoptarea standardelor pentru ntocmirea situaiilor
financiare individuale de ctre societile cotate la Bursa
de Valori Bucureti. Din acest motiv, rezultatele trebuie
interpretate cu pruden i se recomand n perspectiv
extinderea perioadei de timp analizate, atunci cnd
societile vor fi cptat un plus de experien n
aplicarea IFRS. Pe de alt parte, trebuie menionat
faptul c o parte din societile cotate erau deja
familiarizate cu standardele internaionale, ca urmare a
aplicrii lor n scopuri de consolidare.
Dei cercetarea s-a bazat pe un numr relativ redus de
observaii, eantionul selectat este reprezentativ pentru
societile cotate la Bursa de Valori Bucureti, fapt
pentru care considerm rezultatele obinute ca fiind
reprezentative pentru ntreaga populaie statistic.
Numrul redus de observaii constituie n general o
caracteristic a studiilor efectuate la nivelul economiilor
emergente.
De asemenea, se ntrevd i cel puin dou limitri
aferente analizei pre-post aplicare IFRS. n primul rnd,
numrul de ani pentru fiecare set de reglementri
aplicabil este diferit (4 ani pentru IFRS, respectiv 6 ani
pentru reglementrile contabile locale), ceea ce conduce

la un eantion neechilibrat ca numr de observaii firman. n al doilea rnd, n Romnia procesul de trecere la
IFRS a avut loc gradual, inclusiv prin preluarea n
reglementrile naionale a anumitor prevederi ale
standardelor internaionale, fapt ce a determinat o
estompare a diferenelor n ceea ce privete calitatea
raportrii financiare nainte i dup adoptarea IFRS.
Sunt avute n vedere extinderi i dezvoltri ale prezentei
cercetri, optnd n acest sens pentru urmtoarele
direcii: extinderea intervalului de timp prin includerea n
analiz a situaiilor financiare din anii urmtori atunci
cnd acestea vor deveni disponibile, n vederea urmririi
evoluiei calitii raportrii financiare dup momentul
adoptrii IFRS, precum i modificarea modelului de
regresie utilizat pentru analiza managementului
rezultatului, prin includerea unei variabile de tip
indicator, creia i se atribuie valoarea 1, dac societatea
a optat pentru schimbri ale politicilor contabile dup
adoptarea IFRS, respectiv valoarea 0 - n caz contrar.
De asemenea, n cercetri ulterioare se dorete analiza
calitii rezultatelor nregistrate de societile cotate la
Bursa de Valori Bucureti i prin aplicarea modelului
Jones modificat (Dechowet al., 1995, dup Jones,
1991).
BIBLIOGRAFIE
Albu C.N., Albu N., Alexander D. (2013), When global
accounting standards meet the local context -Insights
from an emerging economy, Critical Perspectives on
Accounting disponibil la <http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/
j.cpa.2013.03.005>, accesat 14 martie 2014
Barth M., Landsman W., Lang M. (2008), International
Accounting Standards and accounting quality,
Journal of Accounting Research, nr. 3, pp. 467-498
Cai L., Rahman A., Courtenay S. (2014), The effect of
IFRS adoption conditional upon the level of preadoption divergence, The International Journal of
Accounting, nr, 49, pp. 147-178
Christensen H.B., Hail L., Leuz C. (2013), Mandatory
IFRS reporting and changes in enforcement, Journal
of Accounting and Economics, nr. 56, pp. 147-177
Dechow P., Sloan R., Sweeny A. (1995), Detecting
earnings management, The Accounting Review, pp.
193-225
Hodgson A., Nechita E. (2013), Calculul rezultatului
global n conformitate cu IFRS: Risc ridicat de audit
Nr. 2(122)/2015
pentru auditorii din Romnia, Revista Audit

Financiar nr. 9, pp. 28-36
Jermakowicz E.K., Gornik-Tomaszewski S. (2006), Implementing IFRS from the perspective of EU publicly
traded companies, Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, nr. 15, pp. 170-196
Jones J. (1991), Earnings management during import
relief investigations, Journal of Accounting Research,
pp. 193-228
Karampinis N.I., Hevas D.L. (2013), Effects of IFRS
adoption on tax-induced incentives for financial
earnings management: evidence from Greece, The
International Journal of Accounting, nr. 48, pp. 218-247
Lang M., Smith Raedy J., Wilson W. (2006), Earnings
management and cross listing: Are reconciled
earnings comparable to US earnings?, Journal of
Accounting and Economics Journal of Accounting
and Economics, nr. 42, pp. 255-283
Lin F., Wu S.F. (2014), Comparison of cosmetic
earnings management for the developed markets and
19
Elena NECHITA
emerging markets: Some empirical evidence from the

United States and Taiwan, Economic modelling, nr.
36, pp. 466-473
***Bursa de Valori Bucureti, (2008), Codul de guvernan corporativ, disponibil la <http://www.bvb.ro/
companies/CorporateGovernance.aspx>, accesat 15
iunie 2013
***Bursa de Valori Bucureti, Prezentare, disponibil la
<http://bvb.ro/About/Presentation.aspx> accesat 14
martie 2014
***International Accounting Standards Board (2013),
Standardele Internaionale de Raportare Financiar
IAS/IFRS
***OMFP nr. 1286/2012 pentru aprobarea reglementrilor
contabile conforme cu Standardele internaionale de
raportare financiar, aplicabile societilor comerciale
ale cror valori mobiliare sunt admise la tranzacionare
pe o pia reglementat, publicat n Monitorul Oficial al
Romniei, Partea I, nr. 687/04.10.2012, disponibil
la<http://static.anaf.ro/static/10/Anaf/ legislatie/ OMFP_
1286_2012.pdf>, accesat 24 martie 2013
20
***OMFP nr. 1802/2014 pentru aprobarea reglementrilor contabile privind situaiile financiare anuale
individuale i situaiile financiare anuale consolidate,
publicat n Monitorul Oficial al Romniei nr. 963,
Partea I, din 30 decembrie 2014
***OMFP nr. 3055/2009 pentru aprobarea reglementrilor contabile conforme cu directivele europene,
publicat n Monitorul Oficial al Romniei, Partea I, nr.
766/10.11.2009, disponibil la<http://static.anaf.ro/
static/10/Anaf/legislatie/OMFP_3055_2009.pdf>,
accesat 24 aprilie 2012
*** OMFP nr. 1752/2005 pentru aprobarea reglementrilor
contabile conforme cu directivele europene, publicat n
Monitorul Oficial al Romniei, nr. 1080/30.11.2005,
disponibil la <http://www.legex.ro/ Ordin-1752-200554422.aspx >, accesat 25 aprilie 2012
***OECD, World Bank and USAID (2001), South East
Europe Corporate Governance Roundtable Corporate Governance Program for Romania,
disponibil la <http://www.oecd.org/daf/ca/corporategovernance principles/2390809.pdf>, accesat 15
iunie 2013
Audit financiar, XIII,

Nr. 2(122)/2015,
21-33
Informaiile
financiare
i non-financiare
ntre raportare sustenabil i raportare integrat
ISSN: 1583-5812; ISSN on-line: 1844-8801
Informaiile
financiare i
non-financiare
ntre raportare
sustenabil i
raportare
integrat
Rezumat
Ca urmare a presiunilor exercitate de o larg gam de
utilizatori ai informaiilor financiare i non-financiare, n
ultimii ani concepte precum raportarea sustenabil i
raportarea integrat au nceput s ctige teren n
defavoarea raportrii financiare tradiionale. O serie de
organisme naionale i internaionale reclam la ora
actual poziia de lider n elaborarea de ghiduri,
standarde i reglementri privind raportarea nonfinanciar ca o modalitate complementar de a furniza
informaii ctre categoriile interesate de utilizatori.
Rolul acestui articol este de a clarifica conceptele de
raportare sustenabil i raportare integrat care
influeneaz de o manier semnificativ evoluiile
viitoare ale raportrii externe de informaii de ctre
marile companii care activeaz la nivel transnaional. n
acest context sunt analizai i principalii juctori n lupta
pentru stabilirea unor standarde unitare pentru
furnizarea de informaii non-financiare, precum i
impactul pe care deciziile luate de aceste organisme l-ar
putea avea asupra profesiei de auditor.
Cuvinte cheie: raportare integrat, raportarea
sustenabilitii, profesia de auditor, asigurare
Dr. tefana Maria DIMA,
Clasificare JEL: M41, M42, Q01, Q56
Cercettor tiinific gr. II, East European Centre for

Research in Economics and Business (ECREB),
Universitatea de Vest din Timioara, Romnia,
e-mail: stefana.dima@e-uvt.ro
Conf. univ. dr. Adina Simona POPA,

Universitatea Eftimie Murgu din Reia, Romnia,
e-mail: popaasa@yahoo.com
Prof. univ. dr. Nicoleta FARCANE,
Universitatea de Vest din Timioara, Romnia,

e-mail: farcanenicoleta@gmail.com
Nr. 2(122)/2015
21
1. Introducere
ntr-o lume n continu schimbare este dificil de evaluat
progresul spre un viitor mai sustenabil. Mai mult dect
att, obiectivele pe termen lung ale raportrii sustenabilitii, ale unui mediu durabil i ale responsabilitii
sociale pot reprezenta uneori interesele unor eforturi
concurente deoarece, aa cum Norgaard (1988)
observ, "Dezvoltarea sustenabil va impune ca
utilizarea de energie i substane chimice s fie
subordonate ntreinerii ecosistemului" (p. 606).
Atingerea performanei economice prin demonstrarea
unei reale responsabiliti sociale corporative i de
protejare a mediului nconjurtor ar putea fi cea mai
mare provocare creia ar trebui s i fac fa omenirea.
Ca i concept exhaustiv, raportarea sustenabilitii i
propune s asiste organizaiile n stabilirea obiectivelor
i msurarea performanei lor, contribuind n acelai
timp la o economie sustenabil. Fcnd referire la
relevana subiectului, putem aprecia c literatura de
specialitate este destul de bogat. Hahn & Kuhnen
(2013) efectueaz pentru perioada 1999-2011 o
revizuire a 178 de articole tematice publicate n reviste
de afaceri, de management i de contabilitate. Ei
observ c nu sunt suficiente studii ale celor mai recente
evoluii i c exist unele lacune de cercetare n
reglementri, guvernare, calitatea raportrilor i
percepia prilor interesate.
Adams & Frost (2008) abordeaz modul n care
indicatorii cheie de performan referitori la
sustenabilitate sunt integrai n procesul de luare a
deciziilor, n planificarea i managementul performanei,
bazat pe anumite interviuri cu persoane britanice i
australiene. Ei au gsit dovezi pentru integrarea, n
cazul acestor societi, a indicatorilor de mediu i sociali.
Cu toate acestea, n ciuda unor presiuni globale asupra
companiilor, cu scopul de a se raporta ntr-un mod mai
clar, concis i elocvent justificarea performanei
companiei i impactul acesteia asupra societii i
mediului, se observ c nu prea multe companii au
inserat i aspecte ale problemelor legate de
sustenabilitate i rezultate din modelul lor de afaceri i
strategia acestora, precum i din procesele acestora.
Moneva et al. (2006) observ c "unele organizaii care
se eticheteaz ca raportori ai Iniiativei de Raportare
Global (Global Reporting Initiative-GRI) nu se comport
ntr-un mod responsabil n ceea ce privete publicarea
legat de sustenabilitate, cum ar fi cele privitoare la
emisiile de gaze, echitatea social sau drepturile omului"
22
(p.121). Mai mult dect att, Daub (2007), n timp ce

efectua o analiz de raportare a sustenabilitii
corporative n Elveia, a procedat la intervievarea a 25
de manageri elveieni i a constatat cum "companiile iau atins limitele din cauza creterii solicitrilor de
rapoarte din ce n ce mai detaliate i cu o frecven mai
mare de publicare" (p. 84). n ciuda creterii gradului de
contientizare a responsabilitii companiilor fa de
prile interesate, exist o nevoie stringent de a
demonstra utilitatea dezvoltrii practicilor de raportare
sustenabil n cadrul companiilor, iar companiile
consider c doar prin sublinierea succesului lor
comercial vor reui, n timp ce prin publicarea
indicatorilor de mediu i sociali acestea ar putea fi
forate s dezvluie unele aspecte care ar putea
reprezenta dezavantaje competitive. n plus, BonillaPriego et al. (2014) remarc faptul c societile prezint
mai mult aspecte de management dect de performan,
iar "elementele descrise tind s prezinte o poziie
marginal fa de esena sau substana afacerii, avnd
un impact economic pozitiv sau acaparator referitor la
reglementarea sectorului respectiv" (p.149).
Un concept nou, care are scopul de a ncorpora ntr-un
anumit fel principiile de raportare a sustenabilitii a fost
dezvoltat recent sub forma raportrii integrate (IR).
Acesta este vzut ca un mijloc de realizare a unei
abordri extinse n ceea ce privete modelul de afaceri
i crearea valorii n cadrul unei companii, ncurajnd
adoptarea unei perspective pe termen lung (Adams,
2014). Cert este faptul c entitile trebuie convinse de
beneficiile unei prezentri mai detaliate a unor aspecte
non-financiare, deoarece prezentarea separat a
informaiilor financiare i a celor non-financiare (unele
cuantificabile, iar unele nu) nu este suficient furnizrii
unei imagini clare asupra modului n care respectiva
companie creeaz valoare pe termen lung pentru
companie, pentru prile interesate i pentru societate n
ansamblul su.
Aadar, rezultatul raportrii integrate ar trebui s l
reprezinte "o comunicare concis despre modul n care
strategia, guvernana, performana i perspectivele unei
organizaii, n contextul mediului su extern, pot
conduce la crearea de valoare pe termen scurt, mediu i
lung" (The International <IR> Framework1, p. 7).
Cadrul conceptual privind raportarea integrat la nivel

internaional
Informaiile financiare i non-financiare ntre raportare sustenabil i raportare integrat
n fapt, multe companii care ndeplinesc cerinele de

raportare a sustenabilitii (n conformitate cu liniile
directoare ale GRI) au nceput s experimenteze
raportarea integrat chiar nainte de existena unei
definiii acceptate la nivel internaional i a unui cadru
operaional (pentru mai multe informaii se poate accesa
baza de date ce vizeaz raportarea sustenabilitii i
disponibil la adresa http://database.globalreporting.
org/). Mai mult dect att, literatura recent identific
factorii determinani ai raportrii integrate. De exemplu,
Garcia-Sanchez et al. (2013) analizeaz impactul
sistemului cultural naional asupra raportrii integrate,
observnd c entitile aflate n puternice societi
colectiviste i feministe tind s favorizeze integrarea
informaiilor. Fras-Aceituno et al. (2013) demonstreaz
pentru un eantion format din 750 de companii
internaionale faptul c entitile situate n rile de drept
civil sunt mai dispuse s publice rapoarte integrate n
beneficiul diferitelor pri interesate.
Referitor la literatura de specialitate la nivel naional,
observm o concentrare asupra: istoricului conceptului
de raportare integrat ca instrument util n nelegerea
evoluiilor viitoare din raportarea companiilor (Dragu &
Tiron-Tudor, 2013); cazurilor particulare de
implementare a raportrii integrate (Dumitru et al.,
2013); analizei influenei exercitate de ctre sistemele
legislative asupra raportrii integrate a companiilor
(Tiron-Tudor & Dragu 2014). Acest ultim articol
sugereaz c gradul de prezentare conform IR este mai
mare n cazul rilor de drept comun dect n cele de
drept civil.
n acest moment, este important s subliniem faptul c
nu este suficient doar ca raportul anual al unei companii
i raportul su de sustenabilitate s fie prezentate
ntr-un raport integrat, ci este necesar interaciunea
dintre seciuni, n funcie de strategia integrat de afaceri
a respectivei companii, chiar dac unele informaii
suplimentare pot fi furnizate separat. Pentru a avea o
astfel de strategie, o organizaie trebuie s determine
ct de relevant este sustenabilitatea pentru activitatea
sa, care sunt prioritile sale n acest domeniu, precum
i riscurile i oportunitile legate de sustenabilitate care
au impact asupra performanei sale financiare.
Mai mult, dezvoltarea raportrii integrate nu este lipsit
de critici legate fie de direcia sa, fie de concepte i de
impactul asupra societii i mediului. Spre exemplu,
Flower (2014) prezint istoricul Consiliului Internaional
de Raportare Integrat (IIRC), demonstrnd c, dei la
Nr. 2(122)/2015
nfiinarea sa obiectivul principal IIRC a fost promovarea

contabilitii conexe sustenabilitii, de atunci IIRC a
abandonat acest obiectiv. El i bazeaz aceast
concluzie pe faptul c, n Cadrul general, conceptul de
valoare reprezint "valoare pentru investitori" i nu
"pentru societate", nefiind obligatoriu pentru companii de
a raporta prejudiciile cauzate altor pri (cum ar fi mediul
nconjurtor), n cazul n care nu exist nici un impact
ulterior asupra companiei.
De asemenea, dat fiind faptul c n Africa de Sud,
Raportul King III a condus la adoptarea pentru prima
dat pe scar larg a IR de ctre companiile listate, ar fi
interesant de notat eficacitatea acesteia din perspectiva
prilor interesate. Rensburg & Botha (2014), prin
utilizarea unui sondaj naional on-line au artat c
rapoartele integrate sunt rar considerate ca surs
principal de informaii financiare i privind investiiile, nu
toi respondenii fiind convini c rapoartele financiare
sunt adecvate i relevante pentru fundamentarea
deciziilor lor de investiii.
n acest context, rolul acestei lucrri este de a aborda
legtura dintre conceptele de raportare a sustenabilitii
i raportare integrat, de a identifica principalii juctori la
nivel mondial n promovarea raportrii informaiilor
financiare i non-financiare (seciunea 3), precum i de a
discuta provocarea reprezentat de asigurarea extern
a raportrii integrate (seciunea 4). Seciunea urmtoare
prezint succint metodologia de cercetare, iar seciunea
5 include o sintez a constatrilor noastre.
2. Metodologia de cercetare
Din punct de vedere metodologic, utilizm instrumentele
cercetrii calitative, deoarece acest tip de analiz este
cel mai n msur s conduc la nelegerea n
profunzime a conceptelor i a instituiilor implicate. n
plus, acest tip de cercetare intenioneaz s identifice
tendine, conexiuni, precum i asemnri / deosebiri n
scopul evalurii progresului realizat pn acum n
atingerea obiectivului final al dezvoltrii sustenabile i de
a delimita rolul jucat de raportarea corporativ n acest
sens. Printre metodele de cercetare privind tiinele
socio-umane care ar putea fi considerate
complementare n aceast lucrare sunt, n principal:
analiza documentelor; metoda comparativ; observaia
neparticipativ; tehnica arhivistic. n plus, sursele de
informare cuprind: lucrri de cercetare, ghiduri i cadre
conceptuale, comunicate de pres, website-uri, opinii
23
profesionale, precum i studii semnificative referitoare la

acest subiect.
3. Raportarea sustenabilitii sau

raportarea integrat: un viitor
controversat
Scopul prezentului capitol este de a expune rolul
organizaiilor implicate n furnizarea unei abordri altfel
a raportrii corporative i n mbuntirea transparenei
privind aspectele legate de sustenabilitate, n special, pe
trei direcii: mediu nconjurtor, social i guvernan
(ESG), precum i discutarea diferenelor dintre
raportarea sustenabilitii i raportarea integrat.
Juctorii mondiali
Pentru a atinge obiectivul unei economii sustenabile la
nivel mondial, exist organizaii care aloc mult timp i
consum multe resurse n abordarea unor probleme
precum: emisiile de gaze cu efect de ser, o mai bun
utilizare a apei i a energiei, protecia biodiversitii etc.,
dar i a unor aspecte legate de furnizarea acestor
informaii de ctre companiile care opereaz pe pieele
internaionale. De fapt, pe pieele de capital se observ
o tendin de promovare a responsabilitii sociale a
companiilor i a investiiilor responsabile n rndul
investitorilor, companiilor cotate la burs i autoritilor
de reglementare. London Stock Exchange Group, NYSE
Euronext, Nasdaq i Bursa din Varovia s-au alturat
deja Iniiativei privind Piaa Bursier Sustenabil
(Sustainable Stock Exchange Initiative), contnd pe
faptul c "o mai bun informare va crete utilitatea i
comparabilitatea informaiilor raportate pe fiecare pia,
permind investitorilor instituionali o mai bun
gestionare a riscurilor i un mai bine fundamentat proces
decizional."1
Cu toate acestea, n ultimii ani a fost o adevrat
provocare convingerea consiliilor de administraie i a
directorilor executivi ai companiilor de faptul c
raportarea de informaii conexe dezvoltrii durabile i
furnizarea unei asigurri externe a acestora are beneficii
reale, cu att mai mult cu ct "doar 3 la sut dintre cele
1
http://www.sseinitiative.org/home-slider/london-stockexchange-partners-with-united-nations-sustainable-stockexchanges-initiative/
24
mai mari companii din lume prezint n prezent informaii

cu privire la performana lor privind ESG2.
n plus, exist numeroase organizaii interesate n
implementarea propriilor standarde, ghiduri i cadre
conceptuale n privina diferitelor aspecte ale raportrii
companiilor n scopul realizrii dezvoltrii durabile. n
practic, fr o coordonare clar a activitilor i
responsabilitilor acestor organizaii pot aprea cu
uurin confuzii, punnd chiar n pericol obiectivul final
al acestui proces economia sustenabil. n consecin,
considerm relevant o scurt descriere a celor mai
importante organizaii la nivel mondial. Astfel:
Climate Disclosure Standards Board (CDSB)

este un consoriu format din organizaii non-profit i
de mediu (Carbon Disclosure Project - CDP,
Coalition for Environmentally Responsible
Economies - CERES, The Climate Registry - TCR,
The Climate Group - TCG, The International
Emissions Trading Association - IETA, World
Council for Business and Sustainable Development
- WCBSD, World Economic Forum - WEF and
World Resources Institute - WRI) cu scopul de a
integra aspecte legate de schimbrile climatice n
raportarea corporativ. Profesia contabil este
prezent, alturi de participanii pe piaa de capital,
n cadrul Grupului Tehnic de Lucru ce acord
asisten de specialitate CDSB. Cadrul conceptual
al CDSB abordeaz probleme cum ar fi: riscurile i
oportunitile legate de schimbrile climatice,
strategiile de reducere a emisiilor de carbon,
amprentele de carbon, emisiile de gaze cu efect de
ser.
United Nations Environment Programme
Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) a fost creat n 1992,
n contextul Earth Summit de la Rio, ca un
parteneriat global ntre United Nations Environment
Programme i sectorul financiar reprezentat de
bnci, firme de asigurare i managerii de fonduri
de investiii. Acesta cuprinde i un grup de lucru
care se concentreaz pe integrarea factorilor
determinai de schimbrile climatice n procesul de
luare a deciziilor financiare. Mai mult dect att,
procesul de elaborare a principiilor pentru investiii
2
responsabile (Principles for Responsible

Investment - PRI) i a principiilor de asigurare
sustenabil (Principles for Sustainable Insurance PSI) au beneficiat de contribuia UNEP FI.
Sustainability Accounting Standards Board
(SASB) este o organizaie independent non-profit
din SUA, nfiinat n iulie 2011, care dezvolt
standarde contabile de sustenabilitate, pentru mai
mult de 80 de industrii din 10 de sectoare
economice, menite s rezolve probleme ESG
semnificative, obligatorii n raportrile ctre
Autoritatea de supraveghere a pieelor financiare
din SUA (US Securities Exchange Commission SEC) i considerate utile n luarea deciziilor de
ctre investitori. Chiar dac SASB este un
organism de elaborare a standardelor acreditat de
American National Standards Institute (ANSI),
acesta nu este afiliat niciunui consiliu de elaborare
a standardelor de contabilitate din SUA sau din
lume, precum FASB sau IASB.
International Integrated Reporting Council
(IIRC) (cunoscut anterior ca International
Integrated Reporting Committee) este n prezent o
coaliie mondial format din reprezentani ai
companiilor, investitorilor, profesiei contabile,
autoritilor de reglementare, organismelor de
elaborare a standardelor i ONG-urilor. De la
formarea sa, n august 2010, IIRC are un obiectiv
ambiios, acela de a pune bazele unei noi tendine
n raportarea corporativ: implementarea un cadru
conceptual acceptat la nivel global destinat
comunicrii de ctre companii a procesului de
creare a valorii n timp. IIRC a publicat cadrul su
conceptual privind raportarea integrat ( <IR>) n
decembrie 2013, cu scopul de a fi implementat n
practic att de sectorul public, ct i de cel privat.
Astfel, dezvoltarea unui mod integrat de a gndi,
care s conduc la o alocare mai eficient a
capitalului ar putea contribui la realizarea
dezvoltrii sustenabile.
Probabil cel mai important organism privind
raportarea sustenabilitii este Iniiativa de
Raportare Global (Global Reporting Initiative GRI), o organizaie internaional non-profit, cu o
structur de tip reea, care traseaz liniile
directoare ale raportrii sustenabilitii prin
Nr. 2(122)/2015
intermediul unor ghiduri furnizate gratuit. Sunt mai

mult de 600 de organizaii interesate, cu o lung
tradiie n promovarea raportrii sustenabilitii,
care susin sistemul promovat de GRI, sistem care
permite entitilor s determine, s neleag i s
prezinte informaii pe patru direcii: economic,
ecologic, social i guvernan. Fondat n Boston
n 1997, GRI este succesorul Coalition for
Environmentally Responsible Economies (CERES)
i Tellus Institute. Aceste dou organizaii, CERES
i Tellus Institute au lansat n 2011 un proiect
comun intitulat Iniiativa Global pentru Evaluarea
Sustenabilitii (Global Initiative for Sustainability
Rating - GISR) cu scopul de a elabora standarde
globale de evaluare a sustenabilitii, nu de
evaluare a companiilor, ci alte "evaluri,
clasamente sau indici de sustenabilitate"1.
Chiar dac lum n considerare aceste organizaii ca
juctori globali n domeniul raportrii sustenabilitii,
aceast list nu este neaprat exhaustiv i reeaua de
intercorelaii dintre aceste organizaii este extins. De
exemplu, CDSB colaboreaz cu IIRC, SASB, WRI i
WBCSD2. n cadrul relaiei sale cu IIRC, membrii CDSB
au participat la elaborarea n 2011 a proiectului
preliminar al IIRC "Ctre o raportare integrat:
comunicarea valorii n secolul 21"3 i n cadrul
urmtoarelor proiecte4.
Pe de alt parte, GRI are parteneriate strategice cu the
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD), the United Nations Environment
Programme, UN Global Compact i International
Organization for Standardization. Mai mult dect att,
GRI i Princes Accounting for Sustainability Project
(A4S) au participat mpreun la fondarea IIRC, sprijinind
dezvoltarea unei strategii integrate a entitilor n
obinerea rezultatelor financiare i n crearea valorii pe
termen lung.
La baza acestui sprijin st probabil faptul c informaiile
financiare i non-financiare nu pot coexista n mod izolat
n unul sau mai multe rapoarte, fr o integrare a
acestora i o evaluare a impactului asupra
http://ratesustainability.org/about/
http://www.cdsb.net/sites/cdsbnet/files/cdsbframeworkguide
v1_0_2.pdf
3 http://www.theiirc.org/discussion-paper/
4 http://www.cdsb.net/cdsb-reporting-framework/cdsbframework-integrated-reporting
1
2
25
sustenabilitii. Liniile directoare de raportare a

sustenabilitii, dezvoltate n patru etape pn acum, pot
fi vzute ca un fundament pentru promovarea unei
abordri integrate, care ar putea conduce, n viitor, la o
strategie integrat i la o mai bun raportare de ctre
entiti. Un argument n favoarea unei astfel de situaii
poate fi gsit n GRI (2013, a: 29-30): majoritatea
companiilor din sondaj consider ghidurile GRI utile n
elaborarea de rapoarte integrate, n special n definirea
coninutului, la nceputul procesului sau n evaluarea
raportului, n stadiile finale ale elaborrii acestuia.
comparabilitate, fiabilitate i transparen. Potrivit IIRC,

raportarea integrat "i propune s mbunteasc
calitatea informaiilor puse la dispoziia furnizorilor de
capital financiar, pentru a permite o alocare mai eficient
i productiv a capitalului" (IIRC, 2013: 4).
n acest context, n martie 2014, la cel mai mare forum
privind sustenabilitatea din America de Nord GLOBE
2014, GRI a gzduit o seciune ("Transparency Track")
ce adresa factorii determinani ai comunicrii de
informaii non-financiare, transparena corporativ i
valoarea strategic a raportrii sustenabilitii,
concluzionnd, printre altele, c "transparena este
esenial pentru consolidarea ncrederii dintre mediul de
afaceri i societate"1. Cu toate acestea, creterea
transparenei nu este sarcin facil de ndeplinit de ctre
organizaiile individuale, ci un scop care poate fi atins
doar prin cooperarea tuturor prilor interesate, de la
manageri de companii i pn la autoriti de
reglementare a pieelor financiare i reprezentanii
guvernelor.
Mai mult dect att, GRI (2013a) investigheaz, printr-o

cercetare mixt cantitativ i calitativ modul n care
756 de entiti care raporteaz conform principiilor GRI
au declarat propriile rapoarte ca fiind integrate n
perioada 2010 i 2012. n perioada analizat se observ
o cretere a numrului companiilor care i-au declarat
rapoartele ca fiind integrate, chiar dac nu exista o
nelegere complet a relaiei dintre raportarea
sustenabilitii i raportarea integrat. Cu toate acestea,
rezultatele studiului au evideniat cum i-au construit
companiile modalitile de abordare a raportrii integrate
pe liniile directoare ale GRI. Companiile private mari, n
special din Australia, Brazilia, Finlanda, rile de Jos i
Africa de Sud, au tendina de a fi lideri n publicarea de
rapoarte integrate. Sectorul cel mai activ n raportarea
integrat este cel financiar, n timp ce aproximativ 30%
din rapoarte includ informaii financiare i non-financiare,
n proporii diferite de la an la an. Problema este c
exist o corelaie limitat ntre cele dou seciuni pentru
aproximativ 50% dintre raportori. GRI s-a artat, de
asemenea, interesat de factorii ce stau la baza deciziei a
52 de companii de a emite rapoarte integrate pentru
perioada de analiz. Motivaiile acestora au fost legate
de ineficiena rapoartelor separate, de dorina de a pune
la dispoziia prilor interesate un singur document care
s includ aspecte ce in de performan i de procesul
de creare a valorii i, mai mult, de faptul c strategia de
afaceri central a entitii include aspecte legate de
sustenabilitate.
Utilizatorii informaiilor: Raportarea integrat

servete un numr mai restrns de utilizatori, spre
deosebire de raportarea sustenabilitii,
adresndu-se n mod deosebit furnizorilor de
capital;
O dezbatere critic a unor aspecte legate de

raportarea sustenabilitii i raportarea
integrat
Factorul timp: n timp ce raportarea sustenabilitii

se concentreaz pe realizarea obiectivului pe
termen lung, raportarea integrat se refer la
obiectivele pe termen scurt, mediu i lung;
Ideea aflat la baza dezvoltrii de standarde i ghiduri n

raportarea sustenabilitii i raportarea integrat este c
informaiile furnizate prin aderarea la asemenea practici
de raportare vor demonstra un nivel ridicat de
26
Ca atare, considerm necesar sublinierea unor aspecte

relevante n dezbaterea diferenelor dintre raportarea
sustenabilitii i raportarea integrat, cum ar fi:
Tipul de informaii: raportarea sustenabilitii se

concentreaz n principal pe furnizarea de
informaii non-financiare, iar raportarea integrat
pe procesul de creare a valorii att din perspectiv
financiar, ct i non-financiar;
Dilema "dimensiunii unice". Care din informaiile
prezentate conform GRI i au locul ntr-un raport
integrat? GRI (2013a: 29) relev faptul c raportorii
necesit ndrumare n concentrarea pe un set mai
restrns de indicatori;
https://www.globalreporting.org/information/news-and-presscenter/Pages/REPORTING-AROUND-THE-GLOBE.aspx
Extinderea focus-ului: raportarea sustenabilitii se

concentreaz mai mult pe impactul companiei
asupra societii i a mediului nconjurtor, n timp
ce raportarea integrat i propune s arate modul
n care strategia, guvernana i performana unei
organizaii au condus la crearea valorii n timp;
Prezentri semnificative: este posibil ca raportarea
sustenabilitii s furnizeze mai multe informaii
considerate nesemnificative de ctre raportarea
integrat;
Evaluarea: Cu toate c aspectele legate de
raportarea sustenabilitii sunt relevante pentru
evaluarea companiei, accesul dificil la informaiile
non-financiare, precum i faptul c acestea nu sunt
uor cuantificabile pot afecta acest proces.
Deoarece raportarea integrat se afl ntr-o faz
incipient, evoluiile viitoare, precum i organizaiile
implicate n proces vor servi mai bine, sperm, unele
dintre obiectivele raportrii sustenabilitii, lsnd mai
mult sau mai puin loc dezbaterilor privitoare la
rezultatele acestor procese, importanei lor pentru
companii i responsabilitii acestora fa de prile
interesate. Pn atunci, sfatul nostru adresat
companiilor romneti interesate s adere la obiectivele
dezvoltrii sustenabile este s se informeze cu privire la
domeniile de aplicare i interaciunile dintre aceste
organizaii, precum i cu privire la coninutul liniilor
directoare i standardelor pe care intenioneaz s le
urmeze. n plus, sunt necesare construirea de sisteme
interne de sprijin, precum i ncorporarea sustenabilitii
n strategia proprie de afaceri.
4. Provocri privind asigurarea

extern a raportrii integrate
Nevoia de asigurare vine din direcia prilor
interesate
Ne vom concentra n prezentul paragraf asupra
necesitii asigurrii externe a raportrii integrate, chiar
dac n centrul unei strategii i raportri integrate
eficiente se afl o abordare combinat a asigurrii
(intern i extern) (KPMG, 2012: 12).
Asigurarea extern reprezint, n opinia Institutului
American al Contabililor Autorizai (The American
Institute of Certified Public Accountants - AICPA, "acele
Nr. 2(122)/2015
servicii profesionale independente care mbuntesc

calitatea informaiilor sau contextul acestora pentru
decideni". Asigurarea se definete ca fiind acel serviciu
"referitor la aplicarea procedurilor destinate pentru a
spori credibilitatea informaiilor" i, n cele din urm,
"raportarea rezultatelor"1, care implic o parte
profesionist din afar. n conformitate cu cadrul IFAC,
asigurarea reprezint acel angajament n care un
practician i exprim o concluzie menit s sporeasc
gradul de ncredere al utilizatorilor vizai, alii dect
partea responsabil cu evaluarea sau msurarea unui
element n raport de anumite criterii" (IFAC, 2014: 13).
Dar ce implic aceasta n ceea ce privete domeniul
asigurrii rapoartelor integrate? n acest sens, este
necesar s se cunoasc diferenele i asemnrile
dintre auditul extern i asigurarea extern - Tabelul 1.
Asigurarea de ctre tere pri ajut la protejarea
intereselor tuturor categoriilor de utilizatori de informaii,
care au nevoie de date fiabile, robuste, precise i
consistente. Asigurarea extern se realizeaz prin
construirea ncrederii n informaiile de afaceri i
procesul de informare. Actualmente, companiile i
public o serie de informaii ntr-o diversitate mare de
forme: pe suport de hrtie, precum i online, site-uri web
firme, anunuri preliminare, comunicate de pres,
actualizri trimestriale, informri ctre investitori,
rapoarte financiare anuale de sustenabilitate, precum i
rapoarte integrate i aceasta contribuie la orientarea
activitii i obinerea raportului de asigurare a expertului
independent privitor la auditului situaiilor financiare
pentru o asigurare mai complex, care adaug un plus
de credibilitate la aproape orice parte din informaii
legate de afacere, cu un risc mai redus i cu o valoare
crescut a raportrii.
Prile interesate ale companiilor solicit, de asemenea,
o asigurare privind prezentarea informaiilor care s fie
n deplin conformitate cu standardele de raportare
relevante sau cu cadrele de raportare. n timp ce
raportul integrat devine raportul principal al unei
companii, investitorii i celelalte pri vor fi interesate i
de o asigurare independent. (EY, 2013: 3).
Profesionitii implicai n obinerea asigurrii externe ar
trebui s ia n considerare faptul c <IR> este n
concordan cu evoluiile din raportarea financiar i din
1
AICPAs whitepaper on assurance services: https://www.

aicpa.org/interestareas/frc/assuranceadvisoryservices/down
loadabledocuments/asec_wp_providers_ users_bi.pdf
27
companiei. Asigurarea extern poate oferi raportul

pentru ambele categorii de utilizatori, att externi, ct i
manageri interni, cu o cretere a ncrederii n calitatea
de divulgare sau n ceea ce privete procesul de
raportare. n absena unui cadru general acceptat,
companiile care doresc s se orienteze n direcia
raportrii integrate se pot confrunta cu mai multe dileme
privitor la relevan, asigurare, domeniul de aplicare,
precum i alte probleme. (Deloitte, 2011: 2).
alte forme de raportare, dar i c un raport integrat

difer de alte rapoarte i comunicri n mai multe moduri
(IIRC, 2013: 2), iar credibilitatea sa pe termen lung este
garantat de ctre o asigurare extern independent.
Raportarea integrat este mai concentrat pe procesul
de creare de valoare, iar investitorii ar trebui s fie
considerai ca principalul public, dar, n acelai timp, un
raport integrat ar trebui s fie relevant pentru orice
persoan interesat n strategia i performana
Tabel 1. Diferene i asemnri dintre auditul extern i asigurarea extern

Externe
Audit
este efectuat de un auditor, care este independent
de entitate
exprim o opinie asupra situaiilor financiare sau
asupra altor aspecte specificate
se bazeaz pe informaii istorice

pune accent pe informaii financiare
auditul este n general aplicabil situaiilor financiare

sau altor probleme de responsabilitate.
1 CPA,
A guide to understanding auditing and assurance: listed companies, October 2014: 2
Nevoia de asigurare provine din necesitatea prilor

implicate de a avea date fiabile, robuste, precise i
consecvente; acestea doresc s aib ncredere n
informaiile de afaceri, iar asigurarea extern ar trebui s
adauge credibilitate i s sporeasc ncrederea n
rapoartele integrate.
Nivelurile de asigurare a raportrii integrate

Scopul raportului integrat este de a informa prile
interesate cu privire la strategie, performan i
activitile companiei ntr-o manier care s permit
celor interesai s evalueze n ansamblu capacitatea
companiei de a crea i susine valoare pe termen scurt,
mediu, iar informaiile furnizate trebuie s fie asigurate
extern. Un profesionist independent trebuie s fie
28
Asigurare
este efectuat de ctre un profesionist extern, care este
independent de entitate
exprim o concluzie cu privire la zonele pe care le evalueaz i
recomandri destinate pentru a crete ncrederea utilizatorilor
ntr-un subiect dat sau n anumite informaii
bazat pe trecut, prezent i informaii orientate spre viitor
ia n considerare informaii financiare, precum i non-financiare
care ar putea fi: msurtori sau evaluri cuantificate, descrieri de
naraiuni factuale, descrieri ale softurilor, estimri cantitative,
estimri calitative i diagrame
asigurarea este aplicabil ntr-o gam larg i extins de
domenii nu doar n cazul situaiilor financiare, astfel1:
- Conformitate cu reglementrile
- Rapoarte de sustenabilitate
- Situaii privind emisiile de gaze
- Prospectri
- Auditul de performan
capabil s emit i s publice o opinie sau concluzii

obiective i impariale cu privire la raportul privind
entitatea respectiv, furniznd astfel o asigurare
extern. n prezent, raportarea integrat se afl ntr-o
stare incipient de dezvoltare, ceea ce d natere la
anumite probleme cu privire la asigurarea rapoartelor,
referitoare la: obiectivul asigurrii raportrii integrate, ce
ar trebui s acopere asigurarea - ntregul proces de
raportare, ntregul raport integrat sau doar anumite pri
ale acestuia, asiguratorul ar trebui s formuleze o opinie
general care s acopere ntregul raport sau opinii
separate pentru fiecare component a raportului.
Nivelurile de asigurare sunt situate ntre dou situaii
extreme: "asigurare absolut", care este imposibil de
obinut, deoarece asiguratorul ar trebui s verifice
fiecare tranzacie n parte, i "nici o asigurare", ceea ce
nseamn c profesionistul ar avea rolul de operator,

care colecteaz i centralizeaz datele pe baza crora
se elaboreaz o anumit situaie. "Asigurarea absolut"
trebuie eliminat ca variant posibil n ceea ce privete
asigurarea raportrii integrate. Astfel, cele dou niveluri
posibile de asigurare sunt "asigurarea rezonabil", care
este o asigurare pozitiv cu nalt nivel de certificare, dar
nu absolut; i "asigurarea limitat", care prezint un
nivel moderat de asigurare, fiind o asigurare negativ.

Aa cum este precizat n standardele i procedurile
folosite pentru misiunile specifice de asigurare (GRI,
2013b: 9), cu ct este mai mare nivelul de asigurare cu
att este mai riguros procesul de asigurare. Diferenele
eseniale dintre tipurile de misiuni de asigurare
(prezentate n Tabelul 2) sunt, prin urmare: probele
obinute i tipul de opinie dat.
Tabel 2. Nivelele asigurrii externe

Nivele ale asigurrii
externe
Asigurare absolut
Asigurare
rezonabil1
(IFAC, 2014)
Asigurare limitat
(IFAC, 2014)
Fr asigurare
Hibrid sau mix de
asigurri
Proceduri convenite
Obiective
O certificare a faptului c
situaia (raportul) este n
ntregime corect
o reducere a riscului
misiunii de asigurare pn
la un nivel minim acceptat
n circumstanele misiunii
o reducere a riscului
misiunii de asigurare pn
la un nivel minim acceptat,
n circumstanele misiunii,
dar la care riscul este mai
mare dect pentru o
asigurare rezonabil
elaborarea
situaiilor
financiare i a altor rapoarte
un mix de asigurri, care
difer ca nivel de detaliere
Efectuarea de proceduri de
audit agreate de
profesionist, organizaia
auditat i alte pri
interesate
Probe cutate/
proceduri
n totalitate
(audit pentru fiecare
tranzacie)
probe semnificative
teste detaliate
probe necesare
proceduri mai puin
detaliate
fr proceduri
Concluzii date
Exemple
Irealizabil
O garanie a situaiilor
financiare
nivel ridicat al
asigurrii
Auditorul exprim o opinie

cu privire la posibilitatea ca
situaiile financiare s
prezinte o imagine fidel i
corect, i dac sunt n
conformitate cu standardele de contabilitate (i cu
legislaia, acolo unde este
cazul)
1. asiguratorul formuleaz
raionamente pentru anumite pri, selectate, din
rapoarte.
2. auditorul elaboreaz o
concluzie pentru utilizatorii
situaiilor financiare cu privire la faptul c nu prezint
o imagine fidel i corect
o compilaie a situaiilor financiare i a altor rapoarte
O concluzie de asigurare
rezonabil pentru unele
situaii i asigurare limitat
pentru altele
Se raporteaz rezultatele
factuale obinute prin efectuarea procedurilor convenite, utilizatorii rapoartelor
i prezint propria lor
concluzie din rezultatele i
constatrile rapoartelor de
asigurare.
concluzie pozitiv
nivel moderat al
asigurrii
concluzie
negativ
fr asigurare
proceduri adecvate
nivel mare sau

mediu al asigurrii
proceduri agreate
Nu se exprim o
asigurare
IFAC, (2014): Manual de Reglementri Internaionale de Control al Calitii, Audit, Revizuire, Alte Servicii de Asigurare i Servicii
Conexe, Vol. 1, editat de CAFR
Nr. 2(122)/2015
29
Din cauza faptului c raportul integrat conine informaii

mai diversificate dect raportarea actual i o varietate
de informaii specifice, cum ar fi: aspiraiile
managementului, informaii previzionale, obiectivele
strategice, strategiile de realizare a obiectivelor,
descrierea riscurilor i oportunitilor viitoare, provocrile
organizaiei, informaii care pot fi din interiorul sau
exteriorul organizaiei, practicianul rspunztor de
asigurare ar trebui s aplice proceduri potrivite
informaiilor pe care le certific, pentru a obine probe
adecvate n sprijinul concluziilor sale.
Formele precedente de raportare au fost subiectul unei
asigurri rezonabile sau a unei asigurri limitate n cazul
rapoartelor financiare, precum i unor asigurri limitate
sau non-asigurri pentru rapoartele de sustenabilitate.
Procedurile de asigurare folosite pn acum ar trebui
adaptate pentru raportarea integrat (IIRC, 2014: 12).
Fiind o form relativ nou i mai complex de raportare,
<IR> reprezint o provocare a furnizorilor de asigurare
care trebuie s se implice n creterea importanei i
complexitii n materie de asigurare a acestor rapoarte
(Simnett, Ghandar, 2014) sau ar trebui s ofere o
asigurare integrat. (Eccles et al., 2012: 161178).
Au fost identificate mai multe situaii n ceea ce privete
asigurarea unui raport integrat:
Raportul integrat conine informaii extrase din

alte rapoarte ntocmite de organizaie nainte de
pregtirea raportului integrat, care au fost supuse
unei misiuni de asigurare. Aceasta ar putea permite asigurtorului raportrii integrate s aib o oarecare ncredere n informaiile extrase din astfel de
alte rapoarte, lund n considerare diverse aspecte
cu privire la pragul de semnificaie, nivelurile de
asigurare a diferitelor angajamente, precum i
contextul informaiilor extrase (IIRC, 2014: 6);
Asigurarea anumitor informaii ale IR i nu a
ntregului raport integrat - atunci cnd unii din
utilizatori ar putea fi mai degrab interesai n
obinerea asigurrii doar cu privire la anumite pri
ale IR. n aceste mprejurri, profesionitii n
asigurare trebuie s aplice o abordare specific
doar cu privire la un anumit set de date, ns acest
lucru ar putea determina, spre deosebire de
abordarea holistic a cadrului IR, o subminare a
anumitor aspecte ale conectivitii (IIRC, 2014: 6);
30
Asigurarea integrat - ceea ce nseamn

(conform Raportului III King, 2009) "integrarea i
alinierea proceselor de asigurare dintr-o companie,
astfel nct s se maximizeze eficiena guvernrii i
controlului riscului i supravegherii, precum i
optimizarea asigurrii generale a comitetului de
audit i de risc, avnd n vedere apetitul pentru risc
al companiei." Este specific pentru un raport
integrat sau pentru procesul de pregtire a
acestuia i ar trebui s se refere la "fiabilitatea i
relevana informaiilor" (IIRC, 2014).
Eccles et al. (2012) vd asigurarea integrat similar cu
un audit financiar care ar putea da un nivel ridicat de
asigurare pentru prile interesate ale companiei. Dar
problemele care se vor ridica n legtur cu o asigurare
integrat sunt legate de abilitile furnizorilor de
asigurare. Cine poate oferi o asigurare pentru tot
coninutul unui raport integrat?
n fapt, exist trei tipuri de organizaii implicate n
furnizarea de asigurare extern a raportrii sustenabile
conform GRI. Ca standard fundamental cu privire la
misiunile de asigurare, ISAE 3000 precizeaz cnd
poate fi acordat asigurarea de ctre o firm de
contabilitate sau de un alt profesionist n asigurare.
Companiile de contabilitate, firmele de inginerie i unele
mici firme de consultan de sustenabilitate sunt furnizori
de asigurare (GRI, 2014: 31-34), oricare dintre acetia
avnd o expertiz specific n domeniul publicrii
sustenabile (GRI, 2013b: 10):
firmele de contabilitate: se concentreaz pe

auditul afacerilor; au expertiz n raportarea
financiar i non-financiar; au sisteme proprii de
control i proceduri de audit / de asigurare;
firmele de inginerie: ofer certificri tehnice i de

expertiz n inginerie; ei neleg procese complexe
care sunt utilizate pentru analiza riscurilor; aplic o
abordare multi-disciplinar.
firmele de servicii de sustenabilitate: au

expertiz pe probleme legate de sustenabilitate; ele
sunt, de obicei, de dimensiuni mici i se adreseaz
n general companiilor de nivel local.
Dintre aceste organizaii, firmele de contabilitate au

reprezentat 64% din furnizorii de servicii de asigurare
extern pentru rapoartele GRI publicate de ctre
companiile din ntreaga lume n 2012 i incluse n baza
de date a raportrii sustenabile (GRI, 2013b: 10), iar

procentajul acestora a crescut la 65% n anul urmtor
(GRI, 2014: 32), acetia fiind furnizorii de asigurare
preferai pentru rapoartele din 2013 att n Europa, ct i
n America Latin, n timp ce n Oceania i Asia sunt
preferate micile firme de consultan privind
sustenabilitatea. Toate aceste tipuri de organizaii ofer
doar o asigurare limitat pentru informaiile prezentate n
rapoartele de sustenabilitate.
Anticipnd evoluia furnizrii de asigurare a rapoartelor
de sustenabilitate GRI, Eccles et al. (2012) fac recomandri pentru firmele de contabilitate. Referindu-se n
special la Big Four i la alte mari cabinete de contabilitate, recunoscute la nivel internaional, recomand ca
acestea s joace un rol central n furnizarea de opinii de
asigurare pentru rapoartele integrate, deoarece ele
auditeaz n mod tradiional companiile publice i au
reele globale, ceea ce constituie o premis pentru a
oferi asigurare pentru rapoartele integrate. n timp
acestea i vor putea construi capacitile necesare
pentru a asigura informaii mai extinse cu privire la
performana de mediu, cea social i guvernana. Vor
efectua investiiile necesare pentru furnizarea unei
asigurri de nalt calitate pentru toate tipurile de
informaii, pe de o parte, avnd responsabilitate n
realizarea de audituri integrate, care ar trebui s pun la
fel de bine n eviden informaiile non financiare,
precum i cele financiare.
Dezvoltarea unui proces de asigurare corespunztor
privind raportarea integrat reprezint o provocare
semnificativ pentru multe organizaii (KPMG, 2012).
Iniiativa de Raportare Global (GRI), Consiliul
Internaional de Raportare Integrat (IIRC), Consiliul
pentru Standarde de Detaliere privind Climatul (CDSB),
Consiliul Internaional de Audit i Asigurare pentru
Standarde (IAASB) i alte organisme ar trebui s
rspund la provocrile dezvoltrii: noi standarde de
asigurare sau audit pentru diferite tipuri de informaii;
standardele specifice IR; ghiduri de aplicare
fundamentate pe cadrele generale ale standardelor de
asigurare existente; metodologii pentru furnizarea de
asigurare rezonabil pentru informaiile non-financiare;
sau principii de asigurare generale specifice pentru
raportarea integrat (IIRC, 2014), n conformitate cu
principiile din cadrul IIRC, standarde integrate i
metodologii de asigurare pentru informaiile de natur
financiar i non-financiar, putnd astfel furniza "o
imagine fidel asupra sustenabilitii organizaiei"
(Eccles i colaboratorii, 2012).
Nr. 2(122)/2015
Concluzii
ntr-o lume cu resurse limitate, conceptul de
sustenabilitate a ctigat teren n ultimul deceniu. n
acest context, lucrarea de fa dezbate legtura dintre
conceptele de raportare a sustenabilitii i de raportare
integrat, evideniaz principalii juctori globali care
promoveaz astfel de raportri i subliniaz provocarea
reprezentat de asigurarea extern a raportrii integrate.
Astfel, considerm c, datorit existenei mai multor
organizaii interesate n punerea n aplicare, pe scar
larg, a propriilor standarde, ghiduri de aplicare i cadre
conceptuale privind raportarea corporativ sustenabil,
este esenial o coordonare clar a activitilor i
responsabilitilor acestor organizaii.
Muli ar putea aprecia c impactul pe care aceste
organizaii l pot avea asupra companiilor romneti este
limitat, din cauza mrimii relative i amplitudinii
operaiunilor acestora. Totui, includerea cerinelor
privind publicarea de informaii non-financiare n
legislaia naional ar putea avea loc mai devreme dect
credeam, deoarece la 29 septembrie 2014, Uniunea
European a adoptat noi reguli de transparen n ceea
ce privete divulgarea de informaii non-financiare de
ctre companiile mari (care urmeaz s fie integrate n
directiva 34/2013).
Aceste norme vor impune "anumitor companii mari din
UE s elaboreze, pe o baz anual, o declaraie sau
raport cu privire la aspecte legate de mediul
nconjurtor, probleme sociale i legate de angajai,
respectarea drepturilor omului, anticorupie i probleme
de luare de mit"1. Astfel, pentru a consolida
transparena unei companii i responsabilitatea fa de
societate i mediu, unele cerine ar putea afecta n viitor
entitile necotate i asigurarea extern a unui atare
raport va fi necesar pentru a spori credibilitatea i
calitatea informaiilor furnizate. Mai mult chiar,
implementarea principiilor raportrii integrate de ctre
companii la nivel global ar putea conduce la formarea de
echipe mixte cu expertize diferite n cadrul furnizorilor de
asigurare extern.
Pentru companiile care doresc s pun n aplicare
principiile raportrii sustenabilitii sau a celei integrate,
este imperativ o analiz a costurilor i beneficiilor reale
n termeni de resurse financiare i umane, de timp, de
1
http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/
pressdata/en/intm/144945.pdf
31
nivel tehnologic etc. n plus, n scopul asigurrii

accesului la informaii specifice anumitor categorii de
utilizatori, completitudinii i inteligibilitii acestora,
considerm c entitile ar trebui s ia n considerare

dezvoltarea unei platforme integrate de raportare online.
BIBLIOGRAFIE
Adams, C.A., Frost, G.R., (2008), Integrating
sustainability reporting into management practices,
Accounting Forum, 32(4): 288302.
Adams, C.A., (2014), The International Integrated
Reporting Council: A call to action, Critical
Perspectives on Accounting, http://drcaroladams.
net/the-international-integrated-reporting-council-acall-to-action/, 17 iulie.
Bonilla-Priego, M.J., Font, X., del Rosario PachecoOlivares, M., (2014), Corporate sustainability
reporting index and baseline data for the cruise
industry, Tourism Management, 44: 149160.
Daub, C.-H., (2007), Assessing the quality of
sustainability
reporting:
an
alternative
methodological approach, Journal of Cleaner
Production, 15(1): 7585.
Dragu, I., Tiron-Tudor, A. (2013), New corporate
reporting trends. Analysis on the evolution of
integrated reporting, Annals of the University of
Oradea Economic Science Series, 1(129):12211229
Dumitru, M., Glvan, M.E., Gorgan, C., Dumitru, V.F.
(2013), International integrated reporting framework:
a case study in the software industry, Annales
Universitatis Apulensis Series Oeconomica, 15(1) :
24-39
Eccles, R.G., Krzus, M. P., Watson, L. A., (2012),
Integrated Reporting Requires Integrated Assurance
n Effective Auditing for Corporates: Key
Developments in Practice and Procedures, edited by
Joe Oringel, 161178. London: Bloomsbury
Information Ltd.
Flower, J., (2014), The International Integrated
Reporting Council: A story of failure, Critical
Perspectives on Accounting, http://www.science
direct.com/science/article/pii/S1045235414000744
Fras-Aceituno, J.V., Rodrguez-Ariza, L., Garca-Snchez,
I.M., (2013), Is integrated reporting determined by a
country's legal system? An exploratory study, Journal
of Cleaner Production, 44: 4555.
Garcia-Sanchez, I.-M., Rodriguez-Ariza, L., FrasAceituno, J.-V., (2013), The cultural system and
32
integrated reporting, International Business Review,

22: 828838.
Hahn, R., Khnen, M., (2013), Determinants of
sustainability reporting: a review of results, trends,
theory, and opportunities in an expanding field of
research, Journal of Cleaner Production, 59: 5-21.
Moneva, J.M., Archel, P., Correa, C., (2006), GRI and
the camouflaging of corporate unsustainability,
Norgaard, R., (1988), Sustainable Development - a coevolutionary view, Futures, 20(6): 606-620.
Rensburg, R., Botha, E., (2014), Is Integrated Reporting
the silver bullet of financial communication? A
stakeholder perspective from South Africa, Public
Relations Review, 40(2): 144152.
Simnett, R., Ghandar, A., (2014), Integrated assurance:
Bringing it together. Integrated reporting is creating
a bold set of goals for the accounting profession, In
the Black, 14 October 2014.
Tiron-Tudor, A., Dragu, I. (2014), From sustainability to
integrated reporting the political perspective of
institutional theory, Studia Universitatis BabeBolyai Oeconomica, 59(2) : 20-33.
American Institute of CPAs - AICPA, (1997), Report of
the AICPA Special Committee on Assurance
Services - The Elliott Report.
American Institute of CPAs - AICPA, (2013), AICPA
Assurance Services: A White Paper for Providers
and Users of Business Information,
https://www.aicpa.org/interestareas/frc/assurancead
visoryservices/downloadabledocuments/asec_wp_p
roviders_users_bi.pdf
Certified Practising Accountants Australia, (2014), A
guide to understanding auditing and assurance:
listed companies, available online at:
http://www.cpaaustralia.com.au/~/media/corporate/allfile
s/document/professional-resources/auditingassurance/guide-understanding-auditassurance.pdf.
Deloitte, (2011), Integrated reporting - A better view,
available online: http://www.corpgov.deloitte.com/
binary/com.epicentric.contentmanagement.servlet.C
ontentDeliveryServlet/CanEng/Documents/Financial
%20Reporting/Transparency/IntegratedReporting_B
etterView.pdf
Ernst and Young, (2013), EYs Excellence in Integrated
Reporting Awards: A survey of integrated reports
from South Africas top 100 JSE listed companies
and top 10 state owned companies, http://www.
ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/EYs_Excellence_in
_Integrated_Reporting_Awards_2013/$FILE/EY%2
0Excellence%20in%20Integrated%20Reporting.pdf
European Parlament and the Council (2013), Directive
2013/34/EU on the annual financial statements,
consolidated financial statements and related
reports of certain types of undertakings,available
online at http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUri
Serv.do?uri=OJ:L:2013:182:0019:0076:EN:PDF
Global Reporting Initiative - GRI, (2013a), The
sustainability content of integrated reports - a
survey of pioneers, available online at https://www.
globalreporting.org/resourcelibrary/GRI-IR.pdf
accessed on 1.10.2014.
Global Reporting Initiative - GRI (2013b), The external
assurance of sustainability reports, https://www.
globalreporting.org/reporting/reportservices/external-assurance/Pages/default.aspx
Global Reporting Initiative - GRI, (2013c), GRI Guidelines,
https://www.globalreporting.org/reporting/g4/Pages/
default.aspx
Global Reporting Initiative - GRI (2014), Trends in
External Assurance of Sustainability Reports,
https://www.globalreporting.org/resourcelibrary/GRI
Nr. 2(122)/2015
_Trends-in-External-Assurance-of-SustainabilityReports_July-2014.pdf
International Accounting and Auditing Standard Board IAASB, (2013), International Standard on
Assurance Engagements (ISAE) 3000, https://www.
ifac.org/sites/default/files/publications/files/ISAE%20
3000%20Revised%20-%20for%20IAASB.pdf
Institute of Directors in Southern Africa - IDSA, (2009),
The King III Report on Corporate Governance for
South Africa, http://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.iodsa.
co.za/resource/collection/94445006-4F18-4335B7FB-7F5A8B23FB3F/King_Code_of_Governance
_for_SA_2009_Updated_June_2012.pdf
International Federation of Accountants - IFAC, (2014),
Manual de Reglementri Internaionale de Control
al Calitii, Audit, Revizuire, Alte Servicii de Asigurare i Servicii Conexe, Vol. 1, editat de CAFR
International Integrated Reporting Council - IIRC,
(2013), The International <IR> Framework, http://
www.theiirc.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/13-1208-THE-INTERNATIONAL-IR-FRAMEWORK-21.pdf
International Integrated Reporting Council - IIRC,
(2014), Assurance on IR an exploration of issues,
http://www.theiirc.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/
07/Assurance-on-IR-an-exploration-of-issues.pdf
KPMG, (2012), Integrated Reporting Performance
Insight through Better Business Reporting, issue 2,
http://www.kpmg.com/global/en/issuesandinsights/a
rticlespublications/integrated-reporting/pages/
default.aspx
33
financiar,NEDELCU
XIII, Nr. 2(122)/2015,
34-42
Eugeniu URLEA,Audit
Mariana
(BUNEA)
Studiu privind
prezena
femeilor n
componena
consiliilor de
administraie
i a comitetelor de audit
la nivelul sistemului
bancar din Romnia
Rezumat
Diversitatea de gen (egalitatea ntre sexe) n
componena consiliilor de administraie i, n general n
cadrul organizaiilor, a nregistrat din ce n ce mai mult
un interes considerabil n dezbaterile publice, n
cercetarea academic i, nu n ultimul rnd, n cadrul
strategiilor corporative.
Scopul acestui articol este de a oferi o imagine de
ansamblu asupra cercetrii i practicilor la nivel
internaional legate de prezena femeilor n componena
consiliilor de administraie i a comitetelor de audit.
Totodat, acest articol i propune s evalueze gradul de
implicare al reprezentantelor de sex feminin n structurile
de conducere, precum i n comitetele de audit ale celor
mai importani actori ai scenei sistemului bancar din
Romnia.
Metodologia cercetrii s-a bazat n esen pe observaii
asupra documentelor publicate pe site-urile societilor
bancare analizate, concluzii eseniale privind nivelul de
implicare al femeilor n structurile de conducere ale
sistemului bancar din Romnia fiind formulate n finalul
prezentrii.
Cuvinte-cheie: guvernan corporativ, sistem bancar,
consiliu de administraie, comitet de audit, supraveghere
Clasificare JEL: M48 , G21, G34
Prof. univ. dr. Eugeniu URLEA,
Academia de Studii Economice Bucureti, Romnia,

e-mail: eturlea@yahoo.com
Cadru didactic asociat,

drd. Mariana NEDELCU (BUNEA),
Academia de Studii Economice Bucureti, Romnia,

e-mail: maribunea@yahoo.com
34
Prezena femeilor n componena consiliilor de administraie i a comitetelor de audit
1. Introducere:
Considerat pn nu demult ca fiind o problem social,
diversitatea de gen (egalitatea ntre sexe) n cadrul
consiliilor de administraie este tot mai mult perceput ca
o value-driver (conductoare de valoare) n contextul
strategiei organizaionale i al guvernanei corporative,
n baza unor variate argumente (Terjesen, Sealy and
Singh, 2009).
n primul rnd, acest subiect devine treptat o
component a practicilor investiionale, investitorii
instituionali lund n considerare din ce n ce mai mult
problematica diversitii componenei board-ului (Carter,
Simkins and Simpson, 2003).
n al doilea rnd, diversitatea de gen (egalitatea ntre
sexe) este impus de ctre prile interesate importante,
cum ar fi clieni sau angajai. Luarea n considerare a
preferinelor, preocuprilor i aspiraiilor prilor
interesate ar putea fi benefic pentru companii prin
mbuntirea gradului de loialitate al clienilor i
motivarea angajailor (Powell, 1999).
n cel de al treilea rnd, legislaia recent i diversitatea
iniiativelor la nivel mondial au subliniat importana
reprezentrii femeilor la nivelul consiliilor de
administraie. De exemplu, guvernul norvegian impune
companiilor s numeasc femei n componena
consiliilor de administraie n proporie de cel puin 40%
din totalul membrilor lor. Spania i Frana vor
implementa aceleai deziderate pn n 2015 i,
respectiv, 2017 (Terjen et al., 2009).
n cel de al patrulea rnd, aspectele legate de
componena consiliului au fost, de asemenea, dezbtute
de cele mai bune practici n materie de guvernan
corporativ. De exemplu, Legea Sarbanes Oxley din
2002 (n Statele Unite ale Americii) sau revizuirea
legislaiei n Marea Britanie ncurajeaz o mai mare
diversitate la nivelul componenei consiliilor de
administraie (Adam i Ferreira, 2009; Dalton i Dalton,
2008).
Nu n ultimul rnd, diversitatea de gen (egalitatea ntre
sexe) este, n prezent, pe ordinea de zi a companiilor,
din moment ce tot mai multe femei sunt n poziii de top
management. Astfel, ponderea femeilor care s dein
calitatea de membre ale consiliilor de administraie sau
care s ocupe poziii de preedinte (CEO) se ateapt
s nregistreze un trend ascendent n perioada
urmtoare (Helfat, Harris i Wolfson, 2006).
Nr. 2(122)/2015
n ceea ce privete rolul deosebit de important al

comitetului de audit n structura de guvernare a entitii,
acesta este conferit de abilitatea de a asigura
meninerea calitii sistemelor de control, impactnd n
mod pozitiv procesul de divulgare a informaiilor
financiar-contabile (Andresson and Daoud, 2005; Coller,
1993).
La nivelul sistemului bancar, comitetul de audit are
responsabiliti clare cu privire la asigurarea
transparenei, monitorizarea procesului de raportare
financiar, aspecte legate de supravegherea politicilor i
a practicilor contabile, precum i n ceea ce privete
evaluarea raionamentelor profesionale care au stat la
baza ntocmirii situaiilor financiare (BIS, 2012).
Totodat, comitetul de audit asigur meninerea unei
comunicri permanente ntre consiliul de administraie i
auditorul extern (Rashidah and Fairuzana, 2006).
2. Argumente teoretice i practice

pentru diversitatea de gen n
componena consiliilor de
administraie
Exist patru perspective teoretice principale, care au fost
mobilizate pentru a argumenta prezena femeilor n
componena consiliilor de conducere ale companiilor.
Acestea includ: teoria capitalului uman, teoria
dependenei de resurse, teoria instituional i teoria
intermedierii, aa numita agency theory.
Teoria capitalului uman a lui Becker (1964) a sugerat c
educaia, pregtirea, abilitile, trsturile, experiena
sau randamentul fiecrui individ sunt benefice pentru
compania din care face parte. Fiecare director desemnat
aduce un complex unic de capital uman, cum ar fi
expertiza, renumele, prestigiul, relaiile si legturile sale
cu alte organizaii (Hillman, Shropshire i Cannella,
2007), care sunt valoroase pentru companii i respectiv
pentru consiliile de conducere ale acestora (Kesner,
1998). Aceast teorie sugereaz c numirea femeilor n
cadrul consiliilor de administraie ale companiilor este
important deoarece acestea au abiliti i resurse
necesare organizaiei, pe care omologii lor de sex
masculin nu le dein.
n fapt, Singh, Terjesen i Vinnicombe (2008) au
examinat profilurile capitalului uman aferente femeilor
numite n componena consiliilor de administraie i au
35
constatat c acestea sunt mult mai susceptibile de a

aduce diversitate la nivel internaional.
Teoria dependenei de resurse a lui Pfeffer (1972) i,
respectiv, Pfeffer i Salancik (1978) a privit companiile
ca un sistem deschis, dependente de imprevizibilitile
mediului extern. Consiliile de administraie ale
companiilor sunt considerate ca un mijloc de a gestiona
dependena extern, de a reduce efectul incertitudinii
mediului extern i a diminua costurile tranzaciilor
aferente. Aceast teorie poate fi utilizat pentru a
explica de ce este recomandat ca femeile s fie numite
n componena consiliilor de administraie: ele pot oferi o
multitudine de resurse, cum ar fi prestigiul, renumele,
legitimitatea, abilitile, cunotinele, conexiuni la sursele
externe, care sunt utile organizaiei n a reduce riscurile
asociate dependenei de mediul exterior companiei.
Pfeffer and Salancik (1978) au susinut c cele mai
importante cerine necesare din partea consiliului de
administraie sunt: consultana, legitimitatea i canalele
de comunicare a informaiilor ntre companie i
organizaiile externe. Totodat, s-a afirmat c managerii
femei pot aduce unele sau toate aceste beneficii sau
resurse, ntruct companiile pot desemna femei fie strict
pentru sfaturi i consiliere, fie pentru asigurarea
legitimitii firmei sau accesul la resurse pe care aceasta
le poate aduce n cadrul organizaiei i n relaiile cu
mediul de afaceri (Hillman et al., 2007).
Conform teoriei instituionale, o organizaie este
perceput a fi legitim atunci cnd mediul su de
desfurare i obiectivele sale sunt conforme cu
normele sociale, valorile i ateptrile societii n
legtur cu aceasta. Noiunile clasice de eficien i
performan nu sunt suficiente pentru companii.
Legitimitatea este conferit sau atribuit de ctre
organizarea prin componentele sale (Ashforth i Gibbs,
1990; Meyer i Rowan, 1977). n general, sunt dou
modaliti prin care organizaiile urmresc legitimitatea:
un management de fond (substantive management) sau
un management simbolic (symbolic management).
Prima modalitate implic schimbri reale n structura
organizaional sau n practicile sociale. Prin intermediul
unui izomorfism coercitiv (DiMaggio i Powell, 1983), o
companie poate urmri legitimitatea, care este de fapt
conformitatea cu valorile, normele i ateptrile
elementelor sale constitutive i ale mediului exterior.
Izomorfismul coercitiv semnaleaz capacitatea
organizaiei de a ndeplini ateptrile elementelor sale
componente i ale mediului exterior.
36
Prin management simbolic, o organizaie ar putea

gestiona simbolic practicile sale, n scopul de a
rspunde valorilor sociale, mai degrab dect s
efectueze schimbri de fond, substaniale n interiorul
su. Zahra i Pearce (1989) au argumentat c o parte a
responsabilitii managerilor o constituie contribuia
acestora la creterea reputaiei, a prestigiului companiei
respective.
Astfel, companiile pot asigura creterea nivelului
legitimitii acestora prin desemnarea femeilor n
componena consiliilor lor de conducere (Hillman et al.,
2007). Promovarea femeilor n poziii de management n
cadrul organizaiilor i n componena conducerii
executive transmite un mesaj pozitiv prilor cheie
interesate, cum ar fi salariaii existeni de sex feminin,
potenialii noi salariai, clieni sau investitori. Companiile
pot beneficia, de asemenea, de relaii mai bune cu
investitorii: de exemplu, o serie de investitori instituionali
i-au exprimat public preferina pentru o mai mare
reprezentare a femeilor n componena consiliilor de
administraie (Carter et al., 2003). n fapt, studiile au
demonstrat un puternic efect reputaional asociat
prezenei femeilor n componena consiliilor de
conducere (Brammer, Millington si Pavelin, 2009), iar
salariaii de sex feminin tind s fie happy working n
cadrul companiilor care i propun diversitatea de gen
(Burke, 1997).
Nu n ultimul rnd, teoria intermedierii (a factorilor)
descrie relaiile dintre o parte interesat principal a
firmei (ex: acionar) i factorii decizionali ai acesteia (ex:
managerii sau directorii). Fama i Jensen (1983) au
susinut c consiliul de administraie constituie un
important mecanism de control i monitorizare a
activitii managerilor. Un rol important al consiliului este
de a soluiona aspectele legate de comunicarea dintre
manageri (directori) i acionari. Un element central al
acestei teorii este cel al distinciei ntre outside directors1
i inside directors.
n baza acestei teorii se poate argumenta c includerea
femeilor ca membre ale consiliilor de conducere ale
companiilor poate contribui la creterea eficacitii
controlului la nivelul acestuia. De exemplu, directorii
femei ar putea s pun mai multe ntrebri i chiar s
conteste percepia CEO-ului ntr-o msur mai mare
1
Outside directors sunt directorii independeni, membri ai

consiliului de administraie, care nu au fost angajai ai
companiei sau nu se afl n relaii de afaceri cu aceasta
dect directorii de sex masculin; prin urmare, un consiliu

cu o diversitate de gen ar putea fi mult mai activ n
monitorizarea i controlul activitii managerilor.
fi mai prudente la risc, de a avea o atitudine rezervat i

de a pune ntrebri dificile la adresa managementului.
Astfel, femeile manager pot fi considerate ca ultimate

directors (Carter et al., 2003)1 deoarece acestea au
tendina de a fi mai implicate, mai active n comparaie
cu directorii externi (outsider) tradiionali.
3. Prezena femeilor n
componena structurilor de
conducere i a comitetelor de
audit la nivelul sistemului
bancar din Romnia
n literatura de specialitate au fost prezentate o serie de

argumente pentru a susine prezena reprezentantelor
de sex feminin n componena consiliilor de administraie
ale companiilor. Unul dintre aceste argumente se refer
la diferenele comportamentale dintre femei i brbai,
analiz benefic la nivelul proceselor de luare a
deciziilor.
De exemplu, participarea reprezentantelor de sex
feminin n cadrul consiliilor de administraie poate ajuta
la evitarea asumrii unor proiecte prea riscante
deoarece femeile sunt, n general, mai potrivnice la risc
din punct de vedere financiar dect brbaii (Byrnes,
Miller i Schafer, 1999) i, totodat, mai puin
ncreztoare (Barber i Odean, 2001). Levi, Li i Yhang
(2008) au studiat rolul femeilor n cadrul consiliilor de
administraie al companiilor n timpul fuziunilor i
achiziiilor. Totodat, unele dovezi indic faptul c
femeile au un nivel mai ridicat de ncredere sau un stil
de colaborare adecvat, care pot contribui la
mbuntirea dinamicii bordului (Croson i Buchan,
1999; Konrad, Kramer i Erkut, 2008).
3.1. Obiectivele i metodologia cercetrii

Obiectivele cercetrii sunt subordonate scopului
principal de a evalua prezena reprezentantelor de sex
feminin n cazul unui numr de 9 bnci semnificative
care activeaz pe piaa romneasc. n esen, aceste
obiective au vizat:
a. Identificarea societilor bancare care intr n aria
de cercetare;
b. Culegerea informaiilor privind componena
structurilor de conducere i ale comitetelor de audit
de pe paginile oficiale de internet aferente
societilor bancare analizate;
c.
Cercetarea, analiza i evaluarea prezenei

reprezentantelor de sex feminin pe poziii din cadrul
structurilor de conducere i ale comitetelor de audit
ale instituiilor de credit analizate
Un alt argument este asociat cu diferite prejudeci

cognitive ale brbailor i femeilor (Hambrick i Mason,
1984). Femeile pot s aduc opinii contrare, cunotine,
perspective i alternative la soluii (Dutton i Duncan,
1987; Watson, Kumar i Michaelsen, 1993). Prin
urmare, femeile, n calitate de membre ale consiliilor de
administraie, pot aduce n mod specific o gam mai
larg de perspective i pot oferi mai multe soluii
alternative problemelor existente sau poteniale (Larkey,
1996).
d. Formularea unor concluzii i recomandri pentru

alinierea la practicile internaionale.
Nu n ultim instan, diversitatea de gen (egalitatea

ntre sexe) poate preveni corupia i frauda la nivelul
companiilor, deoarece femeile sunt mai susceptibile de a
5 bnci relevante pentru analiz prin faptul c

acestea fac parte din holdinguri multinaionale, dar
i prin cota de pia dup active: BCR, BRD,
Raiffeisen, Unicredit iriac Bank, Volksbank
Cu toate acestea, dup cum au menionat Adams i Ferreira

(2009), mai mult diversitate n componena consiliilor de
administraie nu nseamn mai mult eficien n monitorizare. ntr-adevr, directorii de sex feminin ar putea fi marginalizai atunci cnd ar reprezenta mai puin de 15% din
totalul membrilor unei organizaii.
Nr. 2(122)/2015
Metodologia cercetrii s-a bazat, ndeosebi, pe

observaii directe asupra documentelor specifice
publicate de ctre instituiile de credit analizate, precum
i de ctre Banca Naional a Romniei.
Eantionul de instituii de credit supuse analizei a
cuprins 9 bnci (ce reprezint peste 70% din totalul
activelor bancare la 30 iunie 2013) i este format din:
4 bnci cu capital autohton/mixt: Banca

Transilvania, CEC, Banca Carpatica i Eximbank.
n lumina argumentelor menionate n capitolul anterior,
autorii i propun s examineze dovezile empirice ale
37
n ceea ce privete structura diversitii de gen a

salariailor din cadrul sistemului bancar din Romnia,
potrivit unui studiu de evaluare a formrii profesionale
continue organizat de ctre Institutul Bancar Romn
pentru intervalul 2010-20121, sectorul bancar este
dominat de femei, iar ponderea acestora chiar a crescut
uor n perioada 2010 2012, de la 71,56% la 72,97%.
prezenei reprezentantelor de sex feminin la nivelul

structurilor de conducere din cadrul celor mai importani
actori de pe scena sistemului bancar din Romnia.
La nivelul sistemului bancar din Romnia, instituiile de
credit sunt administrate, majoritatea acestora n regim
dualist, de ctre un comitet executiv sau directorat, care
este supravegheat de un consiliu de supraveghere sau
de consiliul de administraie, n conformitate cu legea
societilor comerciale i legislaia bancar n vigoare.
3.2. Rezultatele obinute i analiza acestora

n urma prelucrrii datelor obinute prin tehnica
observaiilor directe asupra informaiilor publicate pe
paginile oficiale de internet de ctre instituiile de credit
analizate, urmtoarele aspecte sunt de remarcat:
Consiliul de administraie/consiliul de supraveghere

determin orientrile activitii bncii i supravegheaz
punerea lor n practic. Membrii consiliului sunt alei de
ctre adunarea general a acionarilor, iar mandatul lor
are o durata ntre 3 i 4 ani i poate fi rennoit.
Dei n sistemul bancar ponderea salariailor de sex

feminin este covritoare, ntr-o proporie mai mare
de 70%, la nivelul structurilor de conducere reprezentarea acestora este extrem de redus.
Comitetul executiv/directoratul asigur conducerea

operativ a bncii i administrarea eficace a riscului de
conformitate. Membrii comitetului executiv sunt autorizai
s conduc banca n desfurarea activitii de zi cu zi a
acesteia i au puterea i autoritatea de a angaja legal
banca, n conformitate cu prevederile actului constitutiv
al respectivei societi bancare.
Astfel, la nivelul celor 9 instituii de credit analizate,

situaia prezenei femeilor membre ale consiliilor de
supraveghere/consiliilor de administraie se prezint
conform datelor din Tabelul 1.
Tabel 1. Prezena femeilor n consiliile de supraveghere/administraie

Consiliu de supraveghere /
Consiliu de administraie
Poziii ocupate de femei (%)
Numr total de membri
BCR
BRD
UNICR
RAIFF
TRANS
CARP
CEC
EXIMBANK
0
7
0
9
0
10
1 (20,00%)
5
0
7
1 (20,00%)
5
2 (18,18%)
11
1 (16,67%)
6
Surs: Proiecia autorilor
Totodat, situaia prezenei femeilor la nivelul

comitetelor executive sau al directoratelor (organe prin
care este asigurat conducerea operativ a bncilor)

este prezentat n Tabelul 2.
Tabel 2. Prezena femeilor n comitetele executive sau directorate

Comitet Executiv /
Directorat
BCR
BRD
UNICR
RAIFF
VOLKS
TRANS
Poziii ocupate de femei (%)

Numr total de membri
0
6
0
7
3 (42,85%)
7
0
7
0
4
2
6
CARP
CEC
EXIM
BANK
1 (20,00%) 2 (40,00%) 1 (33,33%)
5
5
3
Din analiza documentelor publicate pe paginile

oficiale de internet ale societilor bancare
cuprinse n eantion reiese c:
38
1La
http://www.arb.ro/wp-content/uploads/Raport-studiuevaluare-FPC-sector-bancar-DEFIN.pdf
La nivelul consiliilor de supraveghere/consiliilor

de administraie, din totalul celor 60 de membri,
numrul reprezentantelor de sex feminin este de
5, acestea deinnd o pondere de numai 8,33%;
Din totalul de 50 membri ai comitetelor de execuie sau ai directoratelor, nregistrai la nivelul

societilor bancare cuprinse n eantion, femeile
reprezint 18%, deinnd un numr de 9 locuri.
Se observ astfel c, dei la nivelul locurilor din
cadrul organelor de supraveghere ponderea
reprezentantelor de sex feminin este sczut,
organele de conducere operativ includ n
componena lor femei ntr-o proporie de
aproape 2 ori mai mare (9 comparativ cu 5).
Totodat, analiza informaiilor privind prezena

femeilor n cadrul organismelor de conducere la
nivelul eantionul de societi bancare supuse
analizei, structurat n funcie de capitalul acestora,
n bnci care fac parte din holdinguri multinaionale
(BCR, BRD, Volksbank, Unicredit i Raiffeisen) i
respectiv bnci cu capital autohton/mixt (CEC,
EXIMBANK, Banca Carpatica i Banca Transilvania) evideniaz urmtoarele aspecte:
n ceea ce privete componena consiliilor de

supraveghere/consiliilor de administraie, dac la
nivelul instituiilor de credit care fac parte din

holdinguri multinaionale ponderea femeilor
membre ale acestora este de 3,23% (din totalul
celor 31 membri, fiind o singur reprezentant a
sexului feminin membr a Consiliului de
supraveghere al Raiffeisen Bank), locurile din
cadrul organelor de supraveghere la nivelul
bncilor cu capital autohton/mixt sunt deinute n
proporie de 13,80% de femei (din 29 membri un
numr de 4 sunt femei la Carpatica, CEC i
EXIMBANK);
Locurile deinute de ctre femei n cadrul

comitetelor de execuie sau al directoratelor
aferente societilor bancare ce fac parte din
holdinguri multinaionale reprezint 9,70%
(superioar ponderii deinute la nivelul consiliilor
de supraveghere sau consiliilor de administraie).
n ceea ce privete bncile cu capital
autohton/mixt, n cadrul comitetelor de execuie
sau al directoratelor, reprezentantele de sex
feminin dein o pondere de 32,60% (6 femei din
totalul de 19 membri).
n Figurile 1 i 2 am realizat reprezentarea grafic a

prezenei femeilor n componena structurilor de
conducere la nivelul societilor bancare cuprinse n
eantionul supus cercetrii.
Figura 1. Componena Consiliilor de Supraveghere / Consiliilor de Administraie
Nr. 2(122)/2015
39
cu capital autohton/mixt, comparativ cu instituiile de

credit membre ale holdingurilor multinaionale (13,80%
versus 3,22%).
Se observ o prezen mai activ a femeilor n

componena consiliilor de supraveghere, respectiv a
consiliilor de administraie aferente societilor bancare
Figura 2. Componena Comitetelor de Execuie / Directoratelor
n ceea ce privete componena comitetelor executive

sau a directoratelor se observ, de asemenea, o pondere mai ridicat a reprezentantelor de sex feminin la nivelul societilor bancare cu capital autohton/mixt, comparativ cu instituiile de credit membre ale holdingurilor
multinaionale, respectiv 32,6% versus 9,6%.

La nivelul comitetelor de audit din cadrul societilor
bancare analizate, situaia prezenei reprezentantelor de
sex feminin n componena acestora este redat n
Tabelul 3.
Tabel 3. Situaia prezenei femeilor n comitetele de audit

Comitet
de audit
BCR
BRD
UNICR
RAIFF
VOLKS
TRANS
CARP
CEC
EXIM
BANK
Poziii ocupate de
femei (%)
0%
0%
0%
33%
33%
33%
33%
33%
0%
Se poate observa o prezen destul de sczut a

reprezentantelor de sex feminin la nivelul comitetelor de
40
audit ale societilor bancare supuse analizei, cea mai

ridicat pondere fiind de 33%.
4. Concluzii
n demersul nostru privind analiza prezenei
reprezentantelor de sex feminin la nivelul structurilor de
conducere i al comitetelor de audit din cadrul sistemului
bancar din Romnia, am remarcat faptul c acestea
dein nc o pondere relativ sczut n componena
acestora.
La nivel european, i nu numai, o serie de bnci
au luat iniiativa de a crete numrul locurilor deinute de
ctre femei n cadrul structurilor de conducere ale
acestora. Astfel, Grupul bancar Lloyds urmeaz s fac
o micare strategic legat de diversitatea angajailor
si, avnd n vedere c 40% din poziiile de
management vor fi ocupate de femei n urmtorii ani,
pn n anul 20201.
Totodat, n Japonia, n cursul anului 2014, pentru prima
oar a fost desemnat o femeie la conducerea unei
bnci a grupului financiar Nomura Holdings. n acelai
timp, o alt reprezentant a sexului feminin a fost
desemnat pentru a intra n consiliul de administraie al
Daiwa.2
n acest context internaional i avnd n vedere
promovarea n ultimii ani a diversitii de gen (a egalitii
ntre sexe) la nivelul consiliilor de administraie,
considerm c este necesar ca n componena
structurilor de conducere a sistemului bancar din
Romnia s se nregistreze o evoluie ascendent a
ponderii reprezentantelor de sex feminin n perioada
urmtoare.
ntr-o lume ideal, afacerile ar fi trebuit s fie
caracterizate prin egalitatea de gen. n realitate, ns,
comitetele de conducere ale companiilor din UE sunt
dominate de brbai.
Tocmai de aceea, la nivelul Parlamentului European, n
aceast perioad, se promoveaz o directiv prin care
se vor introduce reguli care s impun ca cel puin 40%
din membrii comitetelor companiilor UE s fie femei.
Introducerea cotelor pentru femei ar trebui s ajute la
http://news.sky.com/story/1204659/lloyds-sets-target-forwomen-executives
2 http://ziare.com
corectarea tratamentului incorect i la ameliorarea

oportunitilor pentru femei n companii. n momentul de
fa, femeile reprezint numai 15% din membrii
comitetelor neexecutive din companiile mari din UE i
numai 2,4% din directorii executivi.3
n prezent, la nivelul sistemului bancar din Romnia,
femeile sunt slab reprezentate n componena
structurilor de conducere i a comitetelor de audit,
fie c sunt societi bancare membre ale unor
holdinguri multinaionale, fie c sunt bnci cu capital
autohton/mixt.
Apreciem faptul c, pe lng eforturile permanente
de adaptare la condiiile de diversitate de gen manifestate la nivel european, instituiile de credit din Romnia vor
face eforturi s-i promoveze n structurile de conducere
reprezentante de sex feminin care, prin bagajul lor de
cunotine, abiliti, experien i, nu n ultimul rnd, prin
prestigiu, vor contribui la creterea performanelor n
sistemul bancar. Totodat, se va realiza o reprezentare
mai echilibrat a brbailor i a femeilor n organele
decizionale, o diversitate mai mare n rndul membrilor
consiliilor de administraie, ameliornd, foarte probabil,
calitatea dezbaterilor i a procesului decizional.
Pn n prezent nu au fost identificate rezultate directe
ale contribuiei femeilor din componena structurilor de
conducere ale companiei n performana firmei, n
strategia corporatist, acest domeniu rmnnd n
continuare deschis cercetrii. n viitor, direciile de
cercetare se vor axa pe nelegerea antecedentelor i a
contribuiei femeilor n cadrul consiliilor de administraie
ale companiilor.
Recunoatere
Aceast lucrare a fost cofinanat din Fondul Social
European, prin Programul Operaional Sectorial
Dezvoltarea Resurselor Umane 2007-2013, proiect
POSDRU/159/1.5/S/134197 Performan i excelen
n cercetarea doctoral i postdoctoral n domeniul
tiinelor economice din Romnia.
Nr. 2(122)/2015
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news
41
BIBLIOGRAFIE
Adams, R.B. and Ferreira, D. (2009), Women in the
boardroom and their impact on governance and
performance, Journal of Financial Economics, 94,
291-309
Ahern, K.R. and A.K. Dittmar, A.K. (2011)The Changing
of the Boards. The Impact on Firm Valuation of
Mandated Female Board Representation, Working
Paper, University of Michigan
Ashforth, B.E. and Gibbs, B.W. (1990) The DoubleEdge of Organizational Legitimation, Organization
Science,1, 177-194
Brammer, S.Millington, A. and Pavelin, S. (2009),
Corporate Reputation and Women on the Board,
British Journal of Management, 20, 17-29
Becker, C.S. (1964), Human Capital: A Theoretical and
Empirical Analysis with Special Reference to
Education, New York: National Bureau of Economic
Research: Columbia University Press, p. 187
Byrnes, J.P., Miller, D.C. and Schafer, W.D. (1999)
Gender Diversity in Risk Taking: A Meta-Analysis,
Psychological Bulletin, 125, 367-383
Carter, D.A., Simkins, B.J. and Simpson, W.G. (2003)
Corporate Governance, Board Diversity and Firm
Value, Financial Review, 38, 33-53
Dalton, D.R. and Dalton, C.M. (2008), On the Progress
of Corporate Women: Less a Glass Ceiling Than a
Bottleneck?, in S. Vinnicombe, V. Singh, D.J. Burke,
D. Bilimoria and M.Huse (ed.), Women on
Corporate Boards of Directors (Cheltenham:
Edward Elgar Publishing)
Fama, E.F. and Jensen, M.C. (1983), Separation of
Ownership and Control, Journal of Law and
Economics, 26, 301-325
Helfat, C.E., Harris, D. and Wolfson, P.J. (2006) The
Pipeline to the Top:Women and Men in the Top
Executive Ranks of US Corporations, Academy of
Management Perspectives, 20, 42-64.
Hillman, A.J., Shropshire, C. and Cannella, A.A. (2007)
Organizational Predictors of Women on Corporate
Boards, Academy of Management Journal, 50, 941952
Kesner, I.F. (1988) Directors Characteristics and
Committee Membership: An Investigation of Type,
42
Occupation, Tenure and Gender, Academy of

Management Journal, 31, 66-84
Levi, M., Li,K. AND Zhang, F. (2008) Mergers and
Acquisitions: The Role of Board Gender Diversity,
Working Paper, University of British Columbia
Meyer, J.W. and Rowan, B. (1977) Institutionalized
Organizations: Formal Structure as Myth and
Ceremony, American Journal of Sociology, 83, 340363
Terjesen, S. and Singh, V. (2008) Female Presence on
Corporate Boards: A Multi-Country Study of
Environmental Context, Journal of Business Ethics,
83, 55-63
Terjesen, S., Sealy, R. and Singh,V. (2009), Women
Directors on Corporate Boards: A Review and
Research Agenda, Corporate Governance: An
International Review, 17, 320-337
Pfeffer, J. (1972) Size and Composition of Corporate
Boards of Directors: The Organization and its
Environment, Administrative Science Quarterly, 17,
218-228
Pfeffer, J. and Salancik, G.R. (1978), The External
Control of Organizations: a Resource Dependence
Perspective, New York: Harper & Row, p. 300
Powell, G.N.(1999), Handbook of Gender &Work,
Thousand Oaks, Clifornia: Sage, p. 651
Singh, V., Terjesen, S. and Vinnicombe, S. (2008),
Newly Appointed Directors in the Boardroom: How
Do Women and Men Differ?, European
DiMaggio, P.J. and Powell,W.W. (1983)The Iron Cage
Revisited: Institutional Isomorphism and Collective
Rationality in Organizational Fields, American
Sociological Review, 48, 147-160
Zahra, S.A. and Perce, J.A. (1989), Boards of Directors
and Corporate Financial Performance: A Review
and Interogative Model, Journal of Management,
15, 291-334
www.bnr.ro, www.bcr.ro, www.brd.ro, www.cec.ro, www.
eximbank.ro, www.volksbank.ro, www.unicredit-tiriac
.ro, www.raiffeisen.ro, www.carpatica.ro, www.banca
transilvania.ro
Audit financiar,
XIII, Nr. 2(122)/2015,
43-51
Situaii
financiare
consolidate
ISSN: 1583-5812; ISSN on-line: 1844-8801
Situaii
financiare
consolidate:
excurs n
literatura de
specialitate a
ultimilor
doisprezece
ani
Rezumat
Scopul acestei lucrri este de a trece n revist literatura
tiinific aferent ariei de cercetare a situaiilor
financiare consolidate, publicate pe o perioad de
doisprezece ani ncepnd din 2002. Metodologia de
cercetare utilizat n cadrul lucrrii const n perspectiva
teoretic (conceptual) concretizat prin analiza
calitativ transversal i longitudinal a literaturii
academice. Analiza calitativ prezint un caracter
deductiv, concluziile referitoare la caracteristicile ariei de
cercetare a situaiilor financiare consolidate fiind
fundamentate pe principalele rezultate i contribuii
tiinifice identificate n cadrul literaturii de specialitate
analizate.
Cuvinte-cheie: situaii financiare consolidate, IFRS,
literatura de specialitate, analiza calitativ
Clasificare JEL: M40; M41; M48
Drd. Carmen-Alexandra BALTARIU,

Facultatea de tiine Economice i Gestiunea Afacerilor,
Universitatea Babe-Bolyai din Cluj-Napoca, Romnia,
e-mail: baltariu_alexandra@yahoo.com
Nr. 2(122)/2015
43
1. Introducere
Apariia grupului ca nou structur economic,
constnd ntr-un numr de filiale i companii afiliate
aflate sub controlul unei societi-mam, a generat
nevoia unui alt tip de raportare financiar, care s
furnizeze informaii relevante cu privire la poziia i
performana acestei structuri economice. Evoluia
raportrii contabile a grupurilor a condus la o alt
modalitate de a structura i prezenta informaiile
financiare aferente acestora, respectiv situaiile financiare consolidate. Atenia acordat situaiilor financiare consolidate n cadrul cercetrii contabile se
datoreaz, pe de o parte, importanei structurilor de
grup n cadrul economiilor naionale, regionale i
globale i, pe de alt parte, preocuprilor autoritilor
de reglementare internaionale cu privire la Standardele Internaionale de Raportare Financiar - IFRS.
Scopul acestei lucrri este de a efectua o incursiune
n literatura de specialitate referitoare la situaiile
financiare consolidate pe o perioad de doisprezece
ani, ncepnd cu 2002. n urma analizei vom evidenia
principalele caracteristici ale ariei de cercetare de
interes observate ntre 2002 i 2014. De aceeai
manier, precum i Feleag, Feleag & Dragomir au
remarcat n lucrarea lor (2009, p. 10), observm c
analiza literaturii tiinifice publicate ntr-un anumit
domeniu de cercetare de interes poate conduce la
atingerea unor obiective cheie, respectiv accesarea
teoriilor existente, nelegerea metodelor de cercetare
utilizate, evaluarea progresului realizat n ceea ce
privete cunoaterea n cadrul respectivului domeniu
de cercetare i nu n ultimul rnd identificarea
oportunitilor viitoare de cercetare. Aceast lucrare
reprezint o analiz descriptiv a stadiului actual al
cunoaterii, mai precis a principalelor rezultate i
contribuii din domeniul cercetrii contabile aferente
situaiilor financiare consolidate. Temele de interes
pentru cercettori, precum i rezultatele publicate n
aceast arie de cercetare se regsesc sub directa
influen a modificrilor care au avut loc n domeniul
de reglementare a raportrilor situaiilor financiare
consolidate. Din aceste considerente, n cele ce
urmeaz vom oferi o scurt trecere n revist a celor
mai importante evenimente referitoare la
reglementarea situaiilor financiare consolidate, care
au avut loc ntre anii 2002 i 2014.
44
n 2002 semnarea Acordului de la Norwalk

marcheaz nceputul colaborrii dintre cele dou
organisme de reglementare internaional n domeniul
contabil, International Accounting Standards Board i
Financial Accounting Standards Board, n ceea ce
privete procesul de convergen a IFRS i U.S.
GAAP. n acelai an este emis Reglementarea C.E.
1606/2002 a Parlamentului European i a Consiliului
European referitoare la aplicarea Standardelor
Internaionale de Contabilitate (International
Accounting Standards IAS) n Uniunea European.
n 2003, prin Directiva C.E. 51/2003 a Parlamentului
European i a Consiliului European se modific
urmtoarele directive ale Consiliului European: 78/660
/ C.E.E., 83/349 / C.E.E., 86/635 / C.E.E. i respectiv
91/674 / C.E.E., aferente conturilor anuale i
conturilor consolidate publicate de anumite tipuri de
companii, respectiv bncile i alte companii financiare
i de asigurri. Directiva C.E. 51/2003 a reafirmat
statutul internaional al IAS n Uniunea European. n
acelai an, IAS 27 "Situaii financiare consolidate i
individuale", IAS 28 "Interese n asocierile n
participaie" i IAS 31 "Investiii n entiti asociate"
sunt revizuite de ctre IASB. Ca urmare a aplicrii
obligatorii a IAS/ IFRS pentru ntocmirea situaiilor
financiare consolidate ale societilor cotate la burs
n Uniunea European, programat s nceap n
anul 2005, IASB emite cu un an n avans International
Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) 3 "Combinri de
ntreprinderi". La rndul su, n anul 2007, FASB a
emis Statement of Financial Accounting Standards
(SFAS) No. 160 "Interese minoritare n situaiile
financiare consolidate - O modificare a ARB No. 51".
n anul urmtor, SFAS No. 141 "Combinri de
ntreprinderi" i IFRS 3 "Combinri de ntreprinderi"
sunt revizuite ca urmare a progreselor realizate n
procesul de convergen. Ultimele modificri
identificate n perioada 2002-2014 cu privire la
reglementarea raportrilor din situaiile financiare
consolidate sunt realizate n anul 2011, cnd IASB
emite IAS 27 "Situaii financiare individuale" (care
nlocuiete IAS 27 2003), IAS 28 "Investiii n entiti
asociate i asocieri n participaie" (care nlocuiete
IAS 28 2003), IFRS 10 "Situaii financiare
consolidate" (care nlocuiete IAS 27 2003), IFRS
11 "Angajamente comune" (care nlocuiete IAS 28 i
Situaii financiare consolidate
IAS 31 2003) i IFRS 12 "Prezentarea intereselor n

alte entiti "(care nlocuiete IAS 27, IAS 28 i IAS 31
2003). (IFRS, 2014, FASB, 2014; IASPlus, 2014;
UE, 2014)
2. Metodologia de cercetare
Similar cu alte lucrri de specialitate n cadrul crora
regsim o analiz a literaturii de specialitate aferente
ariei de cercetare a situaiilor financiare consolidate
(Mller, 2010, p. 22-37), perspectiva acestei lucrri
este una teoretic (conceptual), iar metodologia de
cercetare const ntr-o analiz calitativ transversal
i longitudinal a studiilor de specialitate. Analiza
calitativ efectuat prezint un caracter deductiv,
concluziile noastre cu privire la caracteristicile
generale ale domeniului de cercetare a situaiilor
financiare consolidate se bazeaz pe principalele
rezultate i contribuii tiinifice identificate n cadrul
ariei de cercetare. Printre metodele de cercetare
utilizate menionm analiza documentelor, metoda
comparativ i metoda interpretativ. Metoda analizei
documentelor face referire la lucrrile tiinifice
publicate ntre anii 2002 i 2014 pe care le-am
identificat n cadrul literaturii academice. Metoda
comparativ a fost utilizat n conjuncie cu metoda
interpretativ, n scopul de a efectua analiza diferitelor
rezultate n literatura de specialitate.
n vederea realizrii analizei calitative a literaturii de
specialitate aferente situaiilor financiare consolidate
am investigat, n mod detaliat, literatura academic n
scopul de a descoperi ct mai multe articole publicate
n reviste recunoscute la nivel naional sau
internaional, ori cri relevante pentru tema de
interes. Cutarea noastr a fost efectuat, n cea mai
mare parte, n jurnale tiinifice publicate online de
ctre American Accounting Association, Camera
Auditorilor Financiari din Romnia, editurile Emerald
Group, Franklin Publishing Company, Heckner,
Inderscience, John Wiley & Sons (Wiley-Blackwell),
JSTOR, Oxford University Press, Palgrave Mcmillan,
Questia, SAGE Publication, Springer, Reed Elsevier
i Taylor & Francis, dup cuvinte sau expresii de tipul:
situaii financiare consolidate; raportri financiare
consolidate; consolidarea conturilor; standarde
internaionale de raportare financiar-consolidate.
Nr. 2(122)/2015
3. Scurt incursiune n literatura

de specialitate
Numrul ridicat de studii empirice publicate ntre 2002
i 2014 indic preferina cercettorilor din domeniul
situaiilor financiare consolidate pentru abordarea
cantitativ i curentul de cercetare pozitivist. O tem
care a primit atenia special a unui numr mare de
cercettori este fondul comercial sau goodwill.
Hirschey & Richardson (2002, p. 173) au ca
obiectiv studierea coninutului informaional al
valorilor goodwill-ului raportate de contabilitate.
Rezultatele obinute indic faptul c efectele
informaionale ale anunurilor de depreciere a
fondului comercial asupra preului titlurilor de
capital sunt n general negative i consistente att
n perioada pre-anun, ct i n perioada postanun. Concluzia autorilor este c valoarea
companiei, cel puin din punct de vedere al
activelor necorporale, este ntr-o msur
semnificativ reflectat n informaia contabil.
Henning & Shaw (2004, p. 315) testeaz, obinnd
rezultate favorabile n acest sens, dac perioada
pe care goodwill-ul achiziionat urmeaz s fie
amortizat are valoare predictiv pentru nivelul
rezultatului post-achiziie. n plus, autorii
demonstreaz relaia dintre modificrile de rezultat
post-achiziie i performana titlurilor de capital.
Henning, Shaw & Stock (2004, p. 99)
investigheaz criticile la care U.S. GAAP au fost
supuse referitor la acordarea unei prea mari
liberti companiilor, cu privire la stabilirea valorii i
momentului pentru deprecierea fondului comercial,
rezultatele obinute nesusinnd ns aceste
afirmaii.
Prin testarea evalurii pe care piaa financiar o
face fondului comercial, Churyk (2005, p. 1353)
examineaz n ce msur decizia FASB de a emite
un standard prin care se elimin amortizarea
sistematic a goodwill-ului a fost una adecvat.
Hayn & Hughes (2006, p. 223) analizeaz n ce
msur raportrile financiare consolidate
referitoare la entitile achiziionate permit
investitorilor s prognozeze valoarea deprecierii
fondului comercial, autorii concluzionnd c
45
actualele raportri nu ofer informaii adecvate n

acest sens.
James, How & Verhoeven (2008, p. 625) i
structureaz analiza pe un eantion de companii
din Australia, examinnd n mod empiric asocierea
dintre goodwill-ul achiziionat i valoarea primei
incluse n oferta de achiziie, precum i modificrile
survenite n aceast relaie de asociere dup
implementarea n 1988 a standardului AASB 1013,
care dispunea capitalizarea i amortizarea fondului
comercial achiziionat pe o perioad de maxim 20
de ani. Relaia de asociere n urma implementrii
AASB 1013 apare ca fiind mai slab, autorii
concluzionnd c acest lucru se datoreaz
reducerii opiunilor de tratament contabil
disponibile managementului companiei ofertante.
Rezultatele obinute de Lapointe-Antunes, Cormier
& Magnan (2008, p. 37) sugereaz interesul
companiilor de a supraevalua sau de a subevalua
pierderile din depreciere aferente fondului
comercial.
Din perspectiva abordrii descriptiv-conceptuale, fiind
incluse n cadrul curentului de cercetare normativist,
menionm aici studiile:
Lander & Reinstein (2003, p. 227), respectiv
Massoud & Raiborn (2003, p. 26) asupra noilor
reglementri ale standardului Statement of
Accounting Standards No. 142, emis de ctre
FASB n 2001, prin intermediul cruia se impunea
nregistrarea deprecierii goodwill-ului, fiind astfel
nlocuite dispoziiile Accounting Principles Board
Opinion No. 17 emise n anul 1970, de amortizare
a fondului comercial achiziionat;
Seetharaman, Balachandran & Saravanan (2004,
p. 131), care privesc fondul comercial din
perspectiva trecutului, a prezentului i a viitorului
raportrilor acestui element, punctnd principalele
chestiuni care au strnit controversa i principalele
probleme ridicate de tratamentul goodwill-ului;
Ding, Richard & Stolowy (2008), care examineaz
modul n care trecerea de la abordarea stakeholder
la abordarea shareholder n cadrul corporaiilor a
influenat de-a lungul timpului tratamentele
contabile aferente fondului comercial. Studiul Ding
et al. (2008, p. 718) este un studiu longitudinal,
46
bazat pe o comparaie internaional ntre Marea

Britanie, S.U.A., Germania i Frana, n cadrul
cruia sunt identificate patru faze de evoluie ale
tratamentului contabil al fondului comercial: - faza
static, caracterizat de trecerea pe cheltuieli
imediat sau foarte rapid a valorii goodwill-ului; faza static slab, n cadrul creia fondul
comercial era depreciat, fiind afectat valoarea
capitalului propriu; - faza dinamic , n cadrul
creia goodwill-ul era recunoscut i amortizat pe o
perioad lung de timp; - respectiv faza
actuarial, n care fondul comercial este
recunoscut, nu este amortizat, dar se realizeaz
deprecierea de valoare n cazul n care aceasta
devine necesar.
Reprezentant al curentului de cercetare critic este
studiul lui Qasim, Haddad & AbuGhazaleh (2013,
p. 63), n care se analizeaz evoluia tratamentului
contabil aplicat fondului comercial conform cu
standardele IFRS, prin comparaie cu standardele
U.K. GAAP, punctnd att avantajele, ct i
problemele ridicate de abordarea promovat prin
intermediul IFRS de a supune goodwill-ul doar
deprecierii de valoare.
Reglementrile aplicate asupra raportrilor financiare
consolidate au fost analizate, respectiv explicitate,
ntr-o serie de studii (Hartgraves & Benston, 2002;
Nobes, 2005) i lucrri publicate de ctre comitetele
nsrcinate cu analiza standardelor contabile emise
de ctre organismele se reglementare contabil
internaional (Botosan, Hirst, Venkatachalam,
Maines, Bartov, Beatty, Fairfield, Iannaconi & Mallett,
2003). Toate aceste lucrri pot fi incluse n curentele
de cercetare normativist sau interpretativ, curentul
critic fiind reprezentat i el prin studiul lui Walker
(2007).
n timp ce Hartgraves & Benston (2002, p. 245)
trec n revist evoluia raportrilor financiarcontabile consolidate referitoare la entitile cu
scop special (Special Purpose Entities - SPEs),
Nobes (2005, p. 25) realizeaz o analiz a
reglementrilor detaliate existente n cadrul
standardelor, sugernd c nevoia existenei unor
astfel de reglementri apare din cauza lipsei
principiilor contabile sau a utilizrii unor principii
contabile eronate n formularea respectivelor
standarde. Nobes sugereaz i faptul c absena

unor principii clare sau potrivite cu standardele
conduce la apariia metodelor contabile opionale i
la o lips de comparabilitate.
n Botosan et al. (2003, p. 161) se aduc n discuie
propunerile FASB cu privire la consolidarea SPEs,
iar n Walker (2007, p. 49) descoperim o viziune
critic asupra acordului practicienilor din domeniul
financiar-contabil referitor la aplicarea conceptului
entitii n raportare.
Subiectul entitilor cu scop special este tratat i n
Munter (2003, p. 39), lucrare n cadrul creia se
analizeaz rolul purtat de SPEs n falimentul unor
corporaii precum Enron i se aduce n discuie rolul
prospectiv al entitilor cu scop special n fuziuni;
respectiv n Larson (2008, p. 27), care realizeaz o
analiz descriptiv-conceptual asupra scrisorilor
comentariu cu referire la SPEs pentru a examina dac
i n ce msur exist presiune politic asupra
procesului de dezvoltare a unui set unic de standarde
internaionale de raportare financiar-contabil.
Alte subiecte care au suscitat interesul cercettorilor
n aceast perioad fac referire la rezultatul global,
respectiv asocierile n participaie (joint ventures).
n ceea ce privete rezultatul global, acest subiect a
fost tratat din punct de vedere descriptiv-conceptual n
studii care se nscriu n curentul de cercetare
normativist:
Yen, Hirst, & Hopkins (2007, p. 53), care
realizeaz o analiz de coninut a scrisorilor
comentariu primite de ctre FASB ca urmare a
emiterii n 1996 a unui Exposure Draft referitor la
rezultatul global;
Henry (2011, p. 85), care analizeaz modificarea
metodei de prezentare a rezultatului global de
ctre FASB, apreciind c aceast schimbare este
un pas spre convergena celor dou refereniale
contabile internaionale, IFRS i U.S. GAAP;
precum i de studii care pot fi incluse n curentul de
cercetare critic, respectiv Newberry (2003, p. 325),
n care autorul analizeaz raportul IASB referitor la
raportarea performanei i implicit a rezultatului
global, sugernd c acesta demonstreaz o lips
de coeren intern i faptul c reglementrile
tehnice sunt influenate de sfera politicului.
Nr. 2(122)/2015
Subiectul asocierilor n participaie este tratat empiric

de ctre Kothavala (2003) i Stoltzfus & Epps (2005).
Kothavala (2003, p. 517) utilizeaz un eantion de
companii joint ventures din Canada pentru a realiza o
paralel ntre coninutul informaional relativ al
valorilor raportate conform metodei de consolidare
proporionale, respectiv conform metodei de
consolidare a punerii n echivalen n evaluarea
riscului de pia. Rezultatele sugereaz c informaiile
din situaiile financiare consolidate prin metoda
proporional sunt mai relevante din punct de vedere
al evalurii volatilitii preului aciunilor, n timp ce
informaia raportat n situaiile financiare consolidate
prin metoda punerii n echivalen prezint o
relevan mai ridicat pentru evaluarea ratingurilor
obligaiunilor (Kothavala, 2003, p. 517).
n contradicie cu aceste concluzii, studiul lui Bauman
(2007, p. 496) obine rezultate utiliznd un eantion
de companii din sectorul de producie al S.U.A., care
indic faptul c informaiile raportate prin metoda de
consolidare proporional prezint o relevan mai
ridicat, prin comparaie cu metoda punerii n
echivalen, pentru evaluarea ratingurilor
obligaiunilor. Stoltzfus & Epps (2005, p. 169)
compar puterea relaiei de asociere dintre prima de
risc a obligaiunilor i informaia financiar-contabil
raportat conform metodei de consolidare
proporionale, respectiv conform metodei punerii n
echivalen. Studiul are drept obiectiv examinarea
modului de reflectare, prin intermediul abordrii legale
sau a celei implicite a operaiunilor asocierilor n
participaie pentru creditorii companiilor joint ventures.
Conform abordrii legale, valoarea pierderii poteniale
dintr-o investiie joint venture este limitat la valoarea
investiiei, metoda de consolidare asociat acestei
abordri fiind metoda punerii n echivalen.
Prin comparaie, abordarea implicit sugereaz c
operaiunile dintr-o asociere n participaie i
compania care a realizat respectiva investiie sunt
separate, metoda de consolidare asociat fiind cea
proporional (Stoltzfus & Epps, 2005, p. 169).
Rezultatele studiului indic faptul c prin utilizarea
metodei de consolidare proporionale valoarearelevan a informaiei financiar-contabile raportat
creditorilor asocierilor n participaie ar crete, cu
condiia ca mprumuturile s fie garantate de ctre
companiile care investesc n acele joint ventures.
(Stoltzfus & Epps, 2005, p. 170)
47
Metodele, tehnicile de consolidare i practicile

contabile care au ca obiect situaiile financiare
consolidate au fost i ele analizate n perioada 20022014, studiile incluse n categoria abordrilor
teoretice, descriptiv-conceptuale, fiind predominante.
Nobes (2002, p. 41) prezint o perspectiv critic
asupra dezvoltrilor referitoare la metoda de
consolidare a punerii n echivalen, aparatul
conceptual, respectiv utilizrile metodei, susinnd
c aceasta nu ar trebui folosit n raportarea
asocierilor n participaie.
Pope (2003, p. 273) aduce n discuie legtura
dintre practicile utilizate n raportarea consolidat,
impunerea anumitor standarde de contabilitate i
acurateea previzionrilor efectuate de ctre
analitii financiari.
Aceituno, Valeriano, Bolivar & Pedro (2006, p. 95)
analizeaz din punct de vedere teoretic modalitile
de alocare a rezultatului ntre acionarii majoritari i
cei minoritari ai grupului, respectiv ntre acionarii
companiei-printe i acionarii minoritari ai grupului
i relaia dintre aceste tipuri de alocri i ratele
financiare.
Vallely, Stokes & Liesch (2008) se focalizeaz
asupra metodei de consolidare a punerii n
echivalen;
Mller (2010) expune metodele i tehnicile de
consolidare existente;
Futamura (2010) analizeaz longitudinal
tratamentul intereselor minoritare n Japonia;
Espinoza Priego, Lpez Fernndez & Acosta
Mrquez (2010) realizeaz o paralel ntre
practicile utilizate n procesul de consolidare n
Spania, respectiv Mexic;
Bdy-Rzsa (2012) examineaz dintr-o
perspectiv critic noile reglementri contabile
internaionale, sugernd c acestea vor altera
ratele financiare (lichiditatea, solvabilitatea,
respectiv profitabilitatea) grupurilor.
Alturi de abordarea descriptiv-conceptual, regsim
i perspectiva cantitativ, reprezentat de lucrrile
Thomas, Herrman & Inoue (2004); Shuto (2009);
Beuselinck & Deloof (2014).
48
Thomas, Herrman & Inoue (2004, p. 1) efectueaz

un studiu empiric asupra practicii de manipulare a
rezultatului prin intermediul tranzaciilor cu entitile
afiliate ale companiei-printe n Japonia. Existena
practicilor de manipulare a fost confirmat att
pentru rezultatul companiei-printe (fiind cel mai
accentuate), ct i pentru rezultatul raportat la
nivelul ntregului grup, prin evitarea raportrii
pierderilor, evitarea declinului valorii rezultatului i
evitarea prognozelor negative.
Rezultatele obinute de Shuto (2009, p. 199)
confirm sugestia studiului anterior referitoare la
amplificarea comportamentului de manipulare a
rezultatului al companiei-printe prin evitarea
raportrii unui declin n valoarea acestuia, indicnd
n plus faptul c, n urma adoptrii noilor standarde
de raportare financiar-contabil consolidat,
comportamentul de manipulare a rezultatului a fost
mai puin extins n cazul companiei-printe,
crescnd ns n cazul ntregului grup.
Acelai subiect este examinat n Beuselinck &
Deloof (2014, p. 27) pe un eantion de companii
din Belgia, studiul sugernd c manipularea
rezultatului este mai extins n cazul companiilor
afiliate unui grup, dect n cazul companiilor
neafiliate.
Alte subiecte din aria situaiilor financiare consolidate
care au suscitat interesul cercettorilor sunt: - prezentarea situaiilor financiare consolidate, reprezentat
prin studiile empirice (Ding, Stolowy & Tenenhaus,
2003; Ding, Jeanjean & Stolowy 2008), ambele
utiliznd eantioane de companii din Frana, respectiv
prin studii descriptiv-conceptuale, Pitulice (2007) sau
Mcclain & McLelland (2008), lucrare realizat n
contextul procesului de convergen dintre cele dou
organisme internaionale de reglementare contabil
(IASB i FASB); - prognozarea rezultatului consolidat,
reprezentat de studiul empiric al lui Herrmann, Inoue
& Thomas (2003), a cror analiz sugereaz utilitatea
incremental a rezultatelor raportate de ctre
subsidiarele din Japonia fa de rezultatul raportat de
compania printe; - dezavantajele consolidrii
subsidiarelor strine de ctre companiile printe din
S.U.A., prezentate n lucrarea lui Holt (2004), un
studiu descriptiv-conceptual cu o perspectiv critic
asupra acestui subiect, concluziile acestei lucrri
sugernd c prezentrile alternative denominate n

moned strin sunt mai informative pentru utilizatorii
de informaie financiar-contabil; - consolidarea n
cazul IPO (Initial Public Offering - o companie creat
prin unirea unor entiti mai mici pentru unicul scop de
a se lista pe piaa financiar), tem reprezentat prin
intermediul studiului empiric al lui Brown, Dittmar &
Servaes (2005); - rolul drepturilor de brevet n fuziuni i
consolidri (Marco & Rausser, 2008), un studiu empiric
particularizat pe sectorul industrial al biotehnologiei; diferenele existente ntre teoriile care stau la baza
procesului de consolidare (teoria proprietarului, teoria
societii-mam, teoria societii-mam extins, teoria
entitii), tem reprezentat de studiul teoretic al lui
Scrin (2008); - precum i factorii determinani ai
deciziei companiilor subsidiare grupurilor australiene de
a nu raporta situaii financiare prezentai de Bradbury,
Dean & Clarke (2009).
4. Concluzii i limite ale cercetrii

n urma analizei efectuate, putem concluziona c
literatura tiinific publicat n domeniul cercetrii
situaiilor financiare consolidate n perioada 20022014 este reprezentat de studii care pot fi incluse n
curentele de cercetare normativ, interpretativ, critic
sau pozitiv. Domeniul cercetrii situaiilor financiare
consolidate este bine reprezentat din punct de vedere
teoretic (conceptual), prin intermediul analizelor
calitative, dar i din punct de vedere empiric, prin
intermediul analizelor cantitative.
n ceea ce privete perspectiva teoretic a domeniului
de cercetare de interes, am identificat studii care
abordeaz:
subiectul reglementrilor aferente raportrii
financiar-consolidate (Directiva a VII-a, standardele
IFRS, standardele FASB);
conceptele referitoare la situaiile financiare
consolidate;
conceptul de "control";
metodele i tehnicile utilizate n procesul de
consolidare;
tratamentul contabil aplicat elementelor raportate
n situaiile financiare consolidate;
prezentarea situaiilor financiare consolidate;
Nr. 2(122)/2015
teoriile privind consolidarea i diferenele dintre ele

(teoria proprietarului, teoria societii-mam, teoria
societii-mam extins, teoria entitii);
legtura dintre situaiile financiare consolidate i
legislaia din domeniul corporativ sau fiscal.
Perspectiva empiric este reprezentat de lucrri
care abordeaz subiecte precum utilizarea
situaiilor financiare consolidate ca mijloc de
furnizare a informaiilor ctre utilizatori; aspecte
referitoare la tranzaciile intra-grup i rezultatul de
la nivelul grupului, rezultatul global, prognozarea
rezultatului consolidat, practicile de manipulare a
rezultatului prin intermediul tranzaciilor cu
companiile afiliate, interesele minoritare,
consolidarea entitilor afiliate, raportarea pe
segmente, consolidarea entitilor cu scop special,
interese comune, fondul comercial, dividende,
tranzaciile mutuale. O perspectiv comparativ n
domeniul de cercetare al situaiilor financiare
consolidate este asigurat de lucrri care
realizeaz o paralel ntre situaiile financiare
consolidate i raportrile individuale ale companiei
printe; sau ntre coninutul informaional al
valorilor raportate n conformitate cu metoda
proporional de consolidare i coninutul
informaional al valorilor raportate n conformitate
cu metoda punerii n echivalen.
O sumarizare calitativ a rezultatelor ntr-o anumit
arie de cercetare presupune anumite limite, respectiv
subiectivitatea, sau lipsa de transparen n ceea ce
privete o serie de factori care rmn la discreia
cercettorului, mai precis criteriile utilizate pentru
selectarea studiilor incluse n analiz, diferitele grade
de importan acordat studiilor selectate sau
numrul de lucrri incluse n analiz. n plus, utilitatea
acestui tip de analiz calitativ este limitat la
perioada de timp analizat, cauza fiind noile lucrri i
rezultate publicate n urmtoarele perioade de timp,
care urmeaz s se regseasc la dispoziia
cercettorilor (Borenstein, Hedges, Higgins &
Rothstein, 2009, p. xxii). n plus, n urma unei analize
calitative nu poate fi precizat modul n care efectele,
sau rezultatele raportate n diferite lucrri variaz n
funcie de anumii factori moderatori (covariate).
Astfel, o analiz calitativ nu ne permite s formulm
concluzii cu caracter general cu privire la domeniul de
interes.
49
Recunoatere
Aceast lucrare a fost co-finanat de Facultatea de
tiine Economice i Gestiunea Afacerilor,
Universitatea Babe-Bolyai din Cluj-Napoca,
Romnia universitate partener n cadrul Proiectului

European Cercettori competitivi pe plan european n
domeniul tiinelor umaniste i socio-economice.
Reea de cercetare multiregional (CCPE)
POSDRU/159/1.5/S/140863.
BIBLIOGRAFIE
Aceituno, F., Valeriano, J., Bolivar, R. & Pedro, M. (2006),
The conceptual framework concept and the allocation
of incomes in the consolidation entity: its impact on
financial ratios, International Journal of Commerce &
Management, Vol. 16, No. 2: 95-115;
Bauman, M. P., (2007), Proportionate consolidation versus
the equity method: additional evidence on the
association with bond ratings, International Review of
Financial Analysis, Vol. 16, No. 5: 496-507, DOI:
10.1016/J.irfa.2007.06.005;
Beuselinck, C. & Deloof, M. (2014), Earnings management
in business groups: tax incentives or expropriation
concealment?, The International Journal of
Accounting, Vol. 49: 27-52, DOI:
10.1016/J.intacc.2014.01.008;
Borenstein, M., Hedges, L. V., Higgins, J. P. T. & Rothstein,
H. R. (2009), Introduction to meta-analysis, Chichester,
United Kingdom: John Wiley & Sons Publication;
Botosan, C. A., Hirst, D. E., Venkatachalam, M., Maines, L.
A., Bartov, E., Beatty, A. L., Fairfield, P. M., Iannaconi,
T. E. & Mallett, R. (2003), Comments on the FASBs
proposals on consolidating special-purpose entities
and related standard-setting issues, Accounting
Horizons, Vol. 17, No. 2 (June): 161-173;
Bradbury, M., Dean, G. & Clarke, F. L. (2009), Incentives
for non-disclosure by corporate groups, Abacus, Vol.
45, No. 4: 429-454, DOI: 10.1111/j.14676281.2009.00298.x;
Bdy-Rzsa, I. (2012), New trends in consolidation
challenging the changes of new IFRS rules, Periodica
Polytechnica, Social and Management Sciences, Vol.
20, No. 1, DOI: 10.3311/pp.so.2012-1.02;
Churyk, N. T. (2005), Reporting goodwill: are the new
accounting standards consistent with market
valutions?, Journal of Business Research, Vol. 58:
1353-1361, DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2004.05.006;
Ding, Y., Stolowy, H. & Tenenhaus, M. (2003), Shopping
around for accounting practices: the financial
statement presentation of French groups, Abacus, Vol.
39, No. 1: 42-64;
Ding, Y., Richard, J. & Stolowy, H. (2008), Towards an
understanding of the phases of goodwill accounting in
four Western capitalist countries: from stakeholder
50
model to shareholder model, Accounting,

Organizations and Society, Vol. 33: 718-755, DOI:
10.1016/j.aos.2007.07.002;
Ding, Y., Jeanjean, T. & Stolowy, H. (2008), The impact of
firms internationalization on financial statement
presentation: some French evidence, Advances in
Accounting, incorporating Advances in International
10.1016/J.adiac.2008.05.014;
Espinoza Priego, E. L., Lpez Fernndez, E., Acosta
Mrquez, M. P. (2010), La consolidacin de estados
financieros. Anlisis comparativo contable MxicoEspaa, Pensamiento & Gestin, Universidad del
Norte, Vol. 29: 87-103;
Feleag, L., Feleag, N. & Dragomir, V. D. (2009), National
standards and European accounting harmonization:
twenty years of scientific literature review, European
Journal of Management, Vol. 9, No. 2: 10-21,
Futamura, M., (2010), The introduction of accounting
principles for consolidated financial statements in
Japan: focus on minority interest and other related
accounting treatments, Journal of International
Business Research, Vol. 9, No. 1 (Supplement): 1-22;
Hartgraves, A. L. & Benston, G. J. (2002), The evolving
accounting standards for special purpose entities and
consolidations, Accounting Horizons, Vol. 16, No. 3:
245-258;
Hayn, C. & Hughes, P. J. (2006), Leading indicators of
goodwill impairment, Journal of Accounting, Auditing &
Finance, Vol. 21, No. 3: 223-265;
Henning, S. L. & Shaw, W. H. (2004), Is the selection for
the amortization period for goodwill a strategic choice?,
Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Vol.
20, No. 4: 315-333;
Henning, S. L., Shaw, W. H. & Stock, T. (2004), The
amount and timing of goodwill write-offs and
revaluations: evidence from U. S. and U. K. firms,
Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Vol.
23, No. 2: 99-121;
Henry, E. (2011), Presentation of comprehensive income:
another (small) step toward convergence, The Journal
of Corporate Accounting & Finance, November/
December: 85-90, DOI: 10.1002/jcaf.21726;
Herrmann, D., Inoue, T. & Thomas, W. B. (2003),

Predicting consolidated earnings in Japan: incremental
usefulness of subsidiary earnings, Advances in
International Accounting, Vol. 16: 85-103, DOI:
10.1016/S0897-3660(03)16005-9;
Hirschey, M. & Richardson, V. J. (2002), Information
content of accounting goodwill numbers, Journal of
Accounting and Public Policy, Vol. 21: 173-191;
Holt, P.E. (2004), A case against the consolidation of
foreign susidiaries and a United States parents
financial statements, Accounting Forum, Vol. 28, No.
2: 159-165, DOI: 10.1016/J.accfor.2003.10.001;
James, K., How, J. & Verhoeven, P. (2008), Did the
goodwill accounting standard impose material
economic consequences on Australian acquirers?,
Accounting and Finance, Vol. 48: 625-647, DOI:
10.1111/j.1467-629x.2007.00246.x;
Kothavala, K. (2003), Proportional consolidation versus the
equity method: a risk measurement perspective on
reporting interests in joint ventures, Journal of
Accounting and Public Policy, Vol. 22, No. 6: 517-538,
DOI: 10.1016/J.jaccpubpol.2003.10.001;
Lapointe-Antunes, P., Cormier, D. & Magnan, M. (2008),
Equity recognition of mandatory accounting changes:
the case of transitional goodwill impairement losses,
Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences, Vol. 25,
No. 1 (March): 37-54, DOI: 10.1002/CJAS.41;
Lander, H. G. & Reinstein, A. (2003), Models to measure
goodwill impairment, International Advances in
Economic Research, Vol. 9, No. 3: 227-232;
Larson, R. K. (2008), An examination of comment letters to
the IASC: special purpose entities, Research in
Accounting Regulation, Vol. 20: 27-46;
Marco, A. C. & Rausser, G. C. (2008), The role of patent
rights in mergers: consolidation in plant biotechnology,
American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. 90,
No. 1 (February): 133-151;
Massoud, M. F. & Raiborn, C. A. (2003), Accounting for
goodwill: are we better off?, Review of Business, Vol.
24, No. 2 (Spring): 26-32;
McClain, G. & McLelland, A. J. (2008), Shaking up financial
statement presentation, Journal of Accountancy, Vol.
206, No. 5: 56-64;
Mller, O.-V. (2010), Situaii financiare consolidate.
Dezvoltri i aprofundri la nivel internaional,
european i naional, Editura Alma Mater, ClujNapoca, Romnia;
Munter, P. (2002), SPEs: What is their role in furture
mergers?, Journal of Corporate Accounting and
Finance, Vol. 14, No. 2: 39-43;
Nobes, C. (2002), An analysis of the international
development of the equity method, Abacus, Vol. 38,
No. 1: 16-45;
Nr. 2(122)/2015
Nobes, C. W. (2005), Rules-based standards and the lack

of principles in accounting, Accounting Horizons, Vol.
19, No. 1: 25-34;
Pope, F. P. (2003), Discussion of disclosure practices,
enforcement of accounting standards, and analysts
forecast accuracy: an international study, Journal of
Accounting Research, Vol. 41, No. 2, The Effects of
Regulation (Including Taxation) on Financial Reporting
Disclosure, (May): 273-283;
Qasim, A., Haddad, A. E. & AbuGhazaleh, N. M. (2013),
Goodwill accounting in the United Kingdom: the effect
of International Financial Reporting Standards, Review
of Business and Finance Studies, Vol. 4, No. 1: 63-78;
Scrin, M. (2008), Teoriile consolidrii i implicaiile
acestora n informarea financiar, Revista Audit
Financiar, Vol. 6, No. 10: 29-39;
Seetharaman, A., Balachandran, M., Saravanan, A. S.
(2004), Accounting treatment of goodwill: yesterday,
today and tomorrow: Problems and prospects in the
international perspective, Journal of Intellectual
Capital, Vol. 5 Iss: 1, pp.131 152;
Shuto, A. (2009), Earnings management to exceed the
threshold: a comparative analysis of consolidated and
parent-only earnings, Journal of International Financial
Management and Accounting, Vol. 20, No. 3: 199-231;
Stoltzfus, R. L. & Epps, R. W. (2005), An empirical study of
the value-relevance of using proportionate
consolidation accounting for investments in joint
ventures, Accounting Forum, Vol. 29, No. 2: 169-190;
Thomas, W. B., Herrman, D. R. & Inoue, T. (2004),
Earnings management through affiliated transactions,
Journal of International Accounting Research, Vol. 3,
No. 2: 1-25;
Vallely, M., Stokes, D. & Liesch, P. (2008), Equity
accounting: empirical evidence and lessons from the
past, Australian Accounting Review, Vol. 7, No. 14: 1626;
Walker, R. G. (2007), Reporting entity concept: a case
study of the failure of principles-based regulation,
Abacus, Vol. 43, No. 1: 49-75, DOI: 10.1111/j.14676281.2007.00217.x;
Yen, A. C., Hirst, D. E. & Hopkins, P. E. (2007), A content
analysis of the comprehensive income exposure draft
comment letters, Research in Accounting Regulation,
Vol. 19: 53-79, DOI: 10.1016/S1052-0457(06)19003-7;
http://europa.eu/eu-law/decision-making/legalacts/index_en.htm
http://www.ifrs.org/Pages/default.aspx
http://www.iasplus.com/en
http://www.fasb.org/home
51
Audit financiar,Marilena
XIII, Nr. 2(122)/2015,
52-64
Ionela-Corina CHERSAN,
MIRONIUC
ISSN: 1583-5812; ISSN on-line: 1844-8801
Incursiune n
cercetarea de
audit i
contabilitate
pe orizontul
unui deceniu.
Analiz intuitiv
asupra articolelor
publicate n revista
Audit Financiar
Rezumat
Lucrarea este rezultatul unui studiu longitudinal
descriptiv-explicativ realizat asupra articolelor publicate
n revista Audit Financiar de-a lungul unui deceniu,
pentru a oferi, n mod intuitiv, o prim imagine asupra
structurii produciei tiinifice din aceast publica ie,
prin prisma ariilor de cercetare identificate n domeniile
auditului i contabilitii.
Structura tematicii publicaiilor, dinamica publicaiilor n
funcie de statutul i afilierea instituional a autorilor,
gradul de colaborare n cercetare/publicare, numrul
citrilor articolelor revistei au reprezentat variabile
observate pentru a caracteriza structura cunoaterii n
domeniile auditului i contabilitii, concentrarea
publicaiilor pe instituiile de apartenen ale autorilor
sau impactul acestora asupra dezvoltrii cercetrii n
domeniu. Studiul s-a realizat pe o populaie alctuit din
720 de articole extrase din cele 112 numere ale revistei
Audit Financiar, publicate n perioada 2003-2013.
Pentru caracterizarea produciei tiinifice din revista
Audit Financiar i pentru extragerea inferenelor n
urma analizei intuitive, prin observare direct i prin
analiza comparativ a coninutului bazei de date, s-a
recurs la demersul specific analizei de coninut.
Prof. univ. dr. Marilena MIRONIUC1
Analizele realizate au condus la concluzia c articolele

publicate n aceast revist, de strict specialitate, se
ncadreaz prin tematica abordat n tendinele pieei
ideilor la nivel internaional, cu accent n anumite
perioade pe subiecte care pot fi considerate n vog. n
pofida influenei, la prima vedere modest, dac o
apreciem prin prisma numrului articolelor citate sau a
gradului redus de internaionalizare, pe care o determin
asupra cercetrii din domeniile auditului i contabilitii,
revista Audit Financiar este o publicaie care, graie
politicii sale editoriale, se afl ntr-un proces de continu
cretere a nivelului tiinific, a vizibilitii la nivel naional
i internaional.
Universitatea Alexandru Ioan Cuza din Ia i,

Romnia, e-mail: marilena@uaic.ro
Cuvinte-cheie: cercetare, audit, contabilitate,

bibliometrie, analiz de coninut
Conf. univ. dr. Ionela-Corina CHERSAN,

Universitatea Alexandru Ioan Cuza din Ia i,
Romnia, e-mail: macov@uaic.ro
Clasificare JEL: M21, M40, M41, M42
Autorii au contribuie egal la elaborarea lucrrii.
52
Incursiune n cercetarea de audit i contabilitate pe orizontul unui deceniu
1. Introducere
Publicarea n reviste de specialitate a fost dintotdeauna
o provocare, dar i o obligaie profesional pentru
profesori i cercettori. Modificrile aduse legislaiei
privind construirea carierei universitare, precum i
exigenele crescnde reflectate n dinamica criteriilor de
evaluare a activitii de cercetare, n ultimii ani, au
determinat creterea dorinei i nevoii de a publica, ceea
ce a generat, pe de o parte, creterea numrului de
reviste de specialitate cotate/indexate i, pe de alt
parte, creterea numrului i calitii articolelor
publicate.
Dezvoltarea nivelului cunoaterii n toate domeniile
tiinei se bazeaz, cu precdere, pe diseminarea ideilor
i cunotinelor explicite ale cercettorilor prin
intermediul publicaiilor n reviste, jurnale, cri de
specialitate (Chtioui, T., Soulerot, M., 2006, p. 8). Se
remarc, n ultimii ani, tendina spre specializare a
studiilor universitare, respectiv creterea frecvenei
cercettorilor specializai, care public n reviste cu o
identitate bine conturat, ce au dobndit prestigiu i
vizibilitate n cadrul unei comuniti tiinifice
hiperspecializate.
Cercetarea n domeniile auditului i contabilitii
depinde, la rndul su, calitativ de difuzarea informaiilor
prin publicarea articolelor cercettorilor specializai n
domeniu, fapt pentru care cunoaterea tabloului
preocuprilor de cercetare din domeniile menionate, pe
orizontul 2003-2013, i prin raportare la tendinele
internaionale, prezint o utilitate cert.
La nivel internaional pot fi identificate, pentru domeniile
contabilitii i auditului, numeroase cercetri care
utilizeaz analiza bibliometric, asupra articolelor
publicate n reviste de specialitate reprezentative sau
asupra referinelor citate, pentru a identifica structura
cunoaterii i factorii care influeneaz cunotinele
mobilizate n publicaii sau pentru a msura gradul de
concentrare a publicaiilor.
Prima parte a prezentei lucrri, consacrat trecerii n
revist a literaturii de specialitate relativ la studiile
bibliometrice efectuate asupra cercetrilor din domeniile
contabilitii i auditului, este urmat de partea care
rezum metodologia utilizat pentru colectarea datelor i
analiza rezultatelor evalurii structurii articolelor
tiinifice publicate n revista Audit Financiar, innd
cont de criteriile de analiz selectate. De asemenea, o
analiz a citrilor i autocitrilor articolelor cuprinse n
Nr. 2(122)/2015
numerele revistei a fost efectuat pentru a deduce

influena acestei publicaii asupra dezvoltrii domeniilor
auditului i contabilitii.
2. Msurarea activitii de
cercetare prin analiza
bibliometric. Puncte de vedere
n literatura de specialitate
n tiin, obiectivul trebuie s-l constituie promovarea
rezultatelor cercetrii n cadrul comunitii tiinifice, mai
ales dac acceptm ca adevrat afirmaia potrivit
creia cunoaterea rezult nu din nsumarea
paratactic a contribuiilor individuale, ci din raportarea
succesiv a tuturor la fiecare - prin urmare, n
elaborarea cunoaterii elementele decisive sunt
evaluarea critic, preluarea critic, transmiterea
creatoare (Patapievici, H.-R., 2007, p. 44).
Este general acceptat faptul c a publica n reviste de
calitate este o parte important a vieii academice. Cine
lucreaz n mediul universitar sau n cercetare cunoate
bine alternativa: publici sau mori? (publish or
perish?). Cercettorii analizeaz ntotdeauna care este
nivelul i impactul revistelor n care doresc s publice,
cu att mai mult cu ct acest fapt poate avea inciden
asupra status-ului lor sau al instituiei de apartenen,
asupra alocrii resurselor, asupra obinerii unor forme de
recunoatere a meritelor sau asupra avansrii n carier.
De asemenea, ntr-o perioad n care crete exponenial
redundana informativ (Dubini, P., Giglia, E., 2008, p.
9), procesul de certificare a calitii articolelor tiinifice
realizat de experi/refereni tiinifici, cel mai adesea prin
sistemul peer review, confer elaboratelor tiinifice
credibilitatea necesar pentru a putea fi citate,
garantnd, astfel, contribuia acestora la dezvoltarea
cunoaterii.
Analiza bibliometric este considerat, n lumea
academic, o metod de msurare ex-post a activitii
de cercetare dintr-un domeniu oarecare al cunoaterii, la
un moment dat sau n dinamic, utiliznd tehnici
cantitative i calitative pentru identificarea, selectarea,
colectarea, clasarea i sintetizarea unui volum important
de informaii textuale i determinarea unor indicatori
specifici (Immediacy Index, Cited Half Life, Rate of Cites
Index, Citation Impact, Impact Factor etc.), n
majoritatea lor propui de Institute for Scientific
Information (ISI). Semnificativ dezvoltat ca urmare a
53
accesului online la bazele de date de mari dimensiuni,

analiza bibliometric cuantific gradul de difuzare a
articolelor tiinifice n cadrul comunitii academice
i/sau impactul lor, al autorilor sau al revistelor asupra
domeniului de cercetare la care se refer (De Robbio,
A., 2007, p. 257).
Analiza bibliometric se bazeaz pe convingerea c o
cercetare tiinific publicat ntr-un jurnal de calitate,
dup procesul de evaluare peer review, va fi citat i de
ali cercettori din acelai domeniu, va influena
cercetrile succesive ale acestora, reprezentnd o
referin pentru viitoarele publicaii. n consecin,
urmnd aceast logic, cu ct va fi mai mare numrul de
citri relative la un produs tiinific cu att mai ridicat va
fi calitatea i prestigiul acestuia i mai semnificativ
influena ulterioar asupra cercetrilor care abordeaz
aceeai tematic.
Studiile bibliometrice realizate de cercettori consacrai
ai domeniului arat c multe articole sunt publicate n
jurnale de specialitate de top, dar multe dintre ele nu
sunt niciodat citate (Brown, L.D., 1996, p.723). Totui,
unele studii empirice observ c exist o legtur
direct ntre statutul jurnalului i probabilitatea ca
articolele publicate n cadrul acestuia s fie citate, n
sensul c este mai probabil s fie citate articolele din
jurnalele de top dect cele din orice alte jurnale,
plecndu-se de la premisa, adevrat de cele mai multe
ori, c articole publicate n acele jurnale sunt de un nalt
nivel calitativ. Din acest punct de vedere, este foarte
dificil ca jurnalele aflate la nceput de drum s urce n
clasamentul jurnalelor dac avem n vedere drept
criteriu de apreciere proporia citrilor din numrul
articolelor publicate n respectivele jurnale.
La nivel internaional, studiile bibliometrice sunt realizate
asupra unor orizonturi de timp largi (20-30 de ani), ceea
ce permite realizarea unui numr mare de observaii i
formularea unor concluzii pertinente. Astfel, Brown
(1996, p.725) a realizat un studiu asupra gradului de
citare a articolelor publicate n apte jurnale de contabilitate de top incluse n Accounting Research Directory,
identificnd trei categorii de articole: cele clasice, citate
de mai mult de patru ori pe an, cele aproape clasice,
citate de trei ori pe an, i restul articolelor grupate n top
100, citate de mai puin de trei ori ntr-un an. Autorul a
vizat n studiul su articolele publicate n cele mai
importante apte jurnale de contabilitate, n perioada
1963-1992, i citarea acestor articole n cele mai
importante cinci jurnale de contabilitate, n perioada
54
1976-1992, respectiv o perioad care ncepe la 13 ani

dup anul de debut al perioadei de publicare a
articolelor. Printre concluziile studiului, autorul remarc:
numrul semnificativ al citrilor negative, prezena
autocitrilor, efectul de halou generat de autorii
consacrai i citrile generate de subiectele n vog. n
opinia acestui autor, ansele ca un articol tiinific s fie
citat cresc odat cu trecerea timpului.
Alte studii empirice (Spigler, R., 2002, p. 8) confirm
faptul c circa 90% din lucrrile publicate n revistele
tiinifice academice nu sunt citate niciodat, iar
aproximativ 50% dintre acestea nu sunt lecturate dect
de proprii autori, de referenii tiinifici ai revistei n care
articolele au fost publicate, n consecin, nu fac obiectul
citrilor. Articolele care sunt foarte lecturate au o
probabilitate mai mare de a fi citate. Cu ct un articol
este mai citat cu att crete factorul de impact, n cazul
jurnalelor cotate, iar cercettorii sunt mai incitai s
publice n respectivul jurnal. Acest fapt genereaz
externaliti pozitive pentru actorii implicai (autori,
editori, experi evaluatori etc.), concretizate n
accentuarea rigorii procesului de selecie i creterea
probabilitii ca articolele tiinifice s fie de mare
relevan (Dubini, P., Giglia, E., 2008, p. 4).
Ali cercettori consider c articolele care revizuiesc
literatura tiinific sunt mai frecvent citate dect studiile
empirice i, de asemenea, c frecvena citrii unui articol
nu reflect neaprat importana sau impactul lui asupra
comunitii tiinifice. De exemplu, unii cercettori sunt
tentai s se autociteze sau s citeze colegi din aceeai
entitate de cercetare, n pofida aportului limitat pe care l
determin respectivele lucrri. Alte articole fac obiectul
citrilor negative, respectiv sunt citate n scop critic
(Chtioui, T., Soulerot M., 2006, p. 9).
Studiile la nivel internaional (De Robio, A., 2007, p. 285)
consider c un articol tiinific postat online, n sistem
Open Access, va fi mai citit i mai citat dect o lucrare
postat, de asemenea, online ns pe o platform
comercial, cu acces limitat. Creterea utilizrii bazelor
de date prin intermediul Web i a modalitilor de acces
la literatura tiinific amplific acurateea evalurii
impactului i calitii produciilor tiinifice din toat
lumea, contribuie la dezvoltarea reelelor de comunicare
tiinific, utile pentru stabilirea conexiunilor ntre autori,
departamente, discipline, jurnale care se citeaz i se
influeneaz unele pe altele.
Dincolo de punctele de vedere controversate reperate n
literatura de specialitate, numeroi cercettori consider
bibliometria ca fiind un mod obiectiv de identificare

a structurii cunoaterii i de msurare a capacitii
unei contribuii tiinifice de a lsa urme. Istoricul
publicaiilor reflectat n sursele bibliografice, prin
mecanismul citrilor, are rolul de a semnala
apartenena la o comunitate tiinific. Citrile
contextualizeaz cercetarea, apropie autorul de
cititor i orienteaz cititorul n evaluarea muncii
autorului pe baza calitii referinelor selectate (Dubini,
P., Giglia, E., 2008, p. 4).
3. Metodologia cercetrii
Aceast lucrare se poate constitui ntr-un
studiu de productivitate tiinific, elaborat pe o baz de
date alctuit din ansamblul articolelor publicate n
numerele revistei Audit Financiar, n perioada 20032013. S-a ncercat, n acest mod, s se evalueze
influena revistei asupra cunoaterii din domeniile
auditului i contabilitii, n urma analizei structurii ariilor
tematice abordate de autorii cu statut i afiliere
instituional diferite, a identificrii gradului de
colaborare n cercetare/publicare, a cuantificrii
numrului anual de citri ale articolelor revistei i a
gradului su de internaionalizare.
Pentru a construi un corpus de date fiabile, a fost
angajat un proces minuios de explorare a 112 numere
ale revistei, publicate n perioada 2003-2013, i de
colectare manual a 720 de articole, de pe site-ul
revistei Audit Financiar sau din baza de date ProQuest,
n care aceasta este indexat. Au fost excluse din baza
de date astfel constituit articolele care rezumau:
dezbateri profesionale, seminarii, studii, conferine i
congrese. Articolele rmase n baza de date au fost
clasate n funcie de apartenena lor la cele dou
domenii de cercetare, contabilitate i audit, apoi, n
cadrul fiecrui domeniu, pe arii tematice (Tabelul 1).
Articolele care, n mod interdisciplinar, atingeau mai
multe arii tematice au fost ncadrate n funcie de aria
cea mai pregnant identificat n articol. Potrivit
metodologiei specifice analizei de coninut, pentru a
rspunde nevoii de a realiza un studiu aprofundat,
organizarea bazei de date a implicat conceperea unei
liste de variabile-criteriu, relevante pentru scopul
cercetrii, i a unor tabele interdependente care rezum
informaii relative la: anul i numrul apariiei articolelor,
Nr. 2(122)/2015
autor(ii), afilierea lor instituional, status-ul profesional

(cadru didactic/cercettor, practician, doctorand etc.),
calitatea de membru n Colegiul Editorial tiinific al
revistei, cuvinte cheie, numr de citri. Pentru
identificarea numrului anual al citrilor articolelor
incluse n populaia analizat s-a procedat la interogarea
bazei de date ProQuest i, de asemenea, s-a utilizat
software-ul de cutare i analiz a citrilor Publish or
Perish (Harzing, 2009). Verificarea datelor culese,
pentru suprimarea eventualelor redundane, a ncheiat
procesul de constituire a bazei de date.
Descrierea i explicarea produciei tiinifice din revista
Audit Financiar, a tendinelor identificate n cercetarea
de audit i contabilitate, prin raportare la trendul
internaional n aceleai domenii de cercetare,
extragerea inferenelor n urma analizei intuitive, prin
observare direct i prin analiza comparativ a
coninutului bazei de date, s-a realizat potrivit
demersului specific analizei de coninut.
4. Rezultatele cercetrii
n urma examinrii fluxului anual de articole ale revistei
Audit Financiar publicate n perioada analizat
(Tabelul 1), se constat superioritatea evident a
articolelor specifice domeniului Audit (55,5% din total
populaie, cu o medie a perioadei analizate egal cu
36,3 articole pe an), n raport cu cele care aparin
domeniului Contabilitate (44,5% din numrul total de 720
articole, media perioadei fiind de 29,2 articole anual).
Excepie face anul 2004, n care articolele din domeniul
Contabilitate depesc att ca numr (10), ct i ca
pondere (62,5% din numrul anual al articolelor
publicate) pe cele care abordeaz tematici specifice
domeniului Audit (6 articole care reprezint 37,5% din
articolele publicate, n 2004, n revista analizat)
(Tabelul 2). n urmtorii ani ai perioadei analizate se
constat o tendin continu de atenuare a diferenei
dintre numrul articolelor publicate, din cele dou
domenii, pentru ca n 2012 articolele pe domeniul
Contabilitate (43 articole, respectiv 53,7% din numrul
articolelor publicate n acel an) s le depeasc pe cele
de Audit (37 articole, reprezentnd 46,3% din numrul
anual al articolelor publicate), ajungndu-se la egalitate
n 2013.
55
Tabel 1. Caracterizarea dinamicii articolelor publicate n revista Audit Financiar pe domenii i arii tematice
n perioada 2003-2013
Finane/Analiz
financiar
Total Domeniu
Contabilitate
9
2
2
19
34
22
16
21
28
20
27
200
7
2
3
5
14
14
10
14
8
6
6
89
8
2
20
6
10
12
9
1
8
5
81
2
2
4
5
1
2
4
5
1
3
29
26
6
11
49
55
48
42
49
38
37
38
399
5
3
2
27
24
18
14
20
24
21
15
173
4
5
3
7
4
4
5
6
1
4
1
44
1
2
1
2
13
7
18
9
11
18
22
104
10
10
6
36
41
29
37
35
36
43
38
321
36
16
17
85
96
77
79
84
74
80
76
720
18,2
8,0
7,4
2,7
36,3
15,7
4,0
9,5
29,2
65,5
27,8
12,4
11,3
4,0
55,5
24,0
6,0
14,4
44,5
100
IV
VII
II
VI
III
II
Total general
Relaia Fiscalitate Contabilitate - Audit
Total Domeniu Audit
Standarde profesionale
i etice/Deontologia
profesiei
Auditul sistemelor
informaionale/
Tehnologii pentru audit
Contabilitate: arii tematice

Practici contabile/
Reglementri
naionale i
internaionale/
Raportri financiare
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Total (nr. art.)
Media perioadei
(nr. art./an)
Total/Total
general (%)
Clasamentul ariilor
tematice
Audit intern
Perioada
analizat
Audit financiar extern
Audit: arii tematice
Sursa: Prelucrare proprie
Un clasament al ariilor tematice care au suscitat

interesul autorilor revistei, n 2003-2013, relev poziia I
atribuit ariei Audit financiar extern, cu 27,8% din
totalul articolelor publicate n orizontul de timp
considerat i o medie a perioadei de 18,2 articole pe an.
Aria Practici contabile/Reglementri/Raportri deine
locul al II-lea, cu 24% din populaia total a articolelor
publicate i o medie a perioadei egal cu 15,7 articole
pe an. Pe locurile din urm n cadrul clasamentului,
potrivit reprezentrilor din Tabelul 2, sunt poziionate
arii tematice din ambele domenii de cercetare, care
solicit un grad mare de specializare pentru a putea fi
abordate, ca de exemplu: Auditul sistemelor
informaionale/Tehnologii pentru audit (impactul
tehnologiilor informatice asupra auditului, modele
informatice de evaluare a riscului n audit, tehnologii
business intelligence - ERP, aplicaii IT etc.) i Relaia
56
Fiscalitate-Contabilitate-Audit (auditul funciei de

colectare, aplicarea metodologiei de audit n
administraia fiscal, managementul bugetului, implicaii
fiscale ale aderrii la UE, modificri aduse codului fiscal
- implicaii asupra auditului etc.). Se constat, aadar, o
concordan deplin ntre tematica abordat pregnant n
articolele revistei i specificul revistei Audit Financiar.
Analiza structurii articolelor pe arii tematice permite
realizarea unor interpretri mai analitice. n general, se
observ c interesul autorilor pentru cercetarea din
anumite arii tematice s-a modificat n timp, n pas cu
subiectele pentru care manifestau preocupare
cercettorii la nivel internaional, cu dinamica
reglementrilor internaionale i cu nevoia de
armonizare la acestea sau cu stringena problemelor
pentru care se caut rspuns n anumite conjuncturi
economice.
Tabel 2. Numrul i structura articolelor publicate n revista Audit Financiar pe domenii i arii tematice n
perioada 2003-2013
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2
5,6
2
12,5
4
23,4
5
5,9
1
1,0
2
2,6
4
5,0
5
5,9
1
1,4
3
3,8
-
26
72,2
6
37,5
11
64,7
49
57,7
55
57,3
48
62,4
42
53,2
49
58,3
38
51,4
37
46,3
38
50,1
5
13,9
3
18,7
2
11,8
27
31,7
24
25,0
18
23,3
14
17,7
20
23,8
24
32,4
21
26,3
15
19,7
4
11,1
5
31,3
3
17,6
7
8,2
4
4,2
4
5,2
5
6,3
6
7,1
1
1,4
4
5
1
1,3
1
2,8
2
12,5
1
5,9
2
2,4
13
13,5
7
9,1
18
22,8
9
10,8
11
14,8
18
22,4
22
28,9
10
27,8
10
62,5
6
35,3
36
42,3
41
42,7
29
37,6
37
46,8
35
41,7
36
48,6
43
53,7
38
49,1
Total general
Total Domeniu Audit
Auditul sistemelor
informaionale/
Tehnologii pentru audit
Standarde profesionale
i etice/Deontologia
profesiei
8
22,2
2
11,8
20
23,5
6
6,3
10
13,0
12
15,2
9
10,8
1
1,4
8
10,0
5
6,6
Total Domeniu
Contabilitate
2006
7
19,4
2
12,5
3
17,7
5
5,9
14
14,6
14
18,2
10
12,7
14
16,6
8
10,8
6
7,5
6
7,9
Finane/Analiz
financiar
2005
9
25,0
2
12,5
2
11,8
19
22,4
34
35,4
22
28,6
16
20,3
21
25,0
28
37,8
20
25,0
27
35,6
Relaia Fiscalitate Contabilitate - Audit
2004
Nr.
%
Nr.
%
Nr.
%
Nr.
%
Nr.
%
Nr.
%
Nr.
%
Nr.
%
Nr.
%
Nr.
%
Nr.
%
Contabilitate: arii tematice

Practici contabile/
Reglementri
naionale i
internaionale/
Raportri financiare
2003
Audit intern
Perioada
analizat
Audit financiar extern
Audit: arii tematice
36
100
16
100
17
100
85
100
96
100
77
100
79
100
84
100
74
100
80
100
76
100
Sursa: Prelucrare proprie
Aa, de exemplu, n primele numere ale revistei (2003),

n aria Audit financiar extern, care deinea 25% din
numrul total anual al articolelor publicate (Tabelul 2),
autorii abordau subiecte precum: bazele auditului din
perspectiva globalizrii economice, standardele
internaionale de audit, riscul n auditul financiar. n
perioada 2004-2005, ponderea anual a articolelor
scrise pe teme aparinnd acestei arii a nregistrat un
trend descresctor, relansndu-se, n anul 2007, cu
subiecte relative la: riscul de fraud, raportri
frauduloase, tehnici statistice utilizate n audit, legea
Sarbanes-Oxley, reglementri internaionale n materie
de audit (ISA, ISA 700 revizuit, SAS). Se remarc,
ncepnd cu 2009, tratarea n articolele specifice ariei
Nr. 2(122)/2015
Audit financiar extern a problematicilor: auditul n

condiii de criz i auditul proiectelor europene finanate
prin fonduri structurale, cu o intensificare a acestor teme
n 2011 (37,8% din articolele anuale ale revistei) i n
anii urmtori.
Articolele care trateaz subiecte din celelalte arii tematice, ale domeniului Audit, dein pondere semnificativ n
numerele revistei din primii ani ai orizontului de timp luat
n analiz. O poziie moderat o deine aria tematic
Audit intern cu 19,4%, n 2003, cu subiecte preponderent relative la organizarea auditului intern i normele de
audit intern, iar ulterior cu articole pe tema relaiei audit
intern - guvernana corporativ, audit intern n instituiile
publice etc. Independen i obiectivitate n audit, nevoia
57
de etic n audit (2003), conflicte de interese n audit

(2006), cod etic, onorarii de audit, perspectivele profesiei
(2008), noul cod de etic, etica n condiii de criz (2010)
reprezint subiecte nscrise n articolele ariei tematice
Standarde profesionale i etice/Deontologia profesiei,
care deine majoritatea de 23,5% din publicaiile revistei
n 2006 (Tabelul 2).
Articolele incluse n aria tematic Practici
contabile/Reglementri/Raportri nregistreaz un
maxim, n 2011, egal cu 24 (32,4% din articolele revistei
din anul considerat), n raport cu media perioadei, egal
cu doar 15,7 articole pe an. Calitatea raportrii
financiare, value relevance n contabilitate, contabilitatea
instrumentelor financiare au reprezentat subiecte
cercetate n acel an. De asemenea, din punct de vedere
cantitativ se remarc anul 2006, cu 27 de articole care
dein 31,7% din numrul articolelor, perioad n care
autorii au scris pe tema: valorii juste, impactului trecerii
la IFRS, contabilitii publice i consolidrii. Iar subiecte
precum: raportri financiare prin rezultatul global,
evaluare la valoare just, normalizare, convergen
IFRS/USGAAP (2007), recunoaterea i evaluarea
imobilizrilor necorporale, teoria consolidrii, caracteristici calitative ale informaiilor financiar-contabile
(2008), implicaii contabile ale crizei (2009) au fcut
obiectul altor articole incluse n aceeai arie tematic.
Ca rezultat al intensificrii cercetrilor care studiaz
efectele proceselor de reglementare a contabilitii la
nivel internaional i de profesionalizare a auditorilor,
s-au intensificat i cercetrile din aria Finane/Analiz

financiar, care dein o poziie intermediar n cadrul
articolelor publicate n revista Audit Financiar (locul III
n clasament). Cele mai multe contribuii pe aceasta
tem (22 articole, fa de media perioadei egal cu 9,5
articole pe an, sau 28,9% din articolele anuale ale
revistei) se concentreaz n anul 2013 (Tabelele 1 i 2).
n mod selectiv, o trecere n revist a temelor
cercetate se prezint astfel: nevoia de resurse
financiare, costul finanrii (2004), implicaiile aplicrii
IFRS asupra indicatorilor financiari (2006), soluii de
analiz financiar pentru audit, analiza proiectelor de
investiii (2007), risc i performan (2008), analiza strii
de criz financiar, criza creditelor, analiza activelor
toxice declanatoare de criz (2009), analiza pe
instrumente financiare (2010), analiza performanei n
sistemul public, analiza investiiilor strine, guvernana
corporatist, calitatea raportrii i costul capitalului
(2011), analiza value relevance n comunicarea
financiar (2012/2013) etc.
Tort E. (2014) realizeaz, pentru perioada 2004-2013,
un studiu asupra unui numr de 322 articole extrase din
patru reviste franuzeti reprezentative pentru cercetarea
din domeniul contabilitii (Comptabilit-Contrle-Audit,
Recherches en Sciences de Gestion, Finance- ContrleStratgie, Revue Franaise de Gestion) i identific o
structur tematic a articolelor publicate asemntoare
cu cea descris prin explorarea articolelor coninute n
revista Audit Financiar (Tabelul 3).
Tabel 3. Arii tematice identificate n cercetarea din domeniul contabilitii n Frana, n perioada 2004-2013
Tematic
IFRS
Audit
Informaii
financiare
Managementul
rezultatului
Control de
gestiune i
costuri
Obiect de studiu
Tranziie, studii de impact, coninutul IFRS
Normalizarea la nivel internaional
Norme specifice (IFRS 2, IAS 32/39, IAS 38, IFRS 3, IAS 36, IFRS 8)
Determinani i factori de influen a calitii auditului
Auditul intern n sectoarele bancar i public
Deontologia profesiei: etic, independen, competenele auditorului
Piaa auditului, alegerea auditorului, comitetele de audit, onorarii
Raportri financiare, calitatea raportrii,
Value relevance, coninutul, credibilitatea raportrii i randamentele bursiere
Managementul rezultatului n situaii speciale: fuziune, luarea n control, diversificare, schimbarea
managerului, retragerea cotei
Manipulri contabile, fraude
Legtura ntre controlul de gestiune, strategie, managementul valorii, metoda ABC
Sistemul de pilotaj: analiza performanelor manageriale, sisteme de msurare a performanelor (tabloul de
bord, BSC), legtura responsabilitate social-strategie
Gestiune previzional i bugetar
Sursa: Prelucrare dup Tort, E., Quelques lments concernant la recherche comptable en France, Revue Franaise de
Comptabilit, nr. 472, ian 2014, p. 20
58
Dac analizm structura articolelor avnd n vedere

numrul de autori pe articol, situaia se prezint ca n
Figura 1. Se observ o descretere relativ constant a
numrului de articole avnd un singur autor, din anul
2003 pn la sfritul perioadei analizate (de la 92.50%
la 70.20%), concomitent cu o cretere a numrului de
articole cu doi, trei, patru sau chiar cinci autori. Dac

articole avnd doi sau trei autori au existat nc de la
apariia revistei, primele articole cu patru autori au
aprut abia n 2009, nregistrnd o medie de apariie de
4,39%. Articole cu cinci autori au fost publicate n revist
doar n anul 2012.
Figura 1. Structura articolelor revistei Audit Financiar dup numrul de autori pe articol
Sursa: Proiecie proprie
Un alt tip de analiz a vizat structura articolelor innd

cont de statutul autorilor (Figura 2). n mod firesc am
constatat c, exceptnd anul 2007, numrul autorilor
cadre didactice sau cercettori este ntotdeauna mai
mare dect numrul autorilor practicieni. Diferena este
cu att mai mare cu ct ne apropiem de sfritul
perioadei analizate, ajungnd la 82,78% n anul 2013.
Este posibil ca, n realitate, fa de observaiile noastre
s existe mici diferene din cauza faptului c unii autori
nu i-au precizat statutul. n acest sens, menionm c
prezenta analiz i-a avut n vedere i pe autorii cu statut
neprecizat, la acetia observndu-se un nivel maxim n
anul 2003, innd cont de numrul total al articolelor. Din
anul 2008, se constat absena total a autorilor al cror
statut nu a fost precizat.
Am considerat c prezint importan pentru studiul
nostru analiza structurii publicaiilor innd cont de
afilierea instituional a autorilor (Figura nr. 3),
identificnd cror instituii aparin autorii cei mai prolifici
Nr. 2(122)/2015
i cu cea mai mare influen asupra cunoaterii din

domeniile auditului i contabilitii. Astfel, categoriile de
afilieri identificate au fost urmtoarele: universiti de
tradiie, categorie n care am inclus Academia de Studii
Economice din Bucureti, Universitatea Alexandru Ioan
Cuza din Iai, Universitatea Babe-Bolyai din
Cluj-Napoca, Universitatea de Vest din Timioara i
Universitatea din Craiova; celelalte universiti au fost
ncadrate convenional n categoria universiti altele
dect cele de tradiie, universiti strine, organizaii
profesionale, firme de contabilitate i audit, instituii
publice sau autoriti, societi comerciale (altele dect
cele de contabilitate i de audit), precum i o categorie a
neafiliailor.
Cu o propor ie de 56,53% din totalul publicaiilor se
detaeaz cele avnd ca autori cadre didactice sau
cercettori afiliai universitilor de tradiie, fiind
urmate n ordine i la distane mici unele de altele de
cele avnd autorii afiliai celorlalte universiti (14,33%),
instituiilor sau autoritilor publice (13,94%), respectiv
59
neafiliailor (12,95%). La distan de cteva procente

se afl articolele ai cror autori sunt afiliai unor
organizaii ale profesionitilor contabili (7,56%),
respectiv unor firme de contabilitate i audit (6.97%).
Un numr mic de articole au ca autori cercettori afiliai

unor universiti strine, fapt uor explicabil prin limba n
care a aprut aceast revist, n perioada luat n
analiz.
Figura 2. Structura articolelor revistei Audit Financiar n funcie de statutul autorilor n perioada 2003-2013
Figura 3. Structura articolelor revistei Audit Financiar dup afilierea instituional a autorilor
60
O evoluie interesant se poate observa din analiza

numrului de articole publicate avnd ca autori
doctoranzii grupai, n funcie de apartenena sau nu la
structurile academice, n cadre didactice (cercettori) i
practicieni (Figura 4). Astfel, dac n perioada 20032006 nu au existat printre autorii practicieni doctoranzi,
din 2007 acetia nu numai c i fac simit prezena,
dar este primul an n care i depesc numeric pe autorii
doctoranzii cadre didactice. 2008 este anul n care
numrul celor dou categorii devine egal, rmnnd la
un nivel sczut (13 autori), pentru ca n perioada 20092010 numrul autorilor doctoranzi practicieni s
devanseze, ca ritm de cretere, doctoranzii cadre
didactice, iar din 2010 trendul cresctor se menine

doar n cazul autorilor doctoranzi cadre didactice. Anul
2013 aduce cea mai mare diferen absolut ntre cele
dou categorii (33 autori). Explicaia acestei evoluii este
logic, dac lum n considerare c din anul 2007 au
nceput s se dezvolte, ntr-un ritm fr precedent,
studiile doctorale ca urmare, pe de o parte, a
implementrii sistemului Bologna i, pe de alt parte, a
finanrii consistente a studiilor doctorale prin proiectele
de tip POSDRU - Programul Operaional Sectorial
Dezvoltarea Resurselor Umane. La finalul primei etape
de finanare prin aceste proiecte (2007-2013) numrul
autorilor doctoranzi practicieni a cobort la o persoan.
Figura 4. Dinamica numrului de articolele publicate de doctoranzi n revista Audit Financiar

Analiza componenei Colegiului Editorial tiinific al

Revistei Audit Financiar indic faptul c acesta este
format din 19 cadre didactice (18 profesori universitari
i un confereniar universitar) i un academician
(Figura 5). Dintre acetia, 6 sunt strini i 14 romni.
Din punctul de vedere al afilierii instituionale a
membrilor Colegiului, doar Academia de Studii
Economice Bucureti i Universitatea Alexandru Ioan
Cuza Iai au mai mult de un membru n colegiu,
(prima - 5 i a doua - 2) restul membrilor aparinnd
altor universiti sau instituii.
Nr. 2(122)/2015
Din totalul articolelor publicate, aproximativ 10%

i au ca autori pe membrii Colegiului Editorial tiinific al
revistei Audit Financiar. Studiile anterior publicate indic
faptul c aceasta este o practic acceptat la nivelul revistelor. Mai mult, exist jurnale care condiioneaz acceptarea ca membru n Colegiul Editorial de publicarea n acel
jurnal a unuia sau mai multor articole. Studiul nostru confirm, aadar, rezultatele cercetrilor anterioare, cu observaia c nu toi membrii Colegiului Editorial tiinific au
publicat n revist. Astfel, apte dintre ei nu au publicat nici
un articol. Dintre acetia, patru sunt romni i trei strini.
61
Figura 5. Numrul articolelor publicate de autorii membri ai Colegiului Editorial tiinific al revistei Audit
Financiar n perioada 2003-2013
Un citat atribuit lui Albert Einstein reamintete c nu tot

ceea ce poate fi numrat conteaz i nu tot ceea ce conteaz poate fi numrat, ns, revenind la cercetarea tiinific, sistemul de valori care i este specific contorizeaz
numrul i frecvena citrilor articolelor publicate n reviste
de specialitate, pentru a face din acestea criterii de apre-
ciere a relevanei i impactului lor asupra unei comuniti

tiinifice ori asupra unor domenii ale cunoaterii. Din acest
motiv, prezenta cercetare a realizat o succint analiz a
citrilor, care a condus la rezultate oarecum previzibile
(Figura 6). Astfel, primul articol publicat n revista Audit
Financiar citat a fost identificat n anul 2007.
Figura 6. Numrul anual al citrilor articolelor revistei Audit Financiar n perioada 2006-2013
62
Aspectul este explicabil, pe de o parte, prin faptul c

ncepnd cu anul 2006 a crescut frecvena de apariie a
revistei, prin trecerea de la editarea trimestrial la
editarea lunar i, pe de alt parte, prin faptul c revista
Audit Financiar a fost indexat n baze de date
recunoscute abia n anul 2009, cnd s-a schimbat i
politica de distribuie a revistei (publicarea de informaii
pe site-ul revistei, accesul gratuit la numerele revistei
mai vechi de doi ani etc.). Nivelul maxim al citrilor a fost
atins imediat dup indexare, numrul citrilor a crescut
comparativ cu situaia din perioada precedent,
ajungnd n 2009 la 8 citri (10,12% din numrul
articolelor publicate n revista Audit Financiar n acel
an), meninndu-se totui nesemnificativ. n anul 2010,
situaia este apropiat cu cea din anul precedent,
aadar, s-au nregistrat 7 citri propriu-zise (8,33% din
numrul articolelor publicate n 2010). Scderea
numrului de citri, pe msur ce ne apropiem de
perioada recent, se poate explica i prin faptul c,
tradiional, citrile apar dup civa ani de la publicarea
unui studiu. Cu siguran c accesul electronic liber la
articole modific aceast tradiie i asistm, n prezent,
la o scdere a intervalului de timp dintre publicarea unei
lucrri i citarea ei. O alt posibil explicaie a numrului
mic de citri este limba de publicare n revista Audit
Financiar, n condiiile n care cerinele de vizibilitate
academic solicit publicarea n limbi strine, de regul,
n limba englez.
Analiza citrilor, prin observarea relaiilor logice ntre
articolele cele mai citate i articolele care citeaz (oneway citation), relev tematica cercetat n cele mai
influente sau cu impact articole, respectiv: deontologia
profesiei, standarde internaionale de audit, analiza
statistic n misiunile de audit, tehnologii business
intelligence pentru audit, reglementri BNR n contextul
implementrii IFRS n sistemul bancar, valoarea just,
relevana informaiilor financiar-contabile, audit financiar
n condiii de criz, guvernana corporatist.
Complementar se observ c majoritatea articolelor
citate sunt publicate sub semntura autorilor cadre
didactice/cercettori care aparin, n ordinea numrului
citrilor, Universitii Alexandru Ioan Cuza din Iai,
Universitii Babe-Bolyai Cluj-Napoca, Universitii
Constantin Brncoveanu Piteti, Universitii
1 Decembrie 1918 Alba-Iulia, ASE Bucureti,
Universitii Petru Maior Trgu Mure. Se remarc
Nr. 2(122)/2015
frecvena citrilor articolelor semnate de lectorii ACCA,

doctoranzi i profesioniti contabili.
Concluzii
Revista Audit Financiar este o publicaie de strict
specialitate pentru domeniile auditului i contabilitii.
Articolele publicate n aceast revist se ncadreaz,
prin tematica abordat, n tendinele pieei ideilor la nivel
internaional.
Revista are, ns, un grad de internaionalizare redus,
apreciat att n funcie de numrul puin semnificativ de
autori strini care public n revista Audit Financiar, ct
i n raport cu numrul cvasi-inexistent de citri ale
articolelor din cuprinsul acesteia n publicaiile de
specialitate din strintate. Gradul sczut de
internaionalizare se explic, pe de o parte, prin faptul
c, pn n 2015, revista a fost publicat doar n limba
romn i, pe de alt parte, prin faptul c nu putea fi
consultat direct, n sistem Open Access, ea fiind
indexat, pn n 2014, n baze de date care permiteau,
ntre anumite limite, accesul la aceast publicaie, pentru
diseminare tiinific deschis.
Revista Audit Financiar este una din publicaiile n care
intenia de publicare constituie i o rezultant a faptului
c este indexat n bazele de date recunoscute de
Consiliul Naional de Atestare a Titlurilor, Diplomelor i
Certificatelor Universitare, fiind recunoscut n procesul
de evaluare a candidailor care se prezint la
concursurile pentru ocuparea posturilor didactice i de
cercetare, respectiv, pentru evaluarea personalului
didactic i de cercetare.
n pofida influenei, la prima vedere modest dac
apreciem prin prisma numrului articolelor citate i a
gradului redus de internaionalizare, pe care o determin
asupra cercetrii din domeniile auditului i contabilitii,
revista Audit Financiar este o publicaie care, graie
politicii sale editoriale, se afl ntr-un proces de continu
cretere a nivelului tiinific, a vizibilitii sale la nivel
naional i internaional. Revista concentreaz
deopotriv contribuii ale cercettorilor care, n special
sub aspect teoretic, sunt continuu conectai la trendul
ideilor la nivel internaional, dar i abordri pragmatice
proprii profesionitilor care, la rndul lor, ofer soluii sau
gsesc rspuns la provocrile lumii afacerilor. Astfel,
revista mijlocete transferul n ambele sensuri a fluxului
de cunotine, dezbateri profesionale i experiene
specifice auditului i contabilitii.
63
BIBLIOGRAFIE
Baccini, A., Valutare la ricerca scientifica. Uso e abuso
degli indicatori bibliometrici, Il Mulino, Bologna, 2010
Babbie, E., Practica cercetrii sociale, Ed. Polirom, Iai,
2010
Brown, L.D., Influential Accounting Articles, Individuals,
PhD Granting Institutions and Faculties: A Citational
Analisys, Accounting, Organizations and Society,
Vol. 21. No 7/8, 1996, pp.923-754
Chan, K.C., Chan, K.C., Seow, G.S., Tam, K. (2009),
Ranking accounting journals using dissertation
citation analysis: A research note, Accountig,
Organizations and Society, Volume 34, Issues 67,
August-October 2009, pp. 875-885
Chtioui T., Soulerot M., Quelle structure des
connaissances dans la recherche franaise en
comptabilit, contrle et audit ? Une tude
bibliomtrique de la revue CCA sur la priode 19952004, Comptabilit, Contrle et Audit, Tome 12, mai
2006, Volume 1, pp. 7-25
De Robbio, A., Analisi citazionale e indicatori
bibliometrici nel modello Open Access, Bollettino
AIB, Vol. 47, nr. 3, 2007, pp. 257-288
Dubini, P., Giglia, E., La sostenibilit economica dei
modelli di Open Access, 2008, disponibil la
http://eprints.rclis.org/13216/1/Dubini_Giglia.pdf,
accesat la 5.12.2014
64
Gavard-Perret, M.-L., Gotteland, D., Haon, Ch., Jolibert,

A., Mthodologie de la recherche en sciences de
gestion, 2e dition, Pearson, Montreuil, 2012
Lefrancq, S., Recherche et action: la comptabilit dans
son contexte. Une tude de la politique editoriale
dAccounting,
Organizations
and
Society,
Comptabilit-Contrle-Audit, Numro thmatique,
Juin 2004, pp.297-315
Lukka, K, Kasanen, E., The problem of generalizability:
anecdotes and evidences in accounting research,
Accouting, Auditing and Accountability Journal,
1995, Issue 8, Vol. 5, pp.71-90
Patapievici, H.-R., Despre idei & blocaje, Editura
Humanitas, Bucureti, 2007
Reinstein, A., Calderon, T. G., Examining accounting
departments rankings of the quality of accounting
journals, Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 17(4),
2006, pp. 457490
Spigler, R., Peer-Reviewing and Electronic Publishing",
High Energy Physics Libraries Webzine, issue 6,
March 2002, disponibil la http://library.cern.ch/
HEPLW/6/papers/5/, accesat la 6.12.2014
Tort, E., Quelques lments concernant la recherche
comptable en France, Revue Franaise de
Comptabilit, nr. 472, Jan 2014, pp. 18-22
Mihai CARP
Scientific Editorial Board

Professor Dinu AIRINEI, Ph. D. - "Al. I Cuza" University, Iai
Professor Veronel AVRAM, Ph. D. - Craiova University
Professor Sorin BRICIU, Ph. D. - "1 Decembrie 1918" University, Alba Iulia
Associate Prof. Ovidiu BUNGET, Ph. D. Universitatea de Vest din Timioara
Professor Alain BURLAUD, Ph. D. The National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts, Paris
Professor Tatiana DNESCU, Ph. D. - "Petru Maior" University, Trgu Mure
Associate Prof. Lilia GRIGOROI, Ph. D. - Academy of Economic Studies of Moldova, Chiinu
Professor David HILLIER, Ph. D. - Leeds University Business School, United Kingdom
Professor Allan HODGSON, Ph. D. - The University of Queensland, Australia
Professor Emil HOROMNEA, Ph. D. - "Alexandru Ioan Cuza" University, Iai
Professor Robin JARVIS, Ph. D. - Brunel University, United Kingdom
Professor Maria MANOLESCU, Ph. D. - Bucharest University of Economic Studies
Professor Dumitru MATI, Ph. D. - "Babe-Bolyai" University, Cluj-Napoca
Professor Ion MIHILESCU, Ph. D. - "Constantin Brncoveanu" University, Piteti
Professor Ana MORARIU, Ph. D. - Bucharest University of Economic Studies
Lecturer Mirela PUNESCU, Ph. D. - Bucharest University of Economic Studies
Associate Prof. Irimie Emil POPA, Ph. D. - "Babe-Bolyai" University, Cluj-Napoca
Professor Vasile RILEANU, Ph. D. - Bucharest University of Economic Studies
Univ. Prof. Ion STANCU, Ph. D. - Bucharest University of Economic Studies
Professor Donna STREET, Ph. D. - Dayton University, USA
Professor Ioan TALPO, Ph. D. - West University, Timioara
Professor Eugeniu URLEA, Ph. D. - Bucharest University of Economic Studies
Professor Iulian VCREL, Ph. D. - Member of the Romanian Academy
Important for Authors!

The articles are submitted to the editor by e-mail at: revista@cafr.ro, compulsory in MS
Office Word format, in black-and-white.
The authors are kindly requested to comply with the following:
- the language the article is drafted is English
- the optimal size of the article is: 7-10 pages with 2000 signs/page, spaces included;
- the article must mention the title, the research methodology used, authors
contributions and the references;
- an Abstract is compulsory, which must be written at the 3rd person plural,
presenting the subject of the research, the main problems and authors
contributions;
- 4-5 key words;
- JEL Classifications.
Tables and graphs are developed in black and white up to 6 shades of gray and sent
also separately, if they were elaborated in MS Office Excel.
The review of the articles is performed by members of the Scientific Assessment Council
of Financial Audit Journal, by means of the double-blind review method, that is, the
reviewers do not know the names of the authors, nor the authors do know the names of
the reviewers.
Assessment criteria for articles: innovative input, topicality, importance and relevance for
the subject matter; the quality of the research methodology; clarity and pertinence of
the presentation and argumentation; the relevance of the bibliographic sources used;
contribution made to the research in the area. The resolution of the Scientific Assessment
Council of the journal can be: acceptance; acceptance with revisions; rejection. The
results of the assessments are communicated to the authors and only the articles
approved by the Scientific Assessment Council are published.
More details on our website www.revista.cafr.ro, sections Reviews and Manuscripts.
66
Monthly Journal published by the

Chamber of Financial Auditors
of Romania
67-69 Sirenelor Street, District 5,
cod 050855, Bucharest, OP 5,
CP 83
Scientific Director:
Professor Pavel NSTASE, Ph. D.
Editorial Director:
Corneliu CRLAN, Ph. D.
Editor in Chief:
Cristiana RUS
Editorial Assistant: Cristina RADU
DTP: Nicolae LOGIN
The Scientific Editorial Board and
the editorial technical team shall
take no responsibility for the content
of the articles published in the
journal.
International Databases:
http://www.ulrichsweb.com;
http://www.proquest.com;
www.ebscohost.com;
www.cabells.com
The journal is indexed in 3
databases acknowledged by the
National Council for Certification of
Universities Titles, Diplomas and
Certificates of Romania.
OSIM Trademark no. M2010 07387
Chamber of Financial Auditors
of Romania
Phone: (021) 410.74.43 extension 120;
Fax: (021) 410.03.48;
E-mail: revista@cafr.ro;
http: revista.cafr.ro
ISSN: 1583-5812,
ISSN on-line: 1844-8801
Printing: Print Group S.R.L.,
oseaua Fundeni nr. 50B,
Bucureti, phone no.: 0744.638.772
Audit financiar, XIII, Nr. 2(122)/2015, 67-73
Reflections
Accounting
Measure: Priority of Balance Sheet or Income Statement?
ISSN: 1583-5812;on
ISSN
on-line: 1844-8801
Reflections on
Accounting
Measure:
Priority of
Balance Sheet
or Income
Statement?
Abstract
Accounting is mainly based on two sciences: metrology the science of measurement and taxonomy - the science
of classification and reduce the complexity of an entity to
a few numbers. This article is an attempt to call into
question the concept of measurement and how it is used
in accounting.
The shift from historical cost to the market value or the
controversy regarding the primacy of stocks or flows
are, in the opinion of the authors, events related to the
governance in organizations that generate behaviors,
rights and obligations affecting society as a whole.
Therefore, the society cannot ignore the extent to which
the main function of accounting - faithful representation is met or not.
Keywords: accounting, measurement, cost, value,
stocks, flows
JEL Classification: M 41
Emeritus Professor Alain BURLAUD,

The National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts, Paris,
France, e-mail: alain.burlaud@cnam.fr
Emeritus Professor Claude SIMON,
ESCP Europe
Nr. 2(122)/2015
67
Introduction
Quantophrenia. Pathology consisting in the desire to
express everything in numbers. Neologism imagined by a
sociologist, Pitrim Alexandrovich SOROKIN, in the middle
of the XXth century. Yes, our world is quantophrenic.
Why? Theres no science without measure in other words
without numbers. Or, in two centuries, scientific
progresses have been not only incontestable, but
unimaginable. Even Jules Verne couldnt have imagined
it! From where the almost divine character of numbers
that all use trying to rely on them. Thus, numbers have
become the inevitable argument of any politician in lack of
credibility. Even so, it is well known for example that
statistics of the Interior Ministry on delinquency are
refined thanks to instructions given to the police stations,
that unemployment curves are degreased etc. But,
because doubt is an unpleasant state of mind, we are
pleased to believe that the figure expresses a certainty. In
a quantophrenic world, accounting has found an
ecosystem where it can prosper. Accounting is no longer
just an affair of merchants, but it affects all organizations
or entities: associations, public authorities (local, state,
legal entities of public international law etc.), political
parties, campaign accounts of various elections, unions,
religious congregations, etc. It also relates to communities
with no legal personality and thus without an own
patrimony like nations that keep national income
accounts.
Accounting relies on many sciences: law, economics,
management, etc. But accounting is based more
precisely on two sciences: the science of measurement
(metrology) and science of classification (taxonomy).
Indeed, booking a transaction implies knowing the value
expressed in monetary units and classifying it in one or
more categories (asset or expense? liabilities or
revenue?). Obviously, this doesnt explain the important
role that current societies grant to accounts.
From the earliest antiquity, men counted in order to
control. There was a need for a verifiable measure of the
number of animals in a flock entrusted to a shepherd.
Later, traders had to be able to verify the state of their
cash, receivables and debts. This function of accounting
is still relevant today and, if it would be its only function,
accounting would have remained a private business.
Thus, each household is free to keep its accounts
according to the method of their choice or not to keep
accounts at all.
68
Why accounting became a public matter with standards

and accounting law? Beyond its conclusive function in
case of litigation, it has become a tool of judgment. How
to appreciate and judge the financial position of a
company, the performance of its leaders? It is clear that
many assessment criteria are not found in the accounts.
What will be the likely trend of the market? What are the
competitors projects? What technological developments
threaten the goods or services sold? What is the social
climate in the company? We see that all these essential
questions cannot receive a simple answer. Worse, each
opens a debate in which even the experts will oppose.
How to take a stand? How to agree to express a
common opinion? Complexity is stressful and
paralyzing.
Accounting provides an answer to this anxiety by
reducing the infinite complexity of an entity, regardless
of its size and legal form, to a few numbers: bottom line
and its variation, turnover, level of indebtedness, etc.
These figures are comparable over time (consistency
principle) but also in space because, due to
standardization, conventions are essentially the same
and the figures for two companies are built on the same
basis. Of course, the relevance of these figures is
questionable because they describe the past when we
would like to know the future. But reducing complexity,
they make the entity comprehensible. The image is
fair. Fair to what? This is another issue that should not
be addressed. What matters is that the figure inspires
confidence and allows a consensus. The notion of
consensus means the express or implied consent of the
individuals on the core values of their society and their
willingness to resolve conflicts likely to oppose them, by
discussion, in order to overcome what is common on
what divides them.1Accounting provides all the
conditions for a consensus. Procedures, generally
accepted principles2are codified and, therefore,
legitimated. Their usage in the particular case of each
entity is certified by independent and accredited third
parties, auditors or judges of the Auditor General Office,
giving them credibility. Therefore, the preference goes to
a limited relevance, but offset by a reduced complexity
based on a consensual measure. Consensus is an
acceptable substitute for objectivity.
1
2
Auroux, S. sous la direction de (1998), Encyclopdie philosophique universelle, PUF, p. 435

GAAP, Generally accepted accounting principles
Reflections on Accounting Measure: Priority of Balance Sheet or Income Statement?
We shall now study the accounting measurement in

three stages:
The social character of measurement;

The conventions of accounting measurement;
The dilemma between measuring stocks and
measuring flows.
1. Measurement: a social approach

The object of measurement and the way to measure
reflects the values of a society and its organization or its
functioning. Thus we will see, for example, that one does
not measure the same way the surface of cultivable land
at different times and places, and that these differences
are meaningful. We will also see that in the humanities
and social sciences the issue of measurement arises in
a very particular manner relative to its status in the
engineering sciences.
1.1. The concept of measurement

The term measurement has multiple meanings. Its two
main meanings seem to oppose on the one hand a
quantitative goal (the measure becomes a standard, a
norm) and on the other a qualitative use (act with
moderation, wisdom, temperance or virtue). In fact, this
opposition is only apparent, quantitative measurement
must also be virtuous. This conjunction is found in the
use of the term in the vocabulary of music:
measurement determines a rhythm (a quantity) which
must be harmonious.
The development of measurement systems in time is
also instructive: they passed from homo-centrism to
geocentrism (Guedj, D. 2010). The history of the
measurement unit for length or surface in France
illustrates this evolution. Before the French Revolution,
each region, market place or guild had its own units of
measurement as the toise (six feet) or the ouvre a
specific unit of measure in Burgundy (it corresponds to
the surface that a average or normal farm worker can
work in a day). These units, norms or standards had
always the man as an initial reference and its relation to
his work. This was practical (apprehensible by everyone)
and logical. After all, the ouvre from Burgundy had to
be different from the one of the impressive slopes of the
vineyards from the Mosel Valley.
By the declaration of rights of man and citizen, the
French National Assembly in 1794, declared universal
Nr. 2(122)/2015
values: man has everywhere the same rights and should

not differentiate depending on its region or occupation.
The meter is born from this will: everywhere and for all, it
represents the ten-millionth part of a quarter of the
Earth's meridian. It has gone from homo-centrism to
geocentrism.
Since, that measure has been clarified and
universalized: the speed of light in vacuum being
299,792,458 m/s, meter became the distance travelled
by light in a vacuum in 1/299,792,458 seconds.
Humanity is far!
But if its logical that the measurement of physical
quantities to be geocentric and universal, is it the same
case for social phenomena and behaviours?
1.2. Physical measurement and measure in

social sciences and humanities
The measure of a material or physical property (a table
or a field, for example) does not affect it, in contrast, any
measure affects the subject concerned since he is
aware of the extent of which he is a subject. It is the
case of an individual or a social group. For example, the
marking in school (which is a measure) is not neutral
and its very purpose is to perform an action on the
subject measured by classifying, motivating (or
demotivating) or selecting him.
In the economic world the measure (e.g. GDP growth) is
a signal modifying the behaviour of economic agents
and generating feedback behaviour. Anyway, this is its
function.
Accounting plays an even more powerful role than most
other measured economic data. Indeed, it sends signals
like other economic measures, but, in addition, it
generates dividend or bonus rights, in other words,
realities. Just like the mayor who, by pronouncing I
declare you married, creates a reality altering the social
world, accounting generates too realities structuring
social relations. It is performative; statement that
constitutes simultaneously the act to which it refers (e.g.
I authorize you to leave, which is an authorization)
according to the dictionary Grand Robert de la langue
franaise. The statement and the act coincide. One
cannot be separated from the other.
Therefore, the accounting measure has a privileged
status. Like any other measure it is a mean given to man
to better understand the real, to give an image, but also,
more directly, to create a social link. Its responsibility,
69
accountability, is important. Thus, it can be implemented

only on clear and widely accepted principles.
We will see that accounting is one of the major areas of
application for questions raised the measurement.
Furthermore, if during the thirty glorious years inflation

was a real problem to accounting, this is no longer the
case today in the Western world. Contrariwise, volatility
has grown with the markets and to take it into
consideration is an error:
2. How should accounting

measure value?
It cannot be properly taken into account because of

the lag between the date of the financial
statements and that of their publication;
The question of value is critical in accounting as all

transactions must be translated into monetary units.
Should this value be fixed once and for all (historical
cost accounting) or should it be regularly updated
(revaluation or fair value)? If so, on what basis?
It is procyclical (which was found during the crisis

started in 2007);
2.1 Historical cost and market value

Historical cost reflected, recounted real acts between
two individuals or legal entities (seller and buyer).
Through these transactions, the economic agents had
carried out measures and given them (to the measures)
the strength of the contract. In this sense, the Civil Code
and the Commercial Code were the basis of accounting
and therefore its conceptual framework (in fact, the law
is the reference for all citizens). Accounting reported
concrete events measured by real actors in the context
of a social construct organized by the law.
The mark to market (and its avatar, fair value) wants to
create a representation based on an extrapolation of
marginal or individual evaluations; measuring with a
variable reference, handled by a set of anonymous
individuals called market. For all that, it claims
universality! A balance sheet, especially in a financial
institution, includes evaluations based on extrapolations
of punctual market values but also values derived from
models. The main argument of the advocates of fair
value is that the information would be relevant. It should
represent as closely as possible the business model of
the company. The fair value generalized to all assets
(not just the financial ones) would inform on the value
often assimilated to a liquidation value of these assets
for the company. However, it is obvious that the same
asset may have a different value of use depending on
the activity or intentions of the one who controls it.
IFRSs suggest measuring this value using the
discounted net cash flows. But everyone knows that
each of the hypotheses required for its implementation
(discount rate, cash receipts and expenses...) is
questionable and a source of manipulation.
70
It is not very consistent. Indeed, if its applicable to

the portfolio of securities held for trading, it cant be
taken into account in all other valuations made at
fair value (long-term assets, estimated liabilities,
and securities valued using models).
The transition from historical cost to mark to market
corresponds to that of a broad social construct (law =
politics) to a narrow social construct (investors or market
operators).
2.2. Confronting the fair value at the crisis

born in 2007
The failure of the principle of fair value and mark to
market has been very clear in the autumn of 2008. The
crisis had two effects: for some securities the markets
were simply dried up (no more player wanted to buy or
sell), for others their value had collapsed. The
measuring instrument (market value) either no longer
existed or, if it was taken into account, resulted in huge
losses generating a clear pro-cyclical effect yet
economically and therefore politically unthinkable. At the
request of the G8 (press release dated October 4,
2008), the IASB issued an amendment on October 13,
same year, entitled Reclassification of Financial Assets
allowing, by special dispensation, to proceed to the
reclassification of financial assets. If the technical aspect
is complex, the principle is relatively simple. Price
fluctuations only affect a title holder if it intends to sell it
quickly, vice versa, especially if it is a bond or another
title of debt, the intention to hold it until maturity makes it
insensitive to rate variations not due to a reimbursement
risk from the issuer. According to initial IFRSs, in the first
case (short hold intention) losses related to price falls
should be accounted as a reduction of income; in the
second case (for long or longer intention of detention)
losses may be counted by decreasing the shareholders
equity and not the income. By this amendment, IASB

allowed changing the destination (even retroactive
starting with July 1, 2008), modification previously
prohibited, in order to extend the holding period and,
therefore, the quoted market price decrease to not affect
the bottom line. It could have been expected an outcry:
changing the thermometer to mask the patient's
condition could be interpreted as an additional evidence
of crisis gravity! But this wasnt the case: the markets
greeted the decision of the IASB and for a few days
financial stocks were rising again! The only possible
interpretation is that markets do not behave according to
realities, yet the representation of it, given by the
measuring instruments manipulated and handled quite
transparent. What a responsibility given to accounting
and its measurement of profits or losses!
In fact, fair value and mark to market mark actually a
setback. It is the reverse compared to the progress of
the meter definition: it passes from a recognized
standard (price stated in transactions) to a new
corporatist one, of traders: evaluation according to a
volatile market and marginal values. In the absence of
market, the standards prescribe the simulation of market
behaviour using models such as the method of
discounted net cash flows or the Black and Scholes one
(considered that it provides a good measure by
accounting standards setters for any option, whatever
the term, when all professionals know that they are
inoperative after more than six months). But until the
beginning of the crisis in 2007 the self director character
of this model avoided to be brought into discussion.
Accounting raises only the question of treatment of
changes in value over time. We will see that the
conventions on which it is built can emphasize different
points of view. So, should we measure a stock (for
example, a patrimony) or flows (for example,
consumption and production)? Does the same question
arise when it comes to company accounts or national
accounts?
3. Measurement of stocks or
flows?
Quantum mechanics, according to Heisenbergs
uncertainty relation, shows that there is an
insurmountable theoretical barrier between the accurate
simultaneous measurement of the spatial coordinates of
a particle (its position) - q - and its movement (speed) - p
Nr. 2(122)/2015
-.In other words the precise determination of one

(position or speed) obstructs the knowledge of the other
(Saghroun and Simon, 1999)
This type of approach can be transposed metaphorically
in accounting: the primacy given to the balance sheet
(position or stock) would harm the income statement
(flows or turnover) and vice versa.
For most transactions there is no contradiction; double
entry provides a balance sheet (stock or position) and an
income statement (flow or turnover) which are
consistent. Contrary, in some cases, the quality of one is
opposed to that of other. Two simple examples illustrate
this fact: in times of inflation the FIFO method for
inventory valuation allows a more updated balance
sheet (inventory items are valued at the most recent
value), yet, vice versa, it deforms the income statement
whose costs are estimated at an older and less
significant value; the LIFO method would have the exact
opposite effect. The same principle applies when
allocating costs, in the name of searching just for an
accurate economic vision of the income statement, costs
are reflected as non-values in the balance sheet
(fictitious assets). Other examples particular related to
accounting for financial instruments could be mentioned
but would be outside the area considered here.
Is the supremacy to grant the stock (balance sheet) or
the flows (income statement) the same for the two major
accounting families which are those of legal or physical
persons on one hand and the accounts of nations on the
other hand?
3.1. Primacy to stocks or flows in

accounting for entities?
Giving primacy to the balance sheet (stocks) or the
income statement (flows) is not socially neutral. The
balance sheet, according to the French General
Accounting Plan, focuses on the human patrimony and
therefore on its owners. As a result, the relationship
between owners and entity becomes the reference point.
Inversely, the income statement, especially if it identifies
the expenses by nature, gives a growing recognition of
the relationship between the entity and the various
stakeholders: customers, suppliers, employees ....
The choice is therefore not socially neutral. Given the
driving power of American concepts on all global
accounting systems, we will briefly analyse their recent
developments which, however, show a real pendulum
movement.
71
Until 1978 the primacy goes to the income

statement which results particular in the general
principles (mainly through the Statement of
financial accounting concepts - SFAC No. 1) but
also in some standards allowing for example the
allocation of costs on several fiscal years.
But the principles evolved during the development
of the different SFAC constituting what is
commonly called the conceptual framework. So
SFAC No. 3 (December 1980) as amended by
SFAC No. 6 (September 1985) devotes a profound
change of perspective in clearly giving conceptual
priority to the balance sheet.
But it was not until 1997 and FAS 130 (Reporting
comprehensive income) when the jump was made.
By this standard relating to comprehensive
income primacy of the balance sheet is obvious,
though probably for fear of affecting markets and
other users of the accounts, additional items to net
income which should usually be included in the
overall profit may, according to this standard,
appear either in equity or at the bottom line of the
income statement.
But the transfer is true and complete. From that
date, all standards, including those relating to
financial instruments, will be built on the basis of
the primacy of the balance sheet.
The so-called international standards (those developed
by the FASB and the IASB) reached a certain
consistency: logic based on a primacy of the balance
sheet and the widest possible application of the fair
value enshrines an absolute supremacy of the purpose
of accounting towards owners and therefore market at
the expense of other stakeholders. This change is
concomitant with other mutations that occurred during
the same period to devote, according to a reason of
neoliberal inspiration, a strong deregulation movement in
the financial markets.
3.2. Primacy of stocks or flows in

accounting for nations?
Are the principles prevailing at an entity level
transposable at a nations level? And more, for the
whole planet? We will show that our response is
negative.
72
If an entity can focus its analysis, its measurement, its

patrimony by considering that its potential growth is
infinite (or at least may have great potential) that is not
the case of a country let alone all the countries of the
world. Indeed, the latter is finite and limited.
Measuring the increase in production flows, what the
gross domestic product(GDP) does, ignoring the fact
that it matches exactly (the principle of double entry) to
flows of consumption without measuring the effect on
net wealth is from our point of view, irresponsible. So,
any kilometre travelled by a vehicle is recorded as an
increase in GDP and thus, in fact, considered by the
economic and political commentators as a positive
contribution. If the fuel consumption of this vehicle
(larger displacement engine, for example) is increased,
the central indicator, which is not usually the GDP itself
but rather its variation (desired as positive as possible)
will be even more positively appreciated.1
However the effect on the worlds patrimony, natural
resources in our example, is real. By analogy with
private accounting, there is a decrease in the stock of
assets of available fossil fuel which will result in a
negative variation of this stock. But the combustion has,
in addition, ecological consequences because it emits
CO2, a greenhouse gas. The cost of environmental
consequences will be supported by future generations.
One should therefore also book these costs by recording
a liability.
Focusing national accounting on flows and not stock
induces a less responsible behaviour in relation to other
present people, let alone future ones on Earth. Is the
technical difficulty of measuring available stocks of asset
(for example it must incorporate unconventional fossil
fuels such as shale gas, and what is the level of these
reserves?) or even the bearable passive gone to
oppose?
However we believe that despite measuring the stocks
themselves (assets and liabilities) national accounting
should, at least, measure and publish the changes in
these stocks: what is the annual fossil fuel consumption?
What is the annual release of CO2 in comparison with
the measures of GDP?
Alfred SAUVY, demographer and French economist,

explained that if during a journey, in addition, you would
had an accident, GDP would increase even more due to
the cost of repair!
Conclusion
What would make accounting measure a social issue? It
produces behaviours and rights which affect
the public itself even if it has no contractual relationship
with the entity (externalities).
The accounting measure produces signs that induce
behaviours. These signs are elements of the
governance in organizations. For example, if the CEO of
a company may fail to meet his target of return on
equity, he will be tempted to:
Modify the signal by manipulating the accounts and

/ or
Take measures that will improve effectively the
short-term profit even sacrificing the long term one
by making cuts in R & D.
If the signal is inappropriate, the induced behaviour will
be generally inappropriate. Hence the responsibility of
whoever sets the sign and its mode of production.
In addition, the sign is performative, meaning that it
produces rights and obligations. The bottom line figure,
as the accountants have calculated, gives entitlement to

a dividend to shareholders, profit sharing for employees
and corporate officers, a tax to the state. Stakeholders
are many and we believe they can be legitimately
represented only by the Public Authorities.
Behaviours, rights and obligations arising from the
accounting sign, affect the whole society. The only
required thing from now one is that all entities, not only
companies, to have a social responsibility. They
contribute directly to land use planning policies,
employment, research, etc. Briefly, they produce
externalities that are often out of the field of accounting
this being one of the limits.
Word processing software have made great progress,
about 30 years ago, since WYSIWYG (What you see is
what you get) was introduced. In other words, what you
see (on-screen) is what you get (on paper). Similarly, we
can only manage what we see. Or the main function of
accounting is to show as faithfully as possible. Society
cannot ignore what it shows or what it doesnt.
REFERENCES
Burlaud, A. et Simon, C. (1999), Controlul de
gestiune,Bucharest, Editura CNI Coresi
Burlaud, A. et al. (2004), Contrle de gestion, Paris,
Vuibert
Desrosires, A. (2008), Pour une sociologie historique
de la quantification, Paris, Mines ParisTech
Desrosires, A. (2008), Gouverner par les nombres,
Paris, Mines ParisTech
Guedj, D. (2010), Le mtre des Lumires, premire
Nr. 2(122)/2015
mondialisation, in Lempreinte de la technique,

Paris, LHarmattan, P. 35-41.
Lorino, Ph. (2011), Du chiffre, ador ou excr, au
chiffrage pratiqu, in Comptabilit, contrle et
socit, Paris, Foucher
Saghroun, J., et Simon, C., (1999), Primaut du bilan ou
du compte de rsultat, le principe du pendule,
Comptabilit, contrle, audit, Tome 5, volume 1,
p. 59-76.
73

ISSN: 1583-5812; ISSN on-line: 1844-8801
Earnings
Management
and Quality of
Financial
Reporting:
A Pre-Post IFRS
Adoption Comparative
Analysis for
Companies Listed on
the Bucharest Stock
Exchange
Elena NECHITA
Abstract
This research aims to analyse the phenomenon of
earnings management as a result of implementing the
International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in
the individual financial statements prepared by the
companies listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange
(BSE) as a regulatory requirement from the financial
year 2012. Beginning with a description of the legal
framework for financial reporting in Romania, this
research reveals through a pre-post IFRS adoption
comparative analysis to what extent there is evidence of
income smoothing practices for companies listed on the
BSE after the adoption of IFRS, and whether the
carrying amounts of these companies have greater
value relevance in terms of share price evolution with
the transition to IFRS. The research contributes to
literature enhancement by pointing the implications of
IFRS adoption in the emerging economies.
Keywords: earnings management, quality of financial
reporting, International Financial Reporting Standards,
listed companies, Bucharest Stock Exchange
JEL Classification: M41
Economist Elena NECHITA, Ph.D. Student

Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania,
e-mail: elena.nechita@live.com
74
Earnings Management and the Quality of Financial Reporting
Introduction
The national economic context
A process of internationalization of enterprises takes

place worldwide, especially by extending the adoption of
the International Financial Reporting Standards, process
led by the capital and information exchange extending
beyond local markets and leading to the formation of
interest groups. Previous research has shown that, for
most companies, the amount of capital held by owners
calculated in accordance with IFRS is or is expected to
be higher than the amount of capital calculated by
applying national accounting rules (Jermakowicz et al.,
2006) and unanimous assertion is that the transition to
IFRS is a process both expensive and complex.
Studying the influence of mandatory adoption of IFRS,
Christensen et al. (2013) showed that in all analysed
countries, of which 20 were EU Member States, 2
member states of the European Economic Area and 11
countries outside the EU, mandatory reporting under
IFRS has little impact on liquidity and does not generate
any benefit on the capital market as a result of
implementing these standards.
Nationwide, the accounting regulations were

represented by the Order of the Minister of Public
Finance no. 3055/2009 approving the accounting
regulations compliant with European directives. This
regulation was replaced by the Order of the Minister pf
Public Finance no. 1802/Dec. 29, 2014, approving the
accounting regulations regarding the annual financial
statements and the consolidated annual financial
statements, published in the Official Gazette of
Romania, no. 963/Dec. 30, 2014.
Other research developed on the earnings management

analysis after IFRS implementation, mainly by emerging
economies, yielded varied results, in some cases even
contrary (Karampinis and Hevas, 2013; Lin and Wu,
2014). On the one hand, Karampinis and Hevas (2013),
in the study of the Greek companies, suggested that
reducing tax interference in accounting, inherent in the
adoption of IFRS, limits the influence of an important
determinant of the opportunistic managerial practices
and, consequently, leads to reduced earnings
management. On the other hand, Lin and Wu (2014), in
the research conducted on the companies in Taiwan,
provided results according to which managers in
emerging countries have stronger motivation in terms of
manipulating the earnings by altering the accounting
values. A possible explanation for the contrasting results
of studies conducted at country level is provided by Albu
et al. (2013) and refers to the fact that particularities of
individual contexts or manner in which these
characteristics influence the adoption of IFRS have been
overlooked, these studies being resumed only to
highlight the difficulties in IFRS adoption or low levels of
compliance.
For a better understanding of the economic and legal
context of Romania in the accounting of listed companies,
below are presented the applicable regulations.
Nr. 2(122)/2015
The proposed research is based on a regulation from

October 2012, that is the Order of the Minister of Public
Finance no. 1286/2012 approving the accounting
regulations in accordance with the International
Financial Reporting Standards applicable to companies
whose securities are admitted to trading on a regulated
market. Thus, all companies listed on a regulated capital
market will necessarily prepare financial statements in
accordance with the International Financial Reporting
Standards, stating with the financial year 2012.
Therefore, this implies that the individual financial
statements of the financial year 2012 will provide
comparative accounting information through the
beginning of the financial year 2011 according to IFRS 1
"First-time Adoption of International Financial Reporting
Standards", if the entities concerned have not applied
the IFRS in the preparation of the individual financial
statements of the previous years.
Research Methodology
This research proposes an analysis of the existence of
income smoothing practices and the value relevance of
book values in the companies listed on the Bucharest
Stock Exchange, following the implementation of IFRS
for individual financial statements, as a financial
reporting requirement from the financial year 2012.
Description of the underlying

research data
In terms of choosing the time period analysed, we opted
for post-IFRS 2010-2013 period, whereas the application
of IFRS for the preparation of individual financial
75
Elena NECHITA
statements occurred since the financial year 2012, with

comparative presentation of values restated under IFRS
for 2011 and 2010. In relation to the period before the
application of IFRS, the first year of analysis is 2005,
since some indicators included in the research model
are available only starting from 2005.
Of the 79 companies listed in 2010 under the BSE section,
Tier I and II, 11 banking and non-banking financial
institutions and 6 companies were excluded, as the
necessary information was unavailable because of their
suspension from trading in 2010 or 2011, thus remaining a
number of 62 companies. Based on the sample of 62
companies, for the pre-post IFRS adoption analysis, the
companies for which not sufficient data were available for
the period 2005-2010 were excluded. In this situation were
the companies established in the period 2005-2010 (6),
and the companies transferred to BVB from the RASDAQ

market during the pre-IFRS adoption analysis (17). The
sample for the pre-post IFRS implementation analysis
covers thus a number of 39 companies. It was chosen
elimination from the sample of financial institutions from
considerations related to the homogeneity of data and
because they align to a different a regulatory framework.
Table 1 highlights the distribution by industries of
companies forming the sample for pre-post IFRS adoption
analysis. Most of the companies are represented by
companies in the manufacturing industry in the proportion
of 71.8% of the total sample. Moreover, since certain
variables used in regression models are calculated as
indicators of change compared with the previous year,
resulted eight time intervals leading to a total of 312 firmyear observations for the period 2005-2013.
Table 1. Classification of companies by industry* (39 companies)

Industry
Other services
Automotive trade and repairs
Construction
Supply of electricity, gas
Hospitality and consumer
Real Estate
Manufacture
Mining
Transport and storage
Total
*Note:
Frequency
Percentage
2
1
1
1
1
1
28
1
3
39
Cumulative
Percentage
5.1
2.6
2.6
2.6
2.6
2.6
71.8
2.6
7.7
100.0
5.1
7.7
10.3
12.8
15.4
17.9
89.7
92.3
100.0
according to the International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities Industrial Classification, Rev.4
Source: Own IBM SPSS Statistics 22 processing
Data from pre-IFRS period 2005-2010 were collected

from the international database, Thomson Reuters
Eikon, for variables based on indicators of financial
statements of companies forming the sample and the
information published by BSE, for variables based on
indicators on the capital market. Data for the post-IFRS
2010-2013 were collected manually from individual
financial statements published on the BSE website or on
official websites owned by the companies forming the
sample. Source of data for the period 2010-2013 is
determined by the fact that Thomson Reuters Eikon
database does not include complete financial
information for the period analysed in all selected
companies.
76
Description of the regression

models used in research
Research models underlying the study reflect both the
effects associated with the financial reporting system
and the effects attributable to other factors, amongst
which we can mention the economic environment and
motivation to manipulate the results. Based on previous
studies in the literature using a similar methodology
(Barth et al., 2008 and Lang et al., 2006), this research
is conducted on two types of models: models of earnings
management analysis, which focus on determination of
earnings smoothing indices and models for assessing
the value relevance of accounting figures, focused on

establishing the correlation between the book values
and market values. Below, we detail the regression
models used in the analysis.
Models based on the earnings management

analysis
For analysis of the earnings smoothing phenomenon, we
used the following models (Barth et al., 2008):
i) variability of the change in net income scaled by total assets (NI) - interpreting a smaller variation of the indicator as
an earnings smoothing indication:
NI it= 0+ 1SIZEit+ 2GROWTHit+ 3EISSUEit+ 4LEV it+ 5DISSUEit+ 6TURNit+ 7CF it+ 8AUDit+ it,
(1)
where:
SIZE = the natural logarithm of end of year market value of equity;
GROWTH = percentage change in sales;
EISSUE = percentage change in common stock;
LEV = end of year total liabilities divided by end of year equity book value;
DISSUE = percentage change in total liabilities;
TURN = sales divided by end of year total assets;
CF = annual net cash flow divided by end of year total assets;
AUD = an indicator variable that equals 1 if the firms auditor is within Big 4 (PwC, KPMG, E&Y or D&T) and 0
otherwise.
ii) mean ratio of the variability of the change in net income(NI) to the variability of the change in cash flows(CF),
keeping the variables in equation (1) - companies with a volatile cash flow are characterized by a volatile net result; if
companies use techniques for earnings handling, the variability in the net result should be less than the variability in
cash flows:
CF it= 0+ 1SIZEit+ 2GROWTHit+ 3EISSUEit+ 4LEV it+ 5DISSUEit+ 6TURNit+ 7CF it+ 8AUDit+ it
(2)
iii) Spearman correlation between net cash flow (CF) and accruals (ACC), the latter being calculated as the difference
between NI and CF. A stronger link between the two elements is an indication that earning smoothing practices are
not used through accrual accounting. In this respect, the residual values obtained by applying the regression
equations below are compared (the CF variable is excluded from the regression model):
CF it= 0+ 1SIZEit+ 2GROWTHit+ 3EISSUEit+ 4LEV it+ 5DISSUEit+ 6TURNit+ 7AUDit+ it;
(3)
ACC it= 0+ 1SIZEit+ 2GROWTHit+ 3EISSUEit+ 4LEV it+ 5DISSUEit+ 6TURNit+ 7AUDit+ it
(4)
In contrast to the regression model used by

Barth et al. (2008), in our research we chose
to exclude variables related to companies
listed on financial markets other than the one
analysed (NUMEX, XLIST, CLOSE), as the
analysed companies are listed exclusively on the
Bucharest Stock Exchange.
Nr. 2(122)/2015
Models based on the value relevance of

accounting amounts
To analyse the value relevance, we used a two-step
regression of the share price, as follows:
first step is based on the share price regression

according to the industry in which the company
77
Elena NECHITA
operates (the companies were classified using the

International Standard Industrial Classification of
All Economic Activities, Rev.4) to control the
impact of this factor;
residual values obtained based on the previous
step regression (P*) are used in the following
regression equation (5) in order to analyse the
extent to which the share price is explained by the
equity value and the net result:
P*it = 0 + 1BVEPSit + 2NIPSit + it
(5)
where:
P = share value;
BVEPS = book value equity/share;
NIPS = net income/share;
Following the previous research (Barth et al., 2008 and
Lang et al., 2006), in order to ensure that the accounting
information has been made public, share prices were
assessed at three months after the year-end. Applying
the regression model given by equation (5), R2 value
obtained is analysed, interpreting a higher result as an
indication of higher book value relevance for companies
listed on the BSE, explained by a stronger correlation
between share prices and accounting values.
Research results
In order to perform an analysis of the pre-post IFRS
adoption, research methodology, as set out above, was
applied sequentially on the 39 companies forming the
sample, first for 2010-2013 with IFRS application and
then for the period 2005-2010 with the application of
national rules. Thus, two sub-samples are formed, the
first applying IFRS, comprising a number of 117 firmyear observations for the 3 time intervals of the 20102013 period, and the second one, applying the national
regulations, consisting of a total of 195 firm-year
observations for the 5 time intervals of the 2005-2010
period. As mentioned previously, the year 2010 is the
first in the time series for which the companies
presented comparative information in the individual
financial statements prepared in accordance with IFRS.
Following verification of data on the existence of outliers
likely to significantly influence the regression results,
additional refining was necessary to provide data
heterogeneity. After this procedure, the number of
78
observations for the post-IFRS sub-sample remains to

82 firm-year observations, and for the pre-IFRS subsample to 131 firm-year observations.
In order to ensure a 1 to 1 correspondence between
companies in the pre-IFRS application and post-IFRS
application periods, a company applying IFRS in 20102013 is compared with the same company applying
national regulations in 2005-2010, taking advantage of a
control on the fact that results are determined solely by
changes in applicable accounting regulations. However,
this approach has at least two limitations, the first related
to the fact that the number of years for each set of
regulations applicable is different (4 years for IFRS and
6 years for local accounting regulations), which leads to
an unbalanced sample as number of firm-year
observations. The second restraint in interpreting the
results refers to the process of gradual transition of IFRS
adoption that took place in Romania, including by taking
into the national regulations of certain provisions of
international standards, resulting in a reduction of
differences regarding the quality of financial reporting
before and after the adoption of IFRS. The study of Cai
et al. (2014) examined the extent to which differences
between international standards and national regulations
influence the effects of IFRS adoption, and the results
revealed that benefits resulting from the IFRS
implementation are higher for countries where the level
of divergence between local standards and IFRS prior to
adoption was higher.
Table 2 shows comparative descriptive statistics of the

variables used in research models applied in the prepost IFRS analysis within the 39 companies forming the
sample.
A compilation of the key indicators obtained after
application of the two models for each of the two periods
under review, is shown in Table 3. It can be seen a
significant increase of representativeness of the model
explaining the net income variability in the post-IFRS
period compared to pre-IFRS (R2 post-IFRS 12.83% >
R2 pre-IFRS 2.43%), highlighted by an increased
significance. Not the same trend was obtained for CF
where R2 post-IFRS of 11.69% is lower than the R2 preIFRS of 12.35% for CF. Although the difference in
representativeness of the model is not as high as in the
net income variability, the significance of errors in the
pre-IFRS period is 3.6%, which increases the validity of
the model compared to the post-IFRS period.
Table 2. Descriptive statistics of the pre-post IFRS application analysis

Post-IFRS 2010-2013
Mean Median Standard
deviation
value
value
Variables
NI
CF
CF
ACC
P
BVEPS
Variability of net income/total assets

Variability of net cash flow/total assets
Net cash flow/total assets
Accruals (NI - CF)/total assets
Share price
Equity/No. of shares
SIZE
GROWTH
EISSUE
LEV
DISSUE
TURN
AUD
N
LN (stock exchange capitalization)

CA Variation (%)
Changes in the no. of shares (%)
Total debt/equity
Variation of total liabilities (%)
CA/total assets
Big 4 Auditor = 1/others = 0
No. of observations
Test Variables
-0.1971 -0.1376
0.1444 -0.0636
0.0698 0.0263
-0.0629 -0.0479
0.5935 0.4143
0.9308 0.4849
Control Variables
17.8524 17.6314
0.0265 0.0408
0.0153 0,0000
0.1861 0.3555
0.1780 0.0365
0.6917 0.6488
0.2927 0.0000
82
82
Pre-IFRS 2005-2010
Mean
value
Median
value
Standard
deviation
1.3618
1.0768
0.0888
0.1037
0.6007
1.7011
-0.0685
0.2482
0.0561
-0.0515
0.7556
0.0012
-0.2654
-0.0055
0.0262
-0.0169
0.4010
0.0004
1.1738
1.1174
0.0729
0.0997
0.9565
0.0024
1.9937
0.2155
0.0936
6.4998
0.9328
0.3775
0.4578
82
18.0341
0.0251
0.2899
1.0231
0.1693
0.7092
0.2366
131
17.8922
0.0269
0,0000
0.4912
0.1130
0.6644
0.0000
131
1.8737
0.2772
2.5450
7.4319
0.4610
0.3492
0.4267
131
For the analysis model of the variability of net cash flows

given by equation (2), a representative coefficient
obtained in the post-IFRS adoption period is the
GROWTH variable, 1.3082, obtained with 5%
significance of errors. It points out the positive influence
of the variation in sales on the net income variation. In
addition, similarly to the regression of the net income
variation for the same period, an important value of
0.8282 was obtained for the CF variable coefficient.
However, the most significant influence of the cash-flow
on the regression model resulted in the pre-IFRS period,
with a coefficient of 4.1835 at 1% error significance.
In terms of value of coefficients obtained for the variables

included in the model, in case of the net income regression
in the post-IFRS period, coefficient of -0.3776 of the
DISSUE variable is the most significant at the error
threshold of 10%, highlighting an inverse relation between
debt variation and net income variation. The highest
coefficient of the model concerns the CF variable, of
1.7396, which shows the strong link between cash flows
and net income. When applying the regression model for
the pre-IFRS period, none of the coefficients resulted is
significantly different from 0, which confirms the higher
value relevance of the model in the post-IFRS period.
Table 3. The main statistical indicators of the regression models

Model
NI regression - equation (1)
CF regression - equation (2)
**Significant
Post-IFRS 2010-2013
N
82
82
R2
0.1283
0.1169
F
1.3430
1.2082
Pre-IFRS 2005-2010
Sig.
0.2360
0.3060
DW
1.9722
2.1910
N
131
131
R2
0.0243
0.1235
F
0.3803
2.1497
Sig.
0.9290
0.036**
DW
2.0837
2.0796
at a level of 5%
Source: Own processing
Therefore, according to the forecast, the influence of

external factors on the development of net income to
total assets ratio, decreases after IFRS adoption,
showing an increase in the quality of the reported
Nr. 2(122)/2015
results. However, contrary to expectations, for the

variability of net cash flows, they have a lower quality
due to the greater influence of factors other than those
controlled in the model concerning the post-IFRS period.
79
Elena NECHITA
Fisher test stresses this result, and the values recorded

by the Durbin-Watson coefficient show that there are no
indications that the residual values are auto correlated.
assets (CF*), for the two periods analysed. The first

assumption is that a smaller variation of the net income
is an indication of earnings smoothing and the second
assumption is that if companies use techniques for
earnings handling, the variation in the net income should
be a lot lower than the cash flows variation. Table 4
shows this comparison.
After application of the two regression models given by

equations (1) and (2), the variation of residual values
(shown by asterisk - "*") obtained for the net income to
total assets (NI*) is compared with net cash flow to total
Table 4. Variance of the residual values of the net income regression compared to the variance of the
residual values of the cash flows regression
Post-IFRS 2010-2013
Indicator
Variability of NI*
Variability of CF*
Variability of NI* reported
to the variability of CF*
No. of observations
* Residual
Mean
value
0.0000
0.0000
Standard
deviation
1.2715
1.0119
82
Pre-IFRS 2005-2010
1.6166
1.0240
Mean
value
0,0000
0,0000
Standard
deviation
1.1594
1.0461
1.5787
131
Variance
Difference
in variance
(%)
Variance
1.3443
1.0943
+ 20.26%
-6.42%
1.2285
+ 28.50%
values of the variables
The analysis shows an increase by 20.26% of the

variability of net income scaled by total assets in the postIFRS implementation period compared with that of the
period in which the companies listed on BSE applied
national regulations, evolution that can be interpreted as
indication of a lower probability of resorting to earnings
smoothing practices after the IFRS implementation. Thus,
the first assumption is validated. On the other hand, there
is a decrease in the net cash flows variation over the
period 2010-2013 compared with 2005-2010. Eliminating
the influence of the net cash flows variation on the net
income variation, it is found that net income variation
determined by other factors increases from 1.2285 in the
pre-IFRS period, to 1.5787 in the post-IFRS period,
validating the second assumption based on the variability
of net income reported to the variability of net cash flows.
In addition, as it was with the results obtained in the
previous section, the net income variability is significantly
greater than the variability of net cash flows, both before
and after the IFRS application. Therefore, both results are
evidence that there is no indication of earnings
management through the use of smoothing practices in
the companies listed on the BSE in the subsequent period
of transition to IFRS.
The following statistical indicator used in the
comparative pre-post IFRS adoption analysis on
80
earnings management is based on the Spearman

correlation between nonmonetary items and net cash
flows. Thus, the correlations determined by the
Spearman coefficient between the residual values
resulting from the application of the regression equations
(3) and (4), CF* and ACC* where ACC is calculated as
NI less CF, are compared. It interprets that a higher
correlation of net cash flows and nonmonetary items is
an indication that companies do not use earnings
smoothing techniques using accrual accounting. The
results thus obtained are shown in Table 5.
The results show a higher negative relation between the
net cash flows and items not affecting cash in the period
after IFRS adoption, compared to the period when the
listed companies applied the national regulations, the
difference between the values of Spearman coefficient in
the pre-IFRS and post-IFRS adoption periods being
quite significant (from -0.4590 to -0.6520). The negative
correlation between the two indicators show that the
value of nonmonetary items is evolving in the opposite
direction of the value of net cash flows, thereby leading
to a cancelling effect of net cash flows impact on net
income variation. In this situation, items not affecting
cash help reduce the net income volatility and may
represent evidence of earnings smoothing techniques.
Table 5. Correlations between nonmonetary items and cash flows

Correlations
Spearman's
rho
CF*
ACC*
* Residual
***
Sig. (2-tailed)
N
Sig. (2-tailed)
N
Post-IFRS 2010-2013
Pre-IFRS 2005-2010
CF*
CF *
1.0000
1.0000
82
-0.6520***
0.0000
82
ACC *
-0.6520***
0.0000
82
1.0000
82
131
-0.4590***
0.0000
131
ACC *
-0.4590***
0.0000
131
1.0000
131
Correlations are significant at a level of 1% (two-sided test).
According to the results of the residual values regression

of the share price unaffected by industry (P*) with equity
value per share and net income per share value, there is
a higher representativeness of the model in the postIFRS adoption period than in the period of application of
national accounting rules. Table 6 summarizes the main

statistical indicators that lead to the conclusion that in
the period following the adoption of IFRS, value
relevance of accounting figures is greater than in the
pre-IFRS period.
Table 6. Comparison of key statistical indicators of the share price regression

Statistical indicator
Post-IFRS 2010-2013
R2
F
F critical
Sig.
DW
Spearman BVEPS/P*
Spearman NIPS/P *
N
* Residual
Pre-IFRS 2005-2010
0.3602
22.2402
19.4831
0.0000
2.3209
0.7790 ***
0.4420 ***
82
0.3446
33.6435
19.4879
0.0000
2.0341
0.5220 ***
0.4020 ***
131
*** Significant
at a level of 1%
First, there is an increase of the model

representativeness from 34.46% to 36.02% with
application of the International Financial Reporting
Standards, interpreting this result as a sign of improving
the quality of financial reporting by increasing the value
relevance of accounting information provided in terms of
its influence on the evolution of the share price. Fisher
test value exceeded the critical value in the both periods
analysed, showing the validity of the regression model
used, the risk of error being well below the 5% level of
significance. In addition, the Durbin-Watson coefficient
Nr. 2(122)/2015
values show that the hypothesis of error nonautocorrelation can be accepted.

Secondly, Spearman coefficient values recorded before
and after the IFRS adoption confirm the abovementioned results, showing an increase in the
correlation between equity per share and the share
price, and from the net income per share and the share
price. Moreover, the Spearman coefficient of 0.7790 is
significantly close to 1, the maximum value that can be
achieved, such result highlighting beyond doubt a strong
connection between equity value and share price
81
Elena NECHITA
evolution over the period 2010-2013 after the IFRS

implementation. All Spearman coefficient values are
obtained with 1% level of errors significance.
It can be concluded therefore that the application of
IFRS by companies listed on the BSE for preparation of
their individual financial statements resulted in an
increase in the influence of equity and the net income on
the share price evolution, which can be construed as
constituting an increasing value relevance of accounting
information provided in the financial reports of these
companies. This result is consistent with that obtained
by Barth et al. (2008).
In order to validate the results, control tests were applied
to determine whether the data used meet the statistical
assumptions of data validity in multiple regression models.
The analysis was based on checking the independence of
residual values, error homoscedasticity, lack of
multicolinearity, compliance with the normal distribution
and absence of significant outliers. Following application
of tests to check the validity of data, it can be concluded
that statistical validity criteria necessary to obtain reliable

results are met.
Conclusions, limitations and

future research
The research objective is to determine to what extent the
implementation of International Financial Reporting
Standards by companies listed on the Bucharest Stock
Exchange for the individual financial statements since
the financial year 2012 leads to increased quality of
financial reporting by reducing the likelihood of using
earnings management practices and by increasing the
value relevance of the carrying amounts provided.
Centralization of results shows that from the 4
hypotheses regarding the impact of IFRS
implementation on the quality of financial statements for
companies listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange, 3
hypotheses were validated, as seen in Table 7.
Table 7. Overview of the pre-post IFRS adoption analysis

The period under review
Model of analysis
Hypothesis
Post-IFRS 2010-2013
82 observations
Models based on the analysis of the existence of earnings smoothing practices
Variability of NI*
Post> Pre
1.6166
Variability of NI* reported to the variability of
CF*
Post> Pre
1.5787
Correlation between CF* and ACC*
Post> Pre
-0.6520
Model based on the analysis of the value relevance of accounting amounts
R2 for the P* regression
Post> Pre
0.3602
*Residual
Pre-IFRS 2005-2010
131 observations
1.3443
1.2285
-0.4590
0.3446
By weighing the research results it can be concluded

that the implementation of IFRS in the companies listed
on the BSE for individual accounts led to an increase in
the quality of financial reporting.
Regarding the limitations of the research, the first
mention is related to the fact that analysis was based on
indicators resulting from the application of IFRS in the
first two years of the adoption of standards for individual
financial statements of the companies listed on the
Bucharest Stock Exchange. For this reason, the results
must be interpreted with caution and it is recommended
82
to extend the time period analysed in perspective, when

companies will have gained more experience in IFRS
application. On the other hand, it should be noted that
some listed companies were already familiar with the
international standards as a result of their application for
purposes of consolidation.
Although the research was based on a relatively small
number of observations, the sample selected is
representative for the companies listed on the Bucharest
Stock Exchange, for which we believe the results as
representative for the entire statistics population. The
low number of observations is generally a feature of

studies in the emerging economies.
In addition, there are at least two limitations associated
to the analysis of the pre-post IFRS implementation.
First, the number of years for each set of regulations
applicable is different (4 years for the IFRS and 6 years
for the local accounting regulations), which leads to an
unbalanced sample as number of firm-year
observations. Second, the process of transition to IFRS
in Romania occurred gradually, including by taking in the
national regulations of certain provisions of international
standards, which resulted in a blurring of differences in
the quality of financial reporting before and after the
IFRS adoption.
Extensions and developments of this research are

considered, opting in this respect for the following
directions: extending the time interval by inclusion in the
analysis of the financial statements in the future years
when they become available, in order to follow the
evolution of quality of financial reporting after the IFRS
adoption and by changing the regression model used to
analyse the earnings management by including an
indicator variable, to which the value 1 is assigned if the
company chose to change the accounting policies
following the adoption of IFRS, and 0 - otherwise.
Moreover, further research aims to analyse the quality of
earnings achieved by the companies listed on the
Bucharest Stock Exchange by application of the modified
Jones model (Dechow et al., 1995, after Jones, 1991).
REFERENCES
Albu C.N., Albu N., Alexander D. (2013), When global
accounting standards meet the local context -Insights
from an emerging economy, Critical Perspectives on
Accounting
available
at
<http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cpa.2013.03.005>,
accessed March 14, 2014
Barth M., Landsman W., Lang M. (2008), International
Accounting Standards and accounting quality,
Journal of Accounting Research, nr. 3, pp. 467-498
Cai L., Rahman A., Courtenay S. (2014), The effect of
IFRS adoption conditional upon the level of preadoption divergence, The International Journal of
Accounting, nr, 49, pp. 147-178
Christensen H.B., Hail L., Leuz C. (2013), Mandatory
IFRS reporting and changes in enforcement, Journal
of Accounting and Economics, nr. 56, pp. 147-177
Dechow P., Sloan R., Sweeny A. (1995), Detecting
earnings management, The Accounting Review, pp.
193-225
Hodgson A., Nechita E. (2013), The calculation of
comprehensive income under IFRS: High risk of audit
for the Romanian auditors, "Audit Financiar" journal,
No. 9, pp. 28-36
Jermakowicz E.K., Gornik-Tomaszewski S. (2006),
Implementing IFRS from the perspective of EU publicly
traded companies, Journal of International Accounting,
Auditing and Taxation, nr. 15, pp. 170-196
Jones J. (1991), Earnings management during import
relief investigations, Journal of Accounting Research,
pp. 193-228
Nr. 2(122)/2015
Karampinis N.I., Hevas D.L. (2013), Effects of IFRS

adoption on tax-induced incentives for financial
earnings management: evidence from Greece, The
International Journal of Accounting, nr. 48, pp. 218247
Lang M., Smith Raedy J., Wilson W. (2006), Earnings
management and cross listing: Are reconciled
earnings comparable to US earnings?, Journal of
Accounting and Economics Journal of Accounting
and Economics, nr. 42, pp. 255-283
Lin F., Wu S.F. (2014), Comparison of cosmetic
earnings management for the developed markets and
emerging markets: Some empirical evidence from the
United States and Taiwan, Economic modelling, nr.
36, pp. 466-473
***Bucharest Stock Exchange, (2008), Code of
Corporate Governance, available at<http://www.bvb.
ro/companies/CorporateGovernance.aspx>,
accessed on 15 June 2013
***Bucharest Stock Exchange, Presentation, available
at<http://bvb.ro/About/Presentation.aspx>accessed
on 14 March 2014
***International Accounting Standards Board (2013),
International Financial Reporting Standards
IAS/IFRS
*** OMFP no. 1286/2012 approving the accounting
regulations in accordance with the International
Financial Reporting Standards applicable to companies
whose securities are admitted to trading on a regulated
market, published in the Official Gazette of Romania,
83
Elena NECHITA
Part I, no. 687/04.10.2012, available at<http://static.

anaf.ro/static/10/Anaf/legislatie/OMFP_1286_2012.pdf>
, accessed on 24 March 2013
***OMFP no. 1802/2014 approving the accounting
regulations regarding the annual financial statements
and the consolidated annual financial statements,
published in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I,
no. 963/Dec. 30, 2014
***OMFP no. 3055/2009 approving the accounting
regulations compliant with European directives,
published in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I,
no. 766/10.11.2009, available at<http://static.anaf.ro/
84
static/10/Anaf/legislatie/OMFP_3055_2009.pdf>,
accessed on 24 April 2012
*** OMFP no. 1752/2005 approving the accounting regulations compliant with European directives, published in
the Official Gazette of Romania, no. 1080/30.11.2005,
available at <http://www.legex.ro/ Ordin-1752-200554422.aspx >, accessed on 25 April 2012
***OECD, World Bank and USAID (2001), South East
Europe Corporate Governance Roundtable -Corporate
Governance Program for Romania, available at
<http://www.oecd.org/daf/ca/corporategovernanceprinc
iples/2390809.pdf>, accessed on 15 June 2013
Financial
andISSN
Non-Financial
Information
ISSN: 1583-5812;
on-line: 1844-8801
Financial and
Non-Financial
Information in
the Framework
of
Sustainability
and Integrated
Reporting
Abstract
As a consequence of the recent pressures from
a wide range of users of financial and non-financial
information, the concepts of sustainability and
integrated reporting reporting began to gain ground at
the expense of traditional financial reporting.
Several national and international bodies currently
claim the lead in developing guidelines, standards and
regulations on non-financial reporting as a way to
provide additional information to interested
stakeholders. The purpose of this article is to clarify the
concepts of sustainability and integrated reporting, which
influence greatly the future developments in external
reporting of transnational corporations. In this context it
is discussed the role of the main players in setting
uniform standards for the provision of non-financial
information, as well as the impact of those bodies
decisions might have on the audit profession.
Keywords: integrated reporting, sustainability reporting,
audit, assurance
JEL Classification: M41, M42, Q01, Q56
Senior Researcher
tefana Maria DIMA, Ph.D.,
East European Center for Research in Economics and

Business (ECREB), West University of Timisoara,
Romania, e-mail: stefana.dima@e-uvt.ro
Associate Prof. Adina Simona POPA, Ph.D.,
"Eftimie Murgu" University of Reia, Romania,

e-mail: popaasa@yahoo.com
Professor Nicoleta FARCANE, Ph.D.,
West University of Timisoara, Romania,

e-mail: farcanenicoleta@gmail.com
Nr. 2(122)/2015
85
1. Introduction
In a world in constant change, the progress towards a
more sustainable future is difficult to evaluate. Moreover,
the long-term goals of sustainability reporting sustainable environment, profitability and social
responsibility may sometimes constitute competing
endeavors, since as Norgaard (1988) observes
sustainable development will require that the use of
energy and chemicals be subservient to ecosystem
maintenance (p.606). Achieving economic performance
while demonstrating real corporate social responsibility
and protecting the environment is maybe the greatest
challenge that mankind has to face.
An exhaustive concept, sustainability reporting aims to
assist organizations in setting goals and measuring their
performance while contributing to a sustainable
economy. Due to the relevance of the topic, the literature
is rich enough. Hahn & Khnen (2013) provides, for the
period 1999-2011, a review of 178 topic-related articles
published in business, management, and accounting
journals. They observe that there are no major reviews
of the most recent developments and some research
gaps exist in regulation, governance, quality of reporting,
and stakeholders perception.
Adams & Frost (2008) addresses how sustainability key
performance indicators are integrated in decisionmaking, planning and performance management, based
on interviews with British and Australian personnel. They
find evidence for the integration, in the case of those
companies, of environmental and social indicators.
However, despite the global pressure for companies to
report in a more clear, concise and graphic manner the
story of the companys performance and its impact on
the society and environment, not many companies have
included sustainability related issues in their business
model and strategy as well as in their processes.
Moneva et al. (2006) observes that some organizations
that label themselves as reporters of the Global
Reporting Initiative (GRI) do not behave in a responsible
way concerning sustainability question, like gas
emissions, social equity or human rights (p.121).
Moreover, Daub (2007), while performing an analysis of
corporate sustainability reporting in Switzerland, has
interviewed 25 Swiss managers and observes that:
companies are reaching their limits due to increasing
demands for ever more detailed and more frequently
published reports(p.84); in spite of companies
86
increased awareness of the responsibility towards

stakeholders, there is a stringent need to demonstrate
the usefulness of developing sustainability reporting
practices within companies; and companies consider
that only by emphasizing their commercial success will
they succeed, while by publishing environmental and
social indicators they may be forcing competitive
disadvantages. In addition, Bonilla-Priego et al. (2014)
notes that companies disclose more management than
performance data and that the items disclosed tend to
be marginal to the core of the business, have a positive
economic impact or pre-empt sector regulation (p.149).
A novel concept aiming to incorporate somehow
sustainability reporting principles was recently
developed in the form of integrated reporting (IR). It is
seen as a means of achieving broader thinking in regard
to a companys business model and value creation,
encouraging longer term thinking (Adams, 2014).
The fact is that companies have to be persuaded of the
benefits of disclosing more on non-financial issues and
that isolated financial and non-financial information
(some quantifiable and some not) are not enough to
present a clear picture on how a company creates longlasting value to itself, its stakeholders and society as a
whole.
In this context, the outcome of integrated reporting
should be a concise communication about how an
organizations strategy, governance, performance and
prospects, in the context of its external environment,
lead to the creation of value over the short, medium and
long term (The International <IR> Framework: p. 7)1. In
fact many companies fulfilling sustainability reporting
requirements (according to the GRI Guidelines) have
started to experiment with integrated reporting even
before an internationally accepted definition and an
operational framework (see Sustainability Disclosure
Database - http://database.globalreporting.org/).
Moreover, recent literature provides evidences of the
determinants of integrated reporting. For instance,
Garcia-Sanchez et al. (2013), analyze the impact of
national cultural system on integrated reporting, noting
that companies located in stronger collectivist and
feminist societies tend to favor information integration.
Fras-Aceituno et al. (2013) reveal for a sample of 750
international companies that companies located in civil
1
The Conceptual framework regarding the integrated

reporting at international level
Financial and Non-Financial Information
law countries, are more likely published integrated

reports for the benefit of different stakeholders.
In regard to the national interest in the field, we note a
focus on the history of integrated reporting as an useful
tool in understanding the future evolutions in corporate
reporting (Dragu & Tiron-Tudor, 2013), on individual
case studies of corporate integrated reporting (Dumitru
et al., 2013), and on analyzing the influence of legislative
systems on corporate integrated reporting (Tiron-Tudor
& Dragu 2014). The last paper reveals that IR disclosure
level is higher in common law countries, than in civil law
countries.
At this point, it is important to note that it is not enough
to put together the annual report of a company and its
sustainability report within the integrated report,
interaction between sections based on integrated
business strategy being required, even if additional
information may be provided separately. In order to have
such strategy an organization must determine how
relevant is sustainability for its activity, which are its
priorities in this field as well as the sustainability risks
and opportunities that impact its financial performance.
In addition, the development of integrated reporting is not
without criticisms related either to its direction, concepts
and impact on society and environment. For instance,
Flower (2014) traces the history of the International
Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC), demonstrating that
even if at its foundation, IIRC's principal objective was to
promote sustainability accounting, since then, IIRC has
abandoned this objective. He bases this conclusion on:
that, in the Framework, the concept of value represents
value for investors and not for society; it is not
compulsory for companies to report the harm inflicted on
other parties (like the environment) if there is no
subsequent impact on the company.
Also, since in South Africa, King III Report lead to the
first large-scale adoption of IR by listed companies, it
would be interesting to note its effectiveness from
stakeholders perspective. Rensburg & Botha (2014) by
using a national online survey, find that integrated
reports are seen rarely as primary source of financial
and investment information, not all respondents being
convinced that financial reports are adequate and
relevant for investment decisions.
In this context, the role of this paper is to address the
link between the concepts of sustainability and
integrated reporting, to discuss the main global prayers
Nr. 2(122)/2015
promoting the reporting of financial and non-financial

information (section 3) and the challenge of the external
assurance of integrated reporting (section 4). The next
section briefly presents the research methodology, while
we synthesize and assess our findings in section 5.
2. Research methodology
From the methodological point of view, we employ
qualitative research methods since this type of analysis
is best suited for the in-depth understanding of the
concepts and institutions involved. In addition, this type
of research intends to reveal trends, connections and
similarities/differences in order to assess the progress
towards sustainable development and delimitate the role
played by corporate reporting in this.
Among the methods of social and human sciences,
those that are complementary in this paper are mainly:
document analysis; comparative method; nonparticipatory observation and archival technique. In
addition, the sources of information include: research
papers, guidelines and frameworks, press releases,
websites, professional opinions, and several studies on
this topic.
3. Sustainability or integrated
reporting: towards a
controversial future
The purpose of the present chapter is to discuss the role
of the organizations involved in providing a new twist to
corporate reporting and improve transparency on
sustainability aspects usually on three directions:
environmental, social, and governance (ESG), as well as
to provide a discussion on the differences between
sustainability and integrated reporting.
The global players

In order to achieve the goal of a global sustainable
economy, there are organizations that spend a lot of
time and resources in addressing a series of issues like
greenhouse gas emissions, efficient water and better
energy use, biodiversity, etc. as well as issues related to
the disclosure of such information by companies
operating on international markets. In fact, at the level of
capital markets, it is noticeable a trend of promoting
corporate social responsibility and responsible
87
investment among investors, listed companies and

regulators. London Stock Exchange (LSE) Group, NYSE
Euronext, NASDAQ and the Warsaw Stock Exchange
(WSE) already joined the Sustainable Stock Exchange
(SSE) Initiative, considering that better disclosure will
improve the usefulness and comparability of information
being reported in each market, enabling institutional
investors to better manage risk and make more informed
investment decisions.1
Moreover, convincing the company boards and
executives to account for/ report on and provide external
assurance for sustainable development related
information has been a real challenge in the recent
years as only 3 percent of the worlds largest
companies currently disclose information about their
ESG performance2.
Furthermore, there are numerous organizations widely
interested in implementing their own standards,
guidelines and frameworks concerning different facets of
corporate reporting for sustainable development. In
practice, confusions may easily raise without a clear
correlation between these organizations activities and
responsibilities, the final goal maybe out of reach. In
consequence, a short synopsis of the main
organizations and their roles is desirable. Thus:
Climate Disclosure Standards Board (CDSB) is

a consortium formed by non-profit business and
environmental organizations (Carbon Disclosure
Project - CDP, Coalition for Environmentally
Responsible Economies CERES, The Climate
Registry - TCR, The Climate Group - TCG, The
International Emissions Trading Association IETA, World Council for Business and Sustainable
Development - WCBSD, World Economic Forum WEF and World Resources Institute - WRI) aiming
to integrate climate change related issues in
corporate reporting. The accounting profession is
present in the Technical Working Group providing
support to CDSB, alongside capital market
participants. The CDSB Framework addresses
issues such as: risks and opportunities linked to
2 http://www.sseinitiative.org/home-slider/london-stockexchange-partners-with-united-nations-sustainable-stockexchanges-initiative/
1
88
climate change, carbon reduction strategies,

carbon footprints, greenhouse gas emissions.
United Nations Environment Programme
Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) was created in 1992
in the context of the Earth Summit in Rio, as a
global partnership between the United Nations
Environment Programme and the financial sector
represented by banks, insurers and fund
managers. It has a Working Group focusing on the
integration of climate change factors into financial
decision-making process. Moreover, the
development of the Principles for Responsible
Investment (PRI) and the Principles for Sustainable
Insurance (PSI) benefited from UNEP FIs
contribution.
Sustainability Accounting Standards Board
(SASB) is a US independent non-profit
organization founded in July, 2011 which develops
sustainability accounting standards for more than
80 industries in 10 sectors, designed to meet
material environmental, social and governance
issues mandatory in SEC (US Securities and
Exchange Commission) filings and considered
useful to the decision-making of investors. Even if
SASB is a standard developer accredited by the
American National Standards Institute (ANSI), it is
not affiliated with any accounting standards board,
such as IASB or FASB.
International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC)
(previously known as the International Integrated
Reporting Committee) is currently a global coalition
of companies, investors, accounting profession,
regulators, standard setters and NGOs. Since its
formation in August 2010, the IIRCs has an
ambitious goal of creating a new trend in corporate
reporting: a globally accepted framework for
companies communication about value creation
over time. The IIRC has published its <IR>
Framework in December 2013 to be embedded into
practice for public and private sectors. The
development of an integrated way of thinking
leading to a more efficient capital allocation might
contribute to achieving sustainable development.
Probably the most important body in sustainability
reporting is Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), an
international not-for-profit organization, with a

network-based structure, which provides free
Sustainability Reporting Guidelines. There are
more than 600 Organizational Stakeholders, a long
tradition in promoting Sustainability Reporting,
which is a system enabling entities to determine,
understand and disclose information on four
directions: economic, environmental, social and
governance. Founded in Boston in 1997, GRI is the
successor of the Coalition for Environmentally
Responsible Economies (CERES) and the Tellus
Institute. Both organizations, CERES and Tellus
Institute launched in 2011 a joint project entitled
Global Initiative for Sustainability Rating (GISR)
aiming to design a global sustainability ratings
standard, not rating companies but other
sustainability ratings, rankings or indices1.
Even if we consider these organizations to be global
players in the field of reporting for sustainable
development, this list is not necessarily comprehensive
and the web of intercorrelations is extensive. For
instance, CDSB collaborates with IIRC, SASB, WRI and
WBCSD2. In the framework of its relationship with IIRC,
CDSB members participated to the elaboration of 2011
IIRC discussion paper Towards Integrated Reporting:
Communicating Value in the 21st Century, September3
and further work projects4.
On the other hand, GRI has strategic partnerships with
the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD), the United Nations Environment
Programme, the UN Global Compact and the
International Organization for Standardization.
Moreover, GRI and the Princes Accounting for
Sustainability Project (A4S) co-founded IIRC, supporting
the development of an integrated strategy and thinking
of the entities in achieving financial results and creating
long-term value.
The reason for such support is probably that isolated
financial and non-financial information cannot coexist in
one or more reports, without their integration and a
sustainability impact assessment. The sustainability
http://ratesustainability.org/about/
http://www.cdsb.net/sites/cdsbnet/files/cdsbframework
guidev1_0_2.pdf
3 http://www.theiirc.org/discussion-paper/
4 http://www.cdsb.net/cdsb-reporting-framework/cdsbframework-integrated-reporting
1
2
Nr. 2(122)/2015
reporting guidelines, developed in four waves so far, can

be seen as a foundation for integrated thinking, that may
lead in the future to integrated strategy and better
reporting by entities. A favorable argument for such
statement can be found in GRI (2013a: pp. 29-30),
showing that the preponderance of companies in the
survey find its guidelines useful to the development of
integrated reports, by providing assistance in defining the
content at the beginning of the process or perform the
assessment of the report at the late stages of its
development.
Moreover, GRI (2013a) entitled The sustainability content
of integrated reports a survey of pioneers, investigates,
by means of a combined quantitative and qualitative
research, how 756 GRI reporters deal with self-declared
integration between 2010 and 2012. The number of
companies with self-declared integrated reporting during
the analyzed years rose, even if there is no complete
understanding of the relationship between sustainability
and integrated reporting. However, the results reveal how
reporters build based on existing GRI Guidelines,
approaches to integrated reporting. Large private
companies, especially from Australia, Brazil, Finland, the
Netherlands and South Africa, tend to lead in the run for
the publication of integrated reports. The most active
sector in integrated reporting is the financial one, while
about 30% of the reports include financial and nonfinancial information, in different proportions from year to
year. The problem is that there is a limited correlation
between the two sections for about 50% of the reporters.
GRI was also interested in the motivation of 52
companies of issuing integrated reports for the analysis
period. The reasons were linked to the inefficiency of
separate reports, providing to stakeholders one story in
regard to value creation and performance, and, more
often due to the fact that the core business strategy of the
entity includes sustainability issues.
A critical debate over some issues related to

sustainability and integrated reporting
Basically, the idea behind the development of
sustainability and integrated reporting standards and
guidelines, is that the information provided by adhering
to such reporting practices is more comparable, reliable
and transparent. According to IIRC, integrated reporting
aims to improve the quality of information available to
providers of financial capital to enable a more efficient
and productive allocation of capital (IIRC, 2013: p. 4).
89
In this context, in March 2014, at Globe 2014 - North

Americas largest sustainable business summit, GRI
hosted the Transparency Track in regard to the drivers
of non-financial disclosure, corporate transparency and
the strategic value of sustainability reporting, concluding,
among others, that transparency is critical to building
trust between business and society1. However,
enhancing transparency is not a job for individual
organizations, but a purpose to be achieved through
cooperation between a wide variety of stakeholders
ranging from companies CEOs to financial markets
regulators and governments representatives.
So, we consider useful to highlight some issues of
relevance in the debate over the differences between
sustainability and integrated reporting, such as:
Since integrated reporting is at its infancy, the future

developments as well as the organizations involved in
the process will hopefully better serve some of the goals
of sustainability reporting, leaving more or less room for
debate on the outcomes of these processes, their
importance for the companies and their awareness
towards stakeholders. Till then, our advice to Romanian
companies interested to join the current trend towards
achieving the goals of sustainable development; it is to
get informed on the rules of the game, these
organizations scopes and interactions as well as on the
contents of the guidelines and standards they intend to
pursue. In addition, it is necessary to build internal
support systems and to embed sustainability into
business strategy.
Type of information: while sustainability reporting

focuses mainly on non-financial information,
integrated reporting is more concentrated on the
process of value creation, from both financial and
non-financial perspectives;
4. The challenge of the external

assurance of integrated
reporting
One size fits all dilemma. Which GRI disclosures fit

an integrated report structure? GRI (2013a: p. 29)
reveals that the reporters need guidance on
focusing on a more limited set of indicators;
Users of information: integrated reporting has a
more limited range of stakeholders as it targets the
providers of capital;
Time factor: while sustainability reporting focuses
on achieving its long term goal, integrated reporting
covers short-medium and long term objectives;
Extended focus: sustainability reporting focuses
more on companys impact on society and
environment, while integrated reporting aims to
show how an organizations strategy, governance
and performance lead to value creation over time;
Material disclosures: it is likely that sustainability
reporting to provide many disclosures non material
for integrated reporting;
Valuation: although all aspects of sustainability
reporting are relevant to company valuation, the
difficult access to non-financial information as well
as the fact that it is not easily quantifiable may
impair this process.
The need for assurance comes from

stakeholders
We will focus in this paragraph on the need of external
assurance for integrated reporting, even though a
combined (internal and external) assurance approach is
the heart of an efficient and effective strategy and an
integrated reporting (KPMG, 2012: p. 12).
External assurance represents in the view of the
American Institute of Certified Public Accountants AICPAs independent professional services that
improve the quality of information, or its context, for
decision makers (1997), it defines an assurance service
as one that involves an outside professional party
applying procedures designed to probe the credibility of
the information and ultimately, reporting on the
results2. In the IFAC Framework it is an assurance
engagement in which a practitioner expresses a
conclusion designed to enhance the degree of
confidence of the intended users other than the
responsible party about the outcome of the evaluation or
measurement of a subject matter against criteria. (2014:
p. 13). But what this involves in the field of assuring the
2
https://www.globalreporting.org/information/news-and-presscenter/Pages/REPORTING-AROUND-THE-GLOBE.aspx
90
AICPAs white paper on assurance services: https://www.

aicpa.org/interestareas/frc/assuranceadvisoryservices/downl
oadabledocuments/asec_wp_providers_users_bi.pdf
integrated reports? For answering this question it is

necessary to emphasize the differences and similarities
between the external audit and external assurance
presented in table 1.
External, third-party assurance helps protect the interest
of companies stakeholders, who need reliable, robust,
accurate and consistent data; it is performed to build
trust in business information and disclosure process.
Today companies publish information in a large diversity
of forms: paper based as well as online, companies
websites, preliminary announcements, press releases,
quarterly updates, investor briefings, financial, annual,
sustainability reports as well as integrated reports, and
this contribute to orient activity and assurance report of
the independent expert from the former audit of the
financial statements to a more varied assurance that add
credibility to almost any part of business information,
reducing the risk and increasing the value of the
reporting.
Companies stakeholders are demanding assurance that
disclosed information is in full compliance with the
relevant reporting standards or frameworks. While
integrated report becomes a companys main report,

investors and other stakeholders will expect it to be
subject to independent assurance (EY, 2013: p. 3).
External assurance practitioners should take into
consideration that <IR> is consistent with developments
in financial and other reporting, but an integrated report
also differs from other reports and communications in a
number of ways (IIRC, 2013: p. 2), and its long term
credibility is ensured by independent external
assurance. While integrated reporting is more
concentrated on the process of value creation, investors
should be considered as the primary public, but in the
same time integrated report has to be relevant to
anybody interested in the strategy and performance of
the company. External assurance can provide for both
report readers and internal managers with increased
confidence in the quality of disclosure or regarding the
reporting process. In the absence of a generally
accepted framework, companies that wish to move
towards integrated reporting may encounter several
dilemmas around relevance, assurance, scope, and
other issues. (Deloitte, 2011: p. 2).
Table 1. Differences and similarities between the external

audit and external assurance
External
Audit
Assurance
is undertaken by an auditor who is independent from the is undertaken by an external professional who is
entity
independent from the entity
it express an opinion on the financial statements or other it express a conclusion on the areas they assessed and
specified accountability matter
recommendations that is intended to increase the users
confidence in a given subject matter or information
based on historical information
based on past, present and future oriented information
focus on financial information
take into consideration financial as well non-financial
information that could be: quantified measurements, factual
narrative, soft narrative, quantified estimates, qualitative
estimates, and diagrams
audit is generally applicable on the financial statements assurance is applicable in a wide and expanding range of
other areas aside from financial statements, such as1:
or other accountability issues
compliance with regulations, sustainability reports,
greenhouse gas emission statements, prospectuses,
performance audits
CPA, A guide to understanding auditing and assurance: listed companies, October 2014: p. 2
The need for assurance comes from stakeholders

interests for reliable, robust, accurate and consistent
data; they have to trust the business information
Nr. 2(122)/2015
disclosed and external assurance should add credibility

to information and enhance confidence in integrated
reports.
91
Integrated reporting assurance levels

The purpose of integrated report is to inform
stakeholders on the strategy, performance and the
activities of the company in a manner that allows
stakeholders to assess the ability of the company as a
whole to create and sustain value over the short,
medium and long term, and the information disclosed
have to be external assured. An independent
professional as it will be able to reach and publish an
objective and impartial opinion or conclusions on the
report regarding the entity will provide the external
assurance. In this inceptive phase of integrated reporting
several issues regarding the extent of assurance opinion
are to be considered: the purpose of the integrated
reporting assurance, the extent of the work the
assurance professional it should covered: the entire
reporting process or entire integrated report or only parts
of it, the third party should formulate an overall opinion
covering the whole report or different opinions for

different parts of the report.
The levels of assurance are situated between two extreme
situations: absolute assurance which is impossible to
obtain because the assurance provider have to check
every transaction of the company and no assurance
which means that the third party professional will only
prepare a statement or a report. The absolute assurance
cannot be reached by integrated reporting. The two
possible assurance levels are reasonable assurance
which is a positive high but not absolute assurance and
limited assurance which is a moderate but negative level
of assurance. The higher the level of assurance, the more
rigorous the assurance process is, as defined in the
standards and procedures used for the specific assurance
engagement (GRI, 2013b: p. 9). The key differences
between the types of assurance engagement (presented
in Table 2) are therefore: the evidence obtained and the
type of opinion given.
Tabel 2. Levels of external assurance

Levels of
external
assurance
Absolute
assurance
Reasonable
assurance1
(IFAC, 2014)
Limited
assurance
(IFAC, 2014)
No
assurance
Hybrid or mix
of different
levels of
assurance
Agreed upon
procedures
Objective
a certification that a
statement is completely
correct
a reduction in assurance
engagement risk to an
acceptably low level in the
circumstances of the
engagement
a reduction in assurance
engagement risk to a level
that is acceptable in the
circumstances of the
engagement, but where
that risk is greater than for
a reasonable assurance
preparing financial
or other reports
a mix of assurance levels,
which might vary on a
disclosure by disclosure
basis
perform procedures of an
audit nature agreed by
practitioner, organization
and the third parties
Evidence
sought/
procedures
entire
(audit every
transaction)
significant
evidence
Conclusion
given
Examples
Unattainable
a guarantee of financial statement
a high level of
assurance
auditor provides an opinion about

whether the financial
statements present a true and fair
view, and are in accordance with
accounting standards (and
legislation where appropriate)
1.
assure
provider
formulate
judgments for selected parts of the
reports
2. auditor draws up a conclusion to the
users of the financial statements as to
whether they do not present a true and
fair view
a compilation of the financial
statements or other reports
reasonable assurance conclusion on
some disclosures and some limited
assurance on the others
detailed
testing
procedures
necessary
evidence
positive
conclusion
a moderate level
of assurance
less detailed
procedures
negative
conclusion
no procedure
no assurance
appropriate
procedures
a high or a
moderate level of
assurance
agreed
procedures
no assurance is
expressed
report factual findings based on the

procedures performed
the users of the report draw their own
conclusions from the assurance report
findings
The International Federation of Accountants, (2014), Handbook of International Quality Control, Auditing, Review, Other
Assurance, and Related Services Pronouncements, Volume 1. (IFAC, 2014: 13-14)
92
Because an integrated report contains broader

information than existing reporting and a variety of
specific information like: management aspirations, future
oriented information, strategic objectives, strategies to
achieve the objectives, description of future risks and
opportunities, challenges for the organization,
information which is from internal or external to the
organization, assurance practitioner should perform
procedures on such information to obtain appropriate
evidence to support its conclusion.
Previous forms of company reporting had been subject
for reasonable assurance or limited assurance is the
case of financial reports, and limited assurance or no
assurance for sustainability reports. The existing
assurance procedures need to be tailored for the
integrated reporting context (IIRC, 2014: p. 12). Being a
relative new and more complex form of reporting <IR> is
challenging assurance providers which have to increase
importance and complexity in their assurance (Simnett,
Ghandar, 2014) or should provide integrated assurance
(Eccles et al., 2012, pp. : 161178).
There were identified several situations regarding
assurance of integrated reports:
integrated report contains information

extracted from other reports prepared by the
organization prior to the preparation of the
integrated report that had been subject to an
assurance engagement, this could allow the <IR>
assurance practitioner to place some reliance on
the information extracted from such other reports,
taking into consideration various aspects regarding
materiality, levels of assurance of the various
engagements, and the context of the extracted
information (IIRC, 2014: p. 6);
assurance on certain pieces of information
rather than the IR as a whole when some of the
users might be more interested in obtaining
assurance on certain pieces of the IR, assurance
practitioners should apply an assurance approach
on a specified data set but this could be contrary to
the holistic approach of the IR Framework and
undermining the aspects of connectivity (IIRC,
2014: p. 6);
integrated assurance which means integrating
and aligning assurance processes in a company to
Nr. 2(122)/2015
maximize risk and governance oversight and

control efficiencies, and optimize overall assurance
to the audit and risk committee, considering the
companys risk appetite. (King III Report, 2009). It
is specific to an integrated report or the process of
preparing an integrated report and should refer to
reliability and relevance of subject matter
information (IIRC, 2014).
Eccles et al. (2012) view integrated assurance similar
with a financial audit that could give a high level of
assurance for the companys stakeholders. But the
problems that will rise from an integrated assurance are
linked to the skills of assurance providers. Who can
provide assurance for all the content of an integrated
report?
Actually there are three types of organizations involved
in providing external assurance for GRI Sustainability
Disclosure, as the fundamental standard regarding
assurance engagement, ISAE 3000 (IAASB, 2013),
states whether assurance can be provide by an
accounting firm or another assurance practitioner.
Accounting companies, engineering firms and small
sustainability consultancy firms are assurance providers
(GRI, 2014: pp. 31-34) and each of them has specific
expertise in the field of sustainability disclosure (GRI,
2013b: p. 10):
Accountancy firms: are focused on business; have
expertise in financial and non-financial reporting;
they have their own systems, controls and
audit/assurance procedures;
Engineering firms: offer technical certifications and
engineering expertise; they understand complex
processes and are generally implicated in riskbased analysis; they apply a multi-disciplinary
approach.
Sustainability services firms: have expertise on
sustainability related issues; they are smaller than
the previous assurance providers and are usually
locally based.
Among these organizations accountancy firms
represented 64% of the providers of external assurance
for GRI reports published by worldwide companies in
2012 and included in GRI Sustainability Disclosure
Database (GRI, 2013b: p. 10), and their per cent
increased to 65% in the next year (GRI, 2014: p. 32),
93
representing the favorite assurance providers for 2013

reports in Europe and Latin America, while in Oceania
and Asia are preferred small sustainability consultancy
firms. All these types of organizations provide only
limited assurance for the information disclosed in
sustainable reports.
Anticipating the evolution of the GRI Sustainability reports
assurance providers, Eccles et al. (2012) proposed
accounting firms; especially Big Four and others large
internationally recognized accounting firms, to play a
central role in providing integrated assurance opinions.
These firms, which traditionally audit public companies
and have global networks, could provide integrated
assurance reports while they will build the necessary
capabilities to assure broader information on
environmental, social, and governance performance and
make the necessary investments for providing high-quality
assurance on all types of information, on the one hand,
and they have liability in conducting integrated audits
which supposed to give prominence to non-financial as
well as to financial information, on the other hand.
Developing an appropriate assurance process over
integrated reporting is a significant challenge for many
organizations (KPMG, 2012). GRI, IIRC, CDSB,
International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board
(IAASB) and others should respond to the challenges of
developing: new assurance or auditing standards for
different types of information; specific IR standards;
application guidance founded on the frameworks of
existing assurance standards; methodologies for
providing positive assurance on non-financial
information; or general assurance principles specific for
integrated reporting (IIRC, 2014), in accordance with its
principle-based Framework, integrated standards and
assurance methodologies for financial and non-financial
information as it will provide true and fair view on
organizations sustainability (Eccles et al., 2012).
Conclusions
In a world with limited resources, the concept of
sustainability gained a lot of interest and support in the
last decade. In this context, the present paper discusses

the link between the concepts of sustainability and
integrated reporting, highlights the main global prayers
promoting such reporting and emphasizes the challenge
of the external assurance of integrated reporting. Thus,
we consider that due to the existence of several
organizations widely interested in implementing their
own standards, guidelines and frameworks concerning
sustainable corporate reporting, a clear correlation
between these organizations activities and
responsibilities is essential.
Many will say that the impact these organizations may
have on the Romanian companies will be limited since
their relative size and operations amplitude. However,
the inclusion of non-financial information requirements
into national legislation may come sooner than later
since on 29 September 2014, the European Union
adopted new transparency rules regarding the
disclosure of non-financial and diversity information by
certain large companies (to be integrated in Directive
2013/34/EU). These rules will require certain big EU
companies to draw up, on a yearly basis, a statement
relating to environmental, social and employee-related
matters, respect for human rights, anticorruption and
bribery matters1. So, in order to strengthen a company's
transparency and accountability towards society and
environment, some requirements may affect in the future
unlisted entities and external assurance of such report
will be needed so as to increase credibility and quality of
the information provided. Moreover, integrated reporting
practices implemented in companies worldwide might
lead to mixed assurance provider teams with
interdisciplinary expertise and various backgrounds.
For the companies desiring to implement sustainability
or integrated reporting an analysis of the real costs and
benefits in terms of financial and human resources, time,
level of technology, processes development related
costs, etc. is compulsory. In addition, in order to ensure
accessibility to stakeholder group specific information,
completeness and readability, we reckon that companies
should consider implementing an integrated web
reporting platform.
94
http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/
pressdata/en/intm/144945.pdf
REFERENCES
Adams, C.A., Frost, G.R., (2008), Integrating
sustainability reporting into management practices,
Adams, C.A., (2014), The International Integrated
Reporting Council: A call to action, Critical
Perspectives on Accounting, http://drcaroladams.
net/the-international-integrated-reporting-council-acall-to-action/, 17 iulie.
Bonilla-Priego, M.J., Font, X., del Rosario PachecoOlivares, M., (2014), Corporate sustainability
reporting index and baseline data for the cruise
industry, Tourism Management, 44: 149160.
Daub, C.-H., (2007), Assessing the quality of
sustainability
reporting:
an
alternative
methodological approach, Journal of Cleaner
Production, 15(1): 7585.
Dragu, I., Tiron-Tudor, A. (2013), New corporate reporting
trends. Analysis on the evolution of integrated
reporting, Annals of the University of Oradea
Economic Science Series, 1(129):1221-1229
Dumitru, M., Glvan, M.E., Gorgan, C., Dumitru, V.F.
(2013), International integrated reporting framework: a
case study in the software industry, Annales Universitatis Apulensis Series Oeconomica, 15(1) : 24-39
Eccles, R.G., Krzus, M. P., Watson, L. A., (2012), Integrated Reporting Requires Integrated Assurance n
Effective Auditing for Corporates: Key Developments
in Practice and Procedures, edited by Joe Oringel,
161178. London: Bloomsbury Information Ltd.
Flower, J., (2014), The International Integrated
Reporting Council: A story of failure, Critical
Perspectives on Accounting, http://www.science
direct.com/science/article/pii/S1045235414000744
Fras-Aceituno, J.V., Rodrguez-Ariza, L., GarcaSnchez, I.M., (2013), Is integrated reporting
determined by a country's legal system? An
exploratory study, Journal of Cleaner Production,
44: 4555.
Garcia-Sanchez, I.-M., Rodriguez-Ariza, L., FrasAceituno, J.-V., (2013), The cultural system and
integrated reporting, International Business Review,
22: 828838.
Hahn, R., Khnen, M., (2013), Determinants of
sustainability reporting: a review of results, trends,
theory, and opportunities in an expanding field of
research, Journal of Cleaner Production, 59: 5-21.
Nr. 2(122)/2015
Moneva, J.M., Archel, P., Correa, C., (2006), GRI and

the camouflaging of corporate unsustainability,
Norgaard, R., (1988), Sustainable Development - a coevolutionary view, Futures, 20(6): 606-620.
Rensburg, R., Botha, E., (2014), Is Integrated Reporting
the silver bullet of financial communication? A
stakeholder perspective from South Africa, Public
Relations Review, 40(2): 144152.
Simnett, R., Ghandar, A., (2014), Integrated assurance:
Bringing it together. Integrated reporting is creating
a bold set of goals for the accounting profession, In
the Black, 14 October 2014.
Tiron-Tudor, A., Dragu, I. (2014), From sustainability to
integrated reporting the political perspective of
institutional theory, Studia Universitatis Babe Bolyai Oeconomica, 59(2) : 20-33.
American Institute of CPAs - AICPA, (1997), Report of
the AICPA Special Committee on Assurance
Services - The Elliott Report.
American Institute of CPAs - AICPA, (2013), AICPA
Assurance Services: A White Paper for Providers
and Users of Business Information,
https://www.aicpa.org/interestareas/frc/assurancead
visoryservices/downloadabledocuments/asec_wp_p
roviders_users_bi.pdf
Certified Practising Accountants Australia, (2014), A
guide to understanding auditing and assurance:
listed companies, available online at: http://www.
cpaaustralia.com.au/~/media/corporate/allfiles/docu
ment/professional-resources/auditing-assurance/
guide-understanding-audit-assurance.pdf.
Deloitte, (2011), Integrated reporting - A better view,
available online: http://www.corpgov.deloitte.com/
binary/com.epicentric.contentmanagement.servlet.C
ontentDeliveryServlet/CanEng/Documents/Financial
%20Reporting/Transparency/IntegratedReporting_B
etterView.pdf
Ernst and Young, (2013), EYs Excellence in Integrated
Reporting Awards: A survey of integrated reports
from South Africas top 100 JSE listed companies
and top 10 state owned companies, http://www.ey.
com/Publication/vwLUAssets/EYs_Excellence_in_In
tegrated_Reporting_Awards_2013/$FILE/EY%20Ex
cellence%20in%20Integrated%20Reporting.pdf
95
European Parlament and the Council (2013), Directive

2013/34/EU on the annual financial statements,
consolidated financial statements and related
reports of certain types of undertakings,available
online at http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUri
Serv.do?uri=OJ:L:2013:182:0019:0076:EN:PDF
Global Reporting Initiative - GRI, (2013a), The
sustainability content of integrated reports - a
survey of pioneers, available online at https://www.
globalreporting.org/resourcelibrary/GRI-IR.pdf
accessed on 1.10.2014.
Global Reporting Initiative - GRI (2013b), The external
assurance of sustainability reports, https://www.
globalreporting.org/reporting/reportservices/external-assurance/Pages/default.aspx
Global Reporting Initiative - GRI, (2013c), GRI Guidelines,
https://www.globalreporting.org/reporting/g4/Pages/d
efault.aspx
Global Reporting Initiative - GRI (2014), Trends in
External Assurance of Sustainability Reports,
https://www.globalreporting.org/resourcelibrary/GRI
_Trends-in-External-Assurance-of-SustainabilityReports_July-2014.pdf
International Accounting and Auditing Standard Board IAASB, (2013), International Standard on
Assurance Engagements (ISAE) 3000, https://www.
96
ifac.org/sites/default/files/publications/files/ISAE%20
3000%20Revised%20-%20for%20IAASB.pdf
Institute of Directors in Southern Africa - IDSA, (2009),
The King III Report on Corporate Governance for
South Africa, http://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.iodsa. co.
za/resource/collection/94445006-4F18-4335-B7FB7F5A8B23FB3F/King_Code_of_Governance_for_SA
_2009_Updated_June_2012.pdf
International Federation of Accountants - IFAC, (2014),
Handbook of International Quality Control, Auditing,
Review, Other Assurance, and Related Services
Pronouncements, Vol. 1.
International Integrated Reporting Council - IIRC, (2013),
The International <IR> Framework, http://www.
theiirc.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/13-12-08THE-INTERNATIONAL-IR-FRAMEWORK-2-1.pdf
International Integrated Reporting Council - IIRC, (2014),
Assurance on IR an exploration of issues,
http://www.theiirc.org/wpcontent/uploads/2014/07/Assurance-on-IR-anexploration-of-issues.pdf
KPMG, (2012), Integrated Reporting Performance
Insight through Better Business Reporting, issue 2,
http://www.kpmg.com/global/en/issuesandinsights/a
rticlespublications/integratedreporting/pages/default.aspx
Women
Presence
into the
Board Directors and Audit Committees
ISSN: 1583-5812;
ISSN on-line:
1844-8801
Study of the
Women
Presence into
the Board
Directors and
Audit
Committees
Level of
Romanian
Banks
Abstract
Gender diversity (gender equality) in the boardroom and
generally within organizations has registered
increasingly more considerable interest in public debates
and academic research, last but not least in corporate
strategies.
The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of
international research and practices related to women in
the composition of the board directors and audit
committees. Also, this article aims to assess the
involvement of women into the management structures
and the audit committees of the most important actors
within the banking system from Romania.
The research methodology was based essentially on
observations of the published documents on the
websites of analyzed banking companies, important
conclusions regarding the level of involvement of women
in leadership of the banking system from Romania is
made in the end of the presentation.
Keywords: corporate governance, banking system,
board of directors, audit committee, supervisory
JEL Classification: M48, G21, G34
Univ. Prof. Eugeniu URLEA, Ph.D.,

e-mail: eturlea@yahoo.com
Associate Professor Mariana NEDELCU

(BUNEA), Ph.D. Student,
e-mail: maribunea@yahoo.com
Nr. 2(122)/2015
97
1. Introduction
Considered until recently as a social problem, the
gender diversity (gender equality) in the boards is
increasingly perceived as a 'value-driver' (leading value)
in the context of organizational strategy and corporate
governance, based for various reasons (Terjesen, Sealy
and Singh, 2009).
First, this topic is progressively becoming a component
of the investment practices, the institutional investors
taking into consideration the board diversity (Carter,
Simkins and Simpson, 2003).
Secondly, gender diversity (gender equality) is imposed
by the important stakeholders such as customers or
employees. Taking into account of preferences,
concerns and aspirations of stakeholders could be
beneficial for companies by improving customer loyalty
and employee motivation (Powell, 1999).
Thirdly, the recent legislation and worldwide diversity
initiatives have highlighted the importance of women's
representation at board level. For example, the
Norwegian government requires companies to appoint at
least 40% of women within structure of boards of
directors. Spain and France will implement the same
goals by 2015 and 2017 respectively (Terjen et al., 2009).
Fourthly, board composition issues have been also
discussed by the best practices in corporate
governance. For example, the Sarbanes Oxley Act of
2002 (the United States) or reviewing legislation in the
UK encourages greater diversity in the composition of
the board (Adam and Ferreira, 2009; Dalton and Dalton,
2008).
Finally, gender diversity (gender equality) is currently on
the agenda of companies, since more women held top
management positions. Thus, the percentage of women
who have the qualities of members of boards directors
or to fill the positions of president (CEO) are expected to
have an ascending trend in the coming period (Helfat,
Harris and Wolfson, 2006).
The crucial role of the Audit Committee on the
governance structure of the entity is conferred on and its
ability to ensure the maintenance of quality control
systems, positively impacting the disclosure of financial
information (Andrsson and Daoud, 2005; Coller, 1993).
At the level of banking system, the audit committee has
clear responsibilities in ensuring transparency,
monitoring the financial reporting process; look for the
98
supervision of accounting policies and practices, as well

as in terms of evaluating professional reasoning
underlying the financial statements (BIS, 2012).
Also, the audit committee ensures a stable and
permanent communication between the Board and the
external auditor (Rashidah and Fairuzana, 2006).
2. Theoretical and practical

arguments for gender diversity
in the composition of the board
There are four main theoretical perspectives that have
been mobilized to argue the presence of women on
corporate boards. These include human capital theory,
resource dependence theory, institutional theory and the
agency theory.
Human capital theory of Becker (1964) suggested that
education, training, skills, traits, experience and
efficiency of each individual are beneficial for the
company which includes. Each appointed director brings
a unique human capital, such as expertise, reputation,
prestige, relationships and its links with other
organizations (Hillman, Shropshire and Cannella, 2007)
that are valuable to companies and concerned for their
boards (Kesner, 1998). This theory suggests that the
appointment of women on the boards of companies is
important because they have the skills and resources
necessary to the organization that their male
counterparts do not possess.
In fact, Singh and Vinnicombe Terjesen (2008)
examined the related human capital profiles of women
appointed to the board of directors and have found that
they are more likely to bring international diversity.
Resource dependence theory of Pfeffer (1972) and
Pfeffer and Salancik (1978) looked at companies as an
open system, dependent on the unpredictability of the
external environment. The boards of companies are
regarded as a means to manage external dependencies,
to reduce the uncertainty of the external environment
and reduce the transaction costs associated. This theory
can be used to explain why it is recommended for
women to be appointed to the board of directors: they
can provide a wealth of resources such as prestige,
reputation, legitimacy, skills, knowledge, connections to
external sources that useful organization, to reduce the
risks associated with dependence on the environment.
Women Presence into the Board Directors and Audit Committees
Pfeffer and Salancik (1978) argued that the most

important requirements required by the board of
directors are: consulting, legitimacy and the channels for
communicating information between the company and
external organizations. It was also stated that women
managers can bring some or all of these benefits or
resources, as companies may appoint women are
strictly either for counsel and advice in order to ensure
the legitimacy of the company or the access to
resources that it can bring to the organization and in
relations with business environment (Hillman et al.,
2007).
According to institutional theory, an organization is
perceived to be legitimate when its deployment
environment and objectives are accordance with the
social norms, values and expectations of society about
this. Classical notions of "efficiency" and "performance"
are not enough for companies. The legitimacy is
conferred or assigned by the organization through its
components (Ashforth and Gibbs, 1990; Meyer and
Rowan, 1977). Generally, there are two ways that
organizations seek legitimacy: a 'substantive
management' or a 'symbolic management'.
The first way involves real changes in the organizational
structure or social practices. Through a 'coercive
isomorphism' (DiMaggio and Powell, 1983), a company
can track legitimacy, which is actually conformity with
the values, norms and expectations of its constituents
and the external environment. The 'Coercive
isomorphism' signals the organization's ability to meet
the expectations of its components and the external
environment.
By 'symbolic management', an organization may
manage its symbolic practices in order to meet social
values rather than to conduct a substantive change
substantially inside of it. Zahra and Pearce (1989) have
argued that part of the responsibility of managers is the
contribution to increase reputation, prestige of that
company.
Thus, companies can ensure increasing of their
legitimacy by appointing women in their board of
directors (Hillman et al., 2007). The promotion of the
women in the management positions within
organizations, in the executive management positions, is
a positive message to the key stakeholders such as
existing female employees, potential new employees,
customers and investors. The companies can also
benefit of better relations with the investors: for example,
Nr. 2(122)/2015
some institutional investors have publicly expressed

preference for greater representation of women in the
board structure (Carter et al., 2003). In fact, studies have
shown a strong reputation effect associated with the
presence of women in management positions or boards
structure (Brammer, Millington and Pavelin, 2009) and
female employees tend to be happy working' in
companies that aim gender diversity (Burke, 1997).
Last but not least, the agency theory describes the
relationship between a firm's key stakeholders (eg.
shareholders) and its decision makers (eg, managers or
directors). Fama and Jensen (1983) argued that the
Board is an important mechanism to control and
monitoring the activity of managers. An important role of
the Board is to address issues related to communication
between managers (directors) and shareholders.
A central element of this theory is the distinction
between outside directors and inside directors.
Based on this theory, it can be argued that the inclusion
of women as members of the management boards of
companies can help increase the effectiveness of its
control. For example, women directors could put many
questions and even challenge the CEO's perception of a
greater extent than male directors, therefore, a board
with a gender diversity could be more active in
monitoring and control the activity of managers.
Thus, women manager may be considered as 'ultimate
directors' (Carter et al., 2003) because they tend to be
more involved, more active compared to the traditional
outside directors (outsiders).
In the specialized literature have been presented several
arguments to support the presence of the women into
the board of directors structures. One of these
arguments relate to behavioural differences between
women and men, a positive analysis in the decisionmaking processes.
For example, the women participation on the boards of
directors may help to avoid assuming of risky projects
because women are generally more averse to financially
risk than men (Byrnes, Miller and Schafer, 1999) and
also, less confident (Barber and Odean, 2001). Levi
Yhang Li (2008) studied the role of women on boards of
directors within companies during mergers and
acquisitions. However, some evidence indicates that
women have a higher level of confidence and style
appropriate collaboration can improve board dynamics
(Croson and Buchan, 1999; Konrad, Kramer and Erkut,
2008).
99
Another argument is associated with various cognitive

biases of men and women (Hambrick and Mason, 1984).
Women can bring opposing views, knowledge,
perspectives and alternative solutions (Dutton and
Duncan, 1987; Watson, Kumar and Michaelsen, 1993).
Therefore, women as members of the Board of Directors
may specifically bring a wider range of perspectives and
provide alternative solutions to existing or potential
problems (Larkey, 1996).
Finally, the gender diversity (gender equality) can
prevent corruption and fraud at the company level,
because women are more likely to be more conservative
at risk and they have a reserved attitude and ask tough
questions address to the management.
3. The presence of women at the

boards directors and audit
committees levels within the
banking system from Romania
3.1. The objectives and the research
methodology
The research objectives are the main purpose of
assessing the presence of women in the case of 9
significant credit institutions within the Romanian
banking system. Essentially, these objectives were
aimed:
a. Identify of the banking companies under research
area;
b. Collection of the information concerning the boards of
directors and audit committees structures from the
official website of the analysed banking companies;
c. Research, analyse and evaluate the presence of
women into the management positions and audit
committees at the analysed credit institutions level;
d. Conclusions and recommendations to align with the
international best practice.
The research methodology was mainly based on direct
observation on the published specific documents by the
analysed credit institutions, and on those published by
the National Bank of Romania.
The sample of credit institutions subject to analysis
included 9 banks (representing over 70% of total
banking assets at June 30, 2013) and consists of:
100
5 relevant banks for the analysis avoided because

they are part of multinational holding companies
through the market share by assets: BCR, BRD,
Raiffeisen, Unicredit iriac Bank, Volksbank;
4 banks with local/mixed capital: Banca
Transilvania, CEC, Banca Carpatica and
Eximbank.
In light of the arguments mentioned in the previous
chapter, the authors aim to examine the empirical
evidence of the presence of women at the management
structures level of the most important actors on the
stage of banking system from Romania.
Banking system in Romania, credit institutions are
managed, most of them under the dualist treatment, with
an Executive Committee/Directorate that is supervised
by a Supervisory Board or Board of Directors, in
accordance with company law and banking laws in
force.
The Board of Directors/Supervisory Board determines
the bank's business guidelines and supervises their
implementation in practice. Board members shall be
elected by the General Meeting of Shareholders and
their appointments has duration between 3 and 4 years
and may be renewed.
The Executive Committee/Directorate ensures the
operative management of Bank and the effective
management of compliance risk. The members of
Executive Committee are authorized to lead the Bank in
carrying out daily activities, and have the power and
authority to legally commit of Bank in accordance with
the Constitutive Act of the respective banking
companies.
Regarding the structure of gender diversity of employees
from the banking system of Romania, according to a
study evaluating the continuous training organized by
the Romanian Banking Institute for the period 20102012, the banking sector is "dominated" by women, and
their percentage even slightly increased during the
period 2010 - 2012, from 71.56% to 72.97%.
3.2. The obtained results and their analysis

After processing the obtained data through direct
observation technique of information published on the
official website of the analysed credit institutions, the
following aspects are noteworthy:
Thus, at level of the analysed credit institutions, the

situation of women presence within Supervisory
Boards/Boards of Directors are presented according
to the Table 1.
Although the share of women employees within the

banking system is overwhelmingly, a proportion
higher than 70%, at the management level, their
representation is extremely low.
Table 1. Women presence within Supervisory Boards/Boards of Directors

Supervisory
Boards / Boards of
Directors
Positions held by
women (%)
Total members
number
BCR
BRD
UNICR
RAIFF
TRANS
CARP
CEC
EXIMBANK
10
1
(20,00%)
5
1
(20,00%)
5
2
(18,18%)
11
1
(16,67%)
6
Source: The authors, based on the research
However, the current situation of women presence at the

level of the Executive Committees or Directorates (that
ensures the operative management of banks) is as

shown in Table 2.
Table 2. Women presence at the level of the Executive Committees or Directorates

Executive
Committees/
Directorates
Positions held by
women (%)
Total members
number
BCR
BRD
UNICR
RAIFF
VOLKS
TRANS
CARP
CEC
EXIM
BANK
1
(20,00%)
5
2
(40,00%)
5
1 (33,33%)
3
(42,85%)
7
From the analysis of the published documents on

the official website of the included banks in the
sample, shows that:
At the level of Supervisory Board / Board of
Directors, out of the 60 members, the number of
women is 5, which hold a share of only 8,33%;
From the total of 50 members of the Executive
Committee or Directorates, registered at the level
of banking companies included in the sample,
women represent 18%, holding a number of 9
seats.
It is noted that, although at the level seats of the
supervisory bodies the share of women is low,
the operative management bodies include
women in their composition in a ratio of almost 2
times higher (9 versus 5).
Nr. 2(122)/2015
Also, the analysis of information on women presence

within Management Structures at the level of
analysed sample of banking companies structured
according to their capital in banks that are part of
multinational holdings (BCR, BRD, Volksbank,
Unicredit and Raiffeisen) and bank local/mixed
capital (CEC, Eximbank, Carpathian Bank and Banca
Transilvania) highlights the following:
Regarding the composition of the Supervisory
Board/Board of Directors, if at the level of credit
institutions that are part of multinational holding
the share of women members is 3.23% (of the
total of 31 members, only one representative of
women is Member of the Supervisory Board of
Raiffeisen Bank), the seats within the
Supervisory Board at the level banks with
native/mixed capital is 13 and within the
101
the level of the Supervisory Board or Boards of

Directors). Regarding the banks with local/mixed
capital, at the level of the Executive Committees
or Directorates, the women have a share of
32.60% (6 women from the total of 19 members).
Supervisory Bodies of the banks with local /

mixed capital are owned 13.80% by women (4
women from a total of 29 members - the
Carpatica, CEC and Eximbank);
The seats held by the women at the level of the
Executive Committees or Directorates of the
banking companies that are part of multinational
holding represents 9.70% (the higher share at
In Figures 1 and 2 there is the graphical representation

of women at the management structures level of the
banking companies included into the researched sample.
Figure 1. Structures of Supervisory Boards/ Boards of Directors
Figure 2. Structures of Executive Committees / Directorates
102
It is observed a more active involvement of women at

the level of the Supervisory Board/Board Directors of
banking companies with local/mixed capital versus
mixed credit institutions that are members of
multinational holdings (13.80% versus 3.22%).
Regarding the structure of the Executive Committees or
Directorates are also noted a higher percentage of
women at the level of the banking companies with local /

mixed capital compared to the credit institutions that are
members of the multinational holdings, respectively
32.6% versus 9.6%.
At the Audit Committees level from the analysed credit
institutions, the situation of womens presence into their
composition is presented in Table 3.
Table 3. Womens presence into Audit Committees

The Audit
Committees
BCR
BRD
UNICR
RAIFF
VOLKS
TRANS
CARP
CEC
Positions held by
women (%)
0%
0%
0%
33%
33%
33%
33%
33%
EXIM
BANK
0%
It can be seen a relatively low presence of women at the

audit committees level from the analysed banks, the
highest proportion of women being 33%.
4. Conclusion
In our approach on analysing the women presence at
the management structures of the banking system from
Romania, we have noticed that women still have a
relatively low share in the structure of Boards Directors
and Audit Committees.
At European level, and not only, majority of banks have
taken the initiative to increase the number of seats held
by women in their management structures. Thus, the
Lloyds Banking Group will make a strategic move
related to the diversity of its employees, considering that
40% of management positions will be held by women, in
the next years until 20201.
However, in Japan, in 2014 for the first time, a woman
was appointed to lead a bank of the Nomura Holdings
financial group. At the same time, women were
appointed to get into board directors of Daiwa.2
In this international context, having regarded the
promotion of gender diversity (gender equality) at the
board of directors level in recent years, we consider it
necessary to register an ascending trend of seats held
http://news.sky.com/story/1204659/lloyds-sets-target-forwomen-executives
2 http://ziare.com
1
Nr. 2(122)/2015
by the women at the level of the management bodies

within the banking system from Romania.
Into an ideal world, the business would be characterized
by gender equality. In reality, however, the boards of
companies in the EU are dominated by men.
Therefore, at the level of European Parliament, during
this period, a directive is voted that will introduce rules
requiring that women should represent at least 40% of
members of the management boards of EU companies.
The introduction of quotas for women should help to
correct the unfair treatment and improve opportunities
for women in the company. Currently, women represent
only 15% of non-executive members of the committees
of large companies in the EU and only 2.4% of the
CEOs.3
Currently, within the banking system from Romania,
women are under-represented' at the level of boards
directors, whether they are banking companies as
member of multinational holdings, whether they are
credit institutions with local/mixed capital.
We appreciate that, in addition to the continuous efforts
for adapting at the conditions of gender diversity
manifested at the European level, the credit institutions
from Romania will endeavour to promote the women into
the management structures which, through their
baggage of knowledge, skills experience and, not least
through prestige, will contribute to increasing the
performance of banking system. Also, there will be a
3
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news
103
more balanced representation of men and women in

decision making bodies, greater diversity among board
members improving very likely quality of debates and
decision-making.
will focus on understanding the antecedents and

contribution of women on corporate boards.
Acknowledgment
This work was cofinanced from the European
Social Fund through Sectoral Operational Programme
Human Resources Development 2007-2013, project
number POSDRU/159/1.5/S/134197 Performance and
excellence in doctoral and postdoctoral research in
Romanian economics science domain.
Until now, have not been identified direct

results of women contribution within the
management structures on the firm performance,
on corporate strategy, this field still remains open to
research. In the future, the research directions
REFERENCES
Adams, R.B. and Ferreira, D. (2009), Women in the
boardroom and their impact on governance and
performance, Journal of Financial Economics, 94,
291-309
Ahern, K.R. and A.K. Dittmar, A.K. (2011) The Changing
of the Boards. The Impact on Firm Valuation of
Mandated Female Board Representation, Working
Paper, University of Michigan
Ashforth, B.E. and Gibbs, B.W. (1990) The DoubleEdge of Organizational Legitimation, Organization
Science,1, 177-194
Brammer, S.Millington, A. and Pavelin, S. (2009),
Corporate Reputation and Women on the Board,
British Journal of Management, 20, 17-29
Becker, C.S. (1964), Human Capital: A Theoretical and
Empirical Analysis with Special Reference to
Education, New York: National Bureau of Economic
Research: Columbia University Press, p. 187
Byrnes, J.P., Miller, D.C. and Schafer, W.D. (1999)
Gender Diversity in Risk Taking: A Meta-Analysis,
Psychological Bulletin, 125, 367-383
Carter, D.A., Simkins, B.J. and Simpson, W.G. (2003)
Corporate Governance, Board Diversity and Firm
Value, Financial Review, 38, 33-53
Dalton, D.R. and Dalton, C.M. (2008), On the Progress
of Corporate Women: Less a Glass Ceiling Than a
Bottleneck?, in S. Vinnicombe, V. Singh, D.J. Burke,
D. Bilimoria and M.Huse (ed.), Women on
Corporate Boards of Directors (Cheltenham:
Edward Elgar Publishing)
Fama, E.F. and Jensen, M.C. (1983), Separation of
Ownership and Control, Journal of Law and
Economics, 26, 301-325
104
Helfat, C.E., Harris, D. and Wolfson, P.J. (2006) The

Pipeline to the Top:Women and Men in the Top
Executive Ranks of US Corporations, Academy of
Management Perspectives, 20, 42-64.
Hillman, A.J., Shropshire, C. and Cannella, A.A. (2007)
Organizational Predictors of Women on Corporate
Boards, Academy of Management Journal, 50, 941952
Kesner, I.F. (1988) Directors Characteristics and
Committee Membership: An Investigation of Type,
Occupation, Tenure and Gender, Academy of
Levi, M., Li,K. AND Zhang, F. (2008) Mergers and
Acquisitions: The Role of Board Gender Diversity,
Working Paper, University of British Columbia
Meyer, J.W. and Rowan, B. (1977) Institutionalized
Organizations: Formal Structure as Myth and Ceremony, American Journal of Sociology, 83, 340-363
Terjesen, S. and Singh, V. (2008) Female Presence on
Corporate Boards: A Multi-Country Study of
Environmental Context, Journal of Business Ethics,
83, 55-63
Terjesen, S., Sealy, R. and Singh,V. (2009), Women
Directors on Corporate Boards: A Review and
Research Agenda, Corporate Governance: An
International Review, 17, 320-337
Pfeffer, J. (1972) Size and Composition of Corporate
Boards of Directors: The Organization and its
Environment, Administrative Science Quarterly, 17,
218-228
Pfeffer, J. and Salancik, G.R. (1978), The External
Control of Organizations: a Resource Dependence
Perspective, New York: Harper & Row, p. 300
Powell, G.N.(1999), Handbook of Gender &Work,

Thousand Oaks, Clifornia: Sage, p. 651
Singh, V., Terjesen, S. and Vinnicombe, S. (2008),
Newly Appointed Directors in the Boardroom: How
Do Women and Men Differ?, European
DiMaggio, P.J. and Powell,W.W. (1983)The Iron Cage
Revisited: Institutional Isomorphism and Collective
Rationality in Organizational Fields, American
Nr. 2(122)/2015
Sociological Review, 48, 147-160

Zahra, S.A. and Perce, J.A. (1989), Boards of Directors
and Corporate Financial Performance: A Review
and Interogative Model, Journal of Management, 15,
291-334
Banks websites: www.bnr.ro, www.bcr.ro, www.brd.ro,
www.cec.ro, www.eximbank.ro, www.volksbank.ro,
www.unicredit-tiriac.ro, www.raiffeisen.ro,
www.carpatica.ro, www.bancatransilvania.ro
105
Audit
financiar, XIII, Nr. 2(122)/2015,
106-115
Carmen-Alexandra
BALTARIU
ISSN: 1583-5812; ISSN on-line: 1844-8801
Consolidated
Financial
Statements:
A Twelve Years
Literature
Review
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to assess the scientific
literature referring to consolidated financial statements
over a twelve year period starting from 2002. The
research methodology of this paper consists of a
cross-sectional and longitudinal qualitative analysis
approached from a theoretical (conceptual)
perspective. The qualitative analysis carried out
presents a deductive approach, the conclusions
regarding the general characteristics of the research
field pertaining to consolidated financial statements
being based on the main results and scientific
contributions identified in the research field of interest.
Keywords: consolidated financial statements, IFRSs,
literature review, qualitative analysis
JEL Classification: M40; M41; M48
Carmen-Alexandra BALTARIU,
Ph.D. Student
Faculty of Economic Sciences and Business
Administration, Babe-Bolyai
University of Cluj-Napoca, Romania
106
Consolidated Financial Statements: A Twelve Years Literature Review
1. Introduction
The emergence of the group as a new economic
structure consisting of a number of subsidiaries and
affiliated companies under the control of a parent
company has generated the need for a different type
of financial reporting in order to provide relevant
information about the position and performance of this
business structure. The evolution of financial reporting
for groups has led to a new type of structure and
presentation of the financial information pertaining to
groups, namely the consolidated financial statements.
The attention received by consolidated financial
statements in accounting research is due, on the one
hand to the importance of the group structures within
the national, regional and global economy and on the
other hand to the international regulators' concerns
about the international financial reporting standards.
The purpose of this paper is to assess the scientific
literature referring to consolidated financial statements
over a twelve year period starting from 2002. Following
our analysis we point out the main characteristics of the
research field of interest between 2002 and 2014. As
Feleag, Feleag & Dragomir remarked in their paper
(2009, p. 10), by reviewing the scientific literature
published in a research area of interest some key
objectives can be achieved, namely providing access
to the existing theories, understanding the research
methods used, assessing the progress of knowledge,
and also identifying future opportunities for research.
This paper represents a descriptive review of the
current state of knowledge in the accounting research
field pertaining to consolidated financial statements. In
the following, we provide a brief overview of the most
important events related to the consolidated financial
statements regulation which took place between 2002
and 2014.
In 2002 the signing of the Norwalk Agreement marked
the beginning of the collaboration between the
International Accounting Standards Board and the
Financial Accounting Standards Board regarding the
convergence process of the IFRSs and the U.S.GAAPs. The same year the E.C. Regulation
1606/2002 of the European Parliament and the
European Council referring to the application of
International Accounting Standards (IASs) in the
European Union was issued. In 2003 through the E.C.
Nr. 2(122)/2015
Directive 51/2003 of the European Parliament and the

European Council the following directives:
78/660/E.E.C.,83/349/E.E.C., 86/635/E.E.C. and
91/674/E.E.C. concerning the annual accounts and
the consolidated accounts of certain types of
companies, namely banks and other financial and
insurance companies were amended. The E.C.
Directive 51/2003 reaffirmed the international status of
the IASs in the European Union. During the same
year IAS 27 "Consolidated and Separate Financial
Statements", IAS 28 "Investments in Associates" and
IAS 31 "Interests in Joint Ventures" were revised by
IASB. Because of the mandatory application of IAS/
IFRSs for the preparation of consolidated financial
statements by companies listed in the European
Union, scheduled to begin in 2005, IASB issued a
year in advance the International Financial Reporting
Standard (IFRS) 3 "Business Combinations". In turn,
in 2007 FASB issued the Statement of Financial
Accounting Standards (SFAS) No. 160 "Noncontrolling Interests in Consolidated Financial
Statements An Amendment of ARB No. 51". The
following year SFAS No. 141 "Business
Combinations" and IFRS 3 "Business Combinations"
were revised due to the progress achieved regarding
the convergence process. The last changes with
respect to reporting regulation identified in the period
2002-2014 were made in 2011, when IASB issued
IAS 27 "Separate Financial Statements" (which
replaced IAS 27-2003), IAS 28 "Investments in
Associates and Joint Ventures" (which replaced IAS
28-2003), IFRS 10 "Consolidated Financial
Statements" (which replaced IAS 27-2003), IFRS 11
"Joint Arrangements" (which replaced IAS 28 and IAS
31-2003), and IFRS 12 "Disclosure of Interests in
Other Entities" (which replaced IAS 27, IAS 28 and
IAS 31-2003). (IFRS, 2014; FASB, 2014; IASPlus,
2014; EU, 2014)
2. Research Methodology
The research methodology of this paper consists of a
cross-sectional and longitudinal qualitative analysis
approached from a theoretical (conceptual)
perspective. The qualitative analysis carried out
presents a deductive character. Our conclusions
regarding the general characteristics of the research
107
field pertaining to consolidated financial statements

are based on the main results and scientific
contributions identified in the research field of interest.
Among the research methods used in this paper we
mention document analysis, the comparative method,
and the interpretive method. The method pertaining to
document analysis consists of covering the scientific
papers published between 2002 and 2014 in the
consolidated financial statements research area. The
comparative method was used in conjunction with the
interpretive method in order to perform a comparative
analysis of various results found in the scientific
literature.
In order to carry out our qualitative analysis regarding
the scientific literature pertaining to consolidated
financial statements we conducted a thorough
investigation for articles published in journals
recognized nationally, or internationally, or for books
relevant to the topic being addressed. Our search was
conducted in scientific journals published online by
the American Accounting Association, the Chamber of
Financial Auditors of Romania, the Emerald Group
Publishing, Franklin Publishing Company, Heckner,
Inderscience, John Wiley & Sons (Wiley-Blackwell),
JSTOR, Oxford University Press, Palgrave Mcmillan,
Questia, SAGE Publication, Springer, Reed Elsevier,
and Taylor & Francis.
The same topic is addressed by Henning & Shaw

(2004, p. 315) in their paper in which they test the
predictive value of the established amortization
period of purchased goodwill in relation to the
companys post-acquisition levels of earnings and
also the link between the post-acquisition earnings
changes and future stock performance. The
authors results support the interpretation that the
established amortization period of purchased
goodwill can be considered a predictor regarding
the post-acquisition earnings levels and future
stock performance.
As the increased number of empirical papers shows,

the interest for the quantitative approach, or the
positivist research current, deepened between 2002
and 2014 in the consolidated financial statements
research area. One of the topics that received attention
from a large number of researchers is goodwill.
US-GAAP received a lot of critics regarding the

alleged overemphasis on companies freedom in
determining the amount and timing of goodwill
impairment, which became the focus of Henning,
Shaw & Stock (2004, p. 99) research paper. The
authors results do not support the hypotheses
based on these claims.
Churyk (2005, p. 1353) examines whether the
FASBs decision to issue a standard which
eliminated the systematic amortization of goodwill
by replacing it with the annual test for impairment
was an appropriate one by testing the financial
markets assessment of goodwill. The results
suggest that the elimination of goodwill
amortization by accounting regulators was an
advantageous decision. The topic of goodwill was
also addressed in Hayn & Hughes (2006, p. 223)
research paper. The authors consider whether the
consolidated financial disclosures on acquired
entities allow investors to predict the value of
goodwill impairment. They concluded that current
reports do not provide adequate information in this
regard.
Hirschey & Richardson (2002, p. 173) carry out an

analysis over the informational content of disclosed
goodwill values. Their results suggest that the
goodwill impairment announcements have a
negative and consistent informational effect over
the price of securities, both in the preannouncement and post-announcement time
frame. Based on these results, the authors
conclude that the value of the company, at least in
terms of intangible assets, is significantly reflected
in the accounting information.
James, How & Verhoeven (2008, p. 625) structure

their empirical analysis on a sample of Australian
companies. They test the association between the
purchased goodwill and the value of the premium
included in the acquisition offer. In addition, they
examine the changes suffered by this association
relation following the implementation of 1988
Australian Accounting Standard Board(AASB)
1013 standard, which imposed the measure of a
maximum 20 year capitalization and amortization
period for purchased goodwill. The association
3. Literature Review
108
relation between the purchased goodwill and the

value of the premium included in the acquisition
offer appears to be weaker after the AASB 1013
implementation. The authors conclude that the
results are due to the decreased number of
purchased goodwill accounting treatment options
for the bidder company.
The results of Lapointe-Antunes, Cormier &
Magnan (2008, p. 37) empirical research paper
document the companies interest in overstating, or
understating transition goodwill impairment losses.
The topic of goodwill was also analyzed from a
descriptive (conceptual) perspective, thus in this
section we will present a short review of a series of
studies which can be included in the normative
research current:
Lander & Reinstein (2003, p. 227) and Massoud &
Raiborn (2003, p. 26) discuss in their papers the
Statement of Accounting Standards No. 142 issued
by Financial Accounting Standards Board in 2001,
which replaced the 1970s Accounting Principles
Board Opinion No. 17. The new standard required
the impairment of purchased goodwill, replacing
thus the old accounting treatment of goodwill
amortization. Seetharaman, Balachandran &
Saravanan (2004, p. 131) take into consideration
the past, present and future of disclosure
regulations concerning goodwill, pointing out the
main issues that sparked controversy in the field
and also the main problems regarding the
accounting treatment of goodwill.
Ding, Richard& Stolowy (2008) examine how the
shift from stakeholder approach to shareholder
approach in the corporate medium has influenced
over time goodwill related accounting treatments.
Ding et al. (2008, p 718) is a longitudinal study
based on an international comparison between the
types of goodwill accounting treatment
implemented in The United Kingdom, United
States, Germany and France. The authors
identified four phases of goodwill accounting
treatment development: the static phase,
characterized by the immediate, or rapid
incorporation of goodwill in expenditure; the
"weakened static" phase, characterized by the
Nr. 2(122)/2015
write-off of goodwill against equity; the "dynamic"

phase in which goodwill was recognized and
amortized over a long period of time; - the
"actuarial" phase, in which goodwill was recognized
without amortization, and only impaired if deemed
necessary.
In regards to the goodwill research topic, the
critical research perspective is represented by
Qasim, Haddad & AbuGhazaleh (2013, p. 63)
study which examines the evolution of goodwill
accounting treatment in accordance with the
International Financial Reporting Standards.
Through the means of comparison of IFRSs with
the UK-GAAP, the authors emphasize both the
advantages and the issues raised by the IFRSs
approach to implement goodwill impairment as the
sole accounting treatment.
Another topic which has come to researchers
attention in the 2002-2014 frame of time refers to
consolidated financial statements regulations. This
subject was examined in a number of research papers
(Hartgraves & Benston, 2002; Nobes, 2005), but also
in a number of papers published by the committees
charged with analyzing and explaining the accounting
standards issued by the international regulatory
bodies (Botosan, Hirst, Venkatachalam, Maines,
Bartov, Beatty, Fairfield, Iannaconi & Mallett, 2003).
All of these works represent the normative or
interpretive accounting research currents.
While Hartgraves & Benston (2002, p. 245)
perform a review on developments in financial
reporting concerning the consolidated special
purpose entities (SPE), Nobes (2005, p. 25)
conducts an analysis of the detailed rules within
existing consolidated financial reporting standards,
suggesting that the need for such detailed rules
stems from a lack of accounting principles, or from
the incorrect use of the existing accounting
principles in the standards formulation process.
Nobes (2005, p. 25) explains that the absence of
clear principles, or the lack of appropriate
standards leads to a lack of comparability
concerning the disclosed information and to a large
number of optional accounting methods.
Botosan et al. (2003, p. 161) bring into question the
FASBs consolidation of SPEs proposal, while in
109
Walker (2007, p. 49) we discover a critical view on

the accounting practitioners compliance in regards
to the implementation of the entity concept.
The topic of special purpose entities is also
approached in Munter (2003, p. 39), a research
paper in which the author analyzes the role held by
SPEs in the bankruptcy of corporations similar to
Enron and brings into question the prospective role
of SPEs in mergers. Larson (2008, p. 27) provides
us with a descriptive analysis of the comment
letters regarding the special purpose entity
concept, in order to examine whether and to what
extent, the process of developing a single set of
international financial reporting standards is
subjected to political pressure.
In the period between 2002 and 2014 the researchers
interest was focused on other topics as well. One of
these subjects refers to the comprehensive income
concept; the other is represented by joint ventures.
The topic of comprehensive income was mainly
addressed in descriptive (conceptual) studies included
in the normative research current. For example Yen,
Hirst, & Hopkins (2007, p. 53) carry out a content
analysis of the comment letters received by the
Financial Accounting Standards Board in 1996 in the
wake of releasing an Exposure Draft regarding
comprehensive income. Henry (2011, p. 85) examines
the change of comprehensive income presentation
method implemented by FASB. The author considers
this change as being a step towards convergence
between the two sets of global accounting standards,
IFRSs and US-GAAPs. Regarding the topic of
comprehensive income, Newberry (2003, p. 325)
adopts a critical perspective in analyzing the IASB
report on performance and comprehensive income
disclosure, suggesting the report is characterized by a
lack of internal coherence and the influence of the
political sphere over the technical regulations.
The joint ventures topic is approached empirically
by Kothavala (2003) and Stoltzfus & Epps (2005).
Kothavala (2003, p.517) uses a sample of
Canadian joint ventures companies to perform a
comparison between the relative information
content of values reported under the proportionate
consolidation method and the equity method in
regards to the equity market risk evaluation
110
process. The results suggest the information

reported under the proportionate method of
consolidation is more relevant in terms of
assessing share price volatility, while the
information reported under the equity method has a
higher relevance concerning bond ratings
evaluation process.
In contradiction with the previous findings Bauman
(2007, p. 496) reports results which suggest a
higher value relevance of accounting information
disclosed under the proportionate consolidation
method, in comparison with the equity method for
the evaluation of bond ratings. The results were
obtained using a U.S. sample of manufacturing
companies. Another type of comparison is carried
out in Stoltzfus & Epps (2005, p. 169). In this
research paper the authors take into consideration
the strength of the association between the risk
premium of bonds and the financial accounting
information disclosed first under the proportionate
consolidation method and second under the equity
method. This study aims to examine the two
possible manners, namely the legal approach, or the
implicit approach, in which the operations regarding
a joint venture company can be reported to the
creditors of the joint venture. According to the legal
approach the potential loss concerning a joint
venture company is limited to the amount invested in
the joint venture. The consolidation method
associated with this approach is the equity method.
By comparison, the implicit approach suggests the
mandatory separation between the operations of a
joint venture and the company that made the
investment in the joint venture. The proportionate
consolidation method is associated with this approach
(Stoltzfus & Epps 2005, p. 169). The results of this
study suggest that for the joint ventures creditors the
financial information disclosed under the proportionate
consolidation method has higher value relevance,
provided that the loan is guaranteed by the company
investing in the joint venture (Stoltzfus & Epps 2005,
p. 170).
The methods, techniques and accounting practices
regarding the consolidated financial statements were
presented in the 2002-2014 time-frame mainly
through theoretical studies.
Nobes (2002, p. 41) adopts a critical perspective

and analyzes the developments of the equity
method, the conceptual apparatus and the manner
in which the method was used, arguing that the
equity method is not appropriate, and thus should
not be used for the disclosure of joint ventures.
Pope (2003, p. 273) discusses the link between the
consolidated reporting practices, the
implementation of certain accounting standards
and the financial analysts forecasting accuracy.
The study of Aceituno, Valeriano, Bolivar & Pedro
(2006, p. 95) represents a theoretical analysis
regarding the existing earnings allocation methods,
namely between group majority shareholders and
minority interests, and between parent company
majority shareholders and minority interests. In
addition, the study focuses on the relation between
the type of method used for earnings allocation and
the financial rates.
Vallely, Stokes & Liesch (2008) present the equity
method of consolidation.
Mller (2010) explains in a detailed manner the
methods and techniques used in the consolidation
process.
Futamura (2010) carries out a longitudinal analysis
concerning the accounting treatment of minority
interests in Japan.
Espinoza Priego, Lpez Fernndez & Acosta
Mrquez (2010) perform a comparison between
Spain and Mexicos consolidation practices.
Budy-Rzsa (2012) examines from a critical
perspective the new international financial
reporting standards concerning the consolidated
financial statements, suggesting that after the
implementation of the new regulations the groups
financial rates, namely the liquidity, solvency and
profitability will be altered.
Along with the descriptive (conceptual) approach, the
quantitative perspective is well represented by the
works of Thomas, Herrman & Inoue (2004); Shuto
(2009); Beuselinck & Deloof (2014) concerning the
existing practice of earnings manipulation.
Thomas, Herrman & Inoue (2004, p.1) conduct an
empirical study regarding the practice of earnings
Nr. 2(122)/2015
manipulation through transactions carried out with

affiliated companies in a sample of Japanese
groups. The purpose, or the justification for
earnings manipulation practice are the avoidance
of losses, the avoidance of a decline in earnings
value and the avoidance of negative forecasts.
This type of behavior was observed in regards to
the parent company reported earnings, but also in
regards to the whole group reported earnings.
Shuto (2009, p. 199) confirms the results of the
previous study regarding the parent companys
earnings manipulation behavior in order to avoid a
decline in the value of its earnings. In addition,
Shuto (2009, p. 199) suggests that following the
adoption of the international financial reporting
standards the manipulation practice concerning the
parent companys earnings becomes less pervasive,
but in regards to the groups earnings this kind of
behavior amplifies. This topic is also examined by
Beuselinck & Deloof (2014, p. 27) on a sample of
Belgian companies. The results of the study suggest
that earnings manipulation behavior is more
pervasive in the case of a group affiliated company,
than in the case of an unaffiliated company.
In the area of consolidated financial statements the
researchers showed interest towards the topic of
consolidated financial statements presentation. This
topic is represented by empirical studies using
samples of French companies (Ding, Stolowy &
Tenenhaus, 2003; Ding, Jeanjean & Stolowy 2008), or
by descriptive (conceptual) research papers which
take into consideration the context of the not yet fully
completed convergence process between the IASBs
and the FASBs accounting frameworks (Mcclain &
McLelland, 2008).
Another topic of interest is referring to the forecasting
process of consolidated earnings, and is represented
by the empirical study of Herrmann, Inoue & Thomas
(2003), an analysis that suggests the incremental
usefulness of the results reported by the Japanese
groups subsidiaries to the results reported by the
parent companies.
The disadvantages of foreign subsidiaries
consolidation by U.S. parent companies are
presented in the work of Holt (2004), a descriptive
(conceptual) study with a critical view on the subject.
111
The findings of this study suggest that in comparison

to the consolidated financial statements, alternative
presentations denominated in foreign currency are
more informative forthe shareholders..
The theme of Initial Public Offerings consolidation
process (IPO a company established through the union
of smaller entities for the sole purpose of listing on the
financial markets) is represented by the empirical study of
Brown, Dittmar & Servaes (2005); the role of patent rights in
mergers and consolidations is represented by Marco &
Rausser (2008), an empirical study carried out on a
sample of companies operating in the biotechnology
industry; the differences between the theories underpinning
the consolidation process (the proprietary theory, the parent
company theory, the extended parent company theory, the
entity theory), are discussed in the theoretical study of
Scrin (2008); the moderating factors which determine
the Australian subsidiaries decision of not making any
financial disclosure are presented in Bradbury, Dean
& Clarke (2009).
4. Conclusions and research limits

Following our review, we conclude that the scientific
literature published in the consolidated financial
statements research area in the period 2002-2014 is
represented by studies which can be included in the
normative, interpretive, critical, or positive trends of
research. The consolidated financial statements
research field is well represented from the theoretical
(conceptual) perspective resulting in qualitative
analyses and also from the empirical perspective
resulting in quantitative analyses.
Regarding the theoretical perspective of the research
area of interest, we identified papers addressing the
subject of: the consolidated financial reporting
regulations (The Seventh Directive, the IFRSs, the
FASB standards); the concepts pertaining to the
consolidated financial statements; the concept of
"control"; the methods and the techniques used in the
consolidation process; - the accounting treatment
applied to items included in the consolidated financial
statements;- the consolidated financial statements
presentation; the theories concerning consolidation
and the differences between them (the proprietary
theory, the parent company theory, the parent
112
company theory extended, the entity theory); the

connection between consolidated financial statements
and corporate or tax legislation. The empirical
perspective is represented by papers addressing
subjects like the consolidated financial statements
usefulness with respect of the provision of information
to stakeholders; issues concerning intra-group
transactions and group earnings, the comprehensive
income, consolidated earnings forecasting, the
practice of earnings manipulation through transactions
with affiliated companies, minority interests,
consolidated subsidiaries, segment reporting,
consolidation of special purpose entities, joint
ventures, goodwill, dividends, mutual transactions. A
comparative perspective in the research area of
consolidated financial statements is provided by
papers performing a parallel between the
consolidated financial statements and the parent
company's individual reports; or between the
information content of values reported under the
proportionate method of consolidation and the
information content of values reported under the
equity method.
A qualitative summarization of the results in a
particular research field entails certain limitations, like
subjectivity or lack of transparency concerning a
number of factors that remain at the discretion of the
researcher, namely the criteria used for selecting the
studies included in the analysis, the different levels of
importance given to the various studies, or the
number of papers included in the review. In addition,
the usefulness of this type of summarization is limited
to the period of time analyzed, because of new papers
being published and new results being made available
in the following periods of time (Borenstein, Hedges,
Higgins & Rothstein, 2009, p xxii). In addition,
following a qualitative analysis we cannot specify the
manner in which the effects reported in different works
vary depending on moderator factors (covariates).
Thus, a qualitative analysis does not allow us to
formulate general conclusions concerning the field of
interest.
Acknowledgement
This work was co-financed by the Faculty of
Economic Sciences and Business Administration,
"Babe-Bolyai" University of Cluj-Napoca - partner
university within the European project "Competitive

Researchers at a European Level in the Humanities
and Socioeconomic Fields. Multi-regional Research

Network (CCPE)" POSDRU/159/1.5/S/140863
REFERENCES
Aceituno, F., Valeriano, J., Bolivar, R. & Pedro, M.
(2006), The conceptual framework concept and the
allocation of incomes in the consolidation entity: its
impact on financial ratios, International Journal of
Commerce & Management, Vol. 16, No. 2: 95-115;
Bauman, M. P., (2007), Proportionate consolidation
versus the equity method: additional evidence on
the association with bond ratings, International
Review of Financial Analysis, Vol. 16, No. 5: 496507, DOI: 10.1016/J.irfa.2007.06.005;
Beuselinck, C. & Deloof, M. (2014), Earnings
management in business groups: tax incentives or
expropriation concealment?, The International
Journal of Accounting, Vol. 49: 27-52, DOI:
10.1016/J.intacc.2014.01.008;
Borenstein, M., Hedges, L. V., Higgins, J. P. T. &
Rothstein, H. R. (2009), Introduction to metaanalysis, Chichester, United Kingdom: John Wiley &
Sons Publication;
Botosan, C. A., Hirst, D. E., Venkatachalam, M., Maines,
L. A., Bartov, E., Beatty, A. L., Fairfield, P. M.,
Iannaconi, T. E. & Mallett, R. (2003), Comments on
the FASBs proposals on consolidating specialpurpose entities and related standard-setting
issues, Accounting Horizons, Vol. 17, No. 2 (June):
161-173;
Bradbury, M., Dean, G. & Clarke, F. L. (2009),
Incentives for non-disclosure by corporate groups,
Abacus, Vol. 45, No. 4: 429-454, DOI:
10.1111/j.1467-6281.2009.00298.x;
Bdy-Rzsa, I. (2012), New trends in consolidation
challenging the changes of new IFRS rules,
Periodica Polytechnica, Social and Management
Sciences, Vol. 20, No. 1, DOI: 10.3311/pp.so.20121.02;
Churyk, N. T. (2005), Reporting goodwill: are the new
accounting standards consistent with market
valutions?, Journal of Business Research, Vol. 58:
1353-1361, DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2004.05.006;
Ding, Y., Stolowy, H. & Tenenhaus, M. (2003),
Shopping around for accounting practices: the
Nr. 2(122)/2015
financial statement presentation of French groups,

Abacus, Vol. 39, No. 1: 42-64;
Ding, Y., Richard, J. & Stolowy, H. (2008), Towards an
understanding of the phases of goodwill accounting
in four Western capitalist countries: from
stakeholder model to shareholder model,
Accounting, Organizations and Society, Vol. 33:
718-755, DOI: 10.1016/j.aos.2007.07.002;
Ding, Y., Jeanjean, T. & Stolowy, H. (2008), The impact
of firms internationalization on financial statement
presentation: some French evidence, Advances in
Accounting, incorporating Advances in International
10.1016/J.adiac.2008.05.014;
Espinoza Priego, E. L., Lpez Fernndez, E., Acosta
Mrquez, M. P. (2010), La consolidacin de estados
financieros. Anlisis comparativo contable MxicoEspaa, Pensamiento & Gestin, Universidad del
Norte, Vol. 29: 87-103;
Feleag, L., Feleag, N. & Dragomir, V. D. (2009),
National standards and European accounting
harmonization: twenty years of scientific literature
review, European Journal of Management, Vol. 9,
No. 2: 10-21,
Futamura, M., (2010), The introduction of accounting
principles for consolidated financial statements in
Japan: focus on minority interest and other related
accounting treatments, Journal of International
Business Research, Vol. 9, No. 1 (Supplement): 122;
Hartgraves, A. L. & Benston, G. J. (2002), The evolving
accounting standards for special purpose entities
and consolidations, Accounting Horizons, Vol. 16,
No. 3: 245-258;
Hayn, C. & Hughes, P. J. (2006), Leading indicators of
goodwill impairment, Journal of Accounting,
Auditing & Finance, Vol. 21, No. 3: 223-265;
Henning, S. L. & Shaw, W. H. (2004), Is the selection
for the amortization period for goodwill a strategic
choice?, Review of Quantitative Finance and
Accounting, Vol. 20, No. 4: 315-333;
113
Henning, S. L., Shaw, W. H. & Stock, T. (2004), The

amount and timing of goodwill write-offs and
revaluations: evidence from U. S. and U. K. firms,
Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting,
Vol. 23, No. 2: 99-121;
Henry, E. (2011), Presentation of comprehensive
income: another (small) step toward convergence,
The Journal of Corporate Accounting & Finance,
November/ December: 85-90, DOI:
10.1002/jcaf.21726;
Herrmann, D., Inoue, T. & Thomas, W. B. (2003),
Predicting consolidated earnings in Japan:
incremental usefulness of subsidiary earnings,
Advances in International Accounting, Vol. 16: 85103, DOI: 10.1016/S0897-3660(03)16005-9;
Hirschey, M. & Richardson, V. J. (2002), Information
content of accounting goodwill numbers, Journal of
Accounting and Public Policy, Vol. 21: 173-191;
Holt, P.E. (2004), A case against the consolidation of
foreign susidiaries and a United States parents
financial statements, Accounting Forum, Vol. 28,
No. 2: 159-165, DOI: 10.1016/J.accfor.2003.10.001;
James, K., How, J. & Verhoeven, P. (2008), Did the
goodwill accounting standard impose material
economic consequences on Australian acquirers?,
Accounting and Finance, Vol. 48: 625-647, DOI:
10.1111/j.1467-629x.2007.00246.x;
Kothavala, K. (2003), Proportional consolidation versus
the equity method: a risk measurement perspective
on reporting interests in joint ventures, Journal of
Accounting and Public Policy, Vol. 22, No. 6: 517538, DOI: 10.1016/J.jaccpubpol.2003.10.001;
Lapointe-Antunes, P., Cormier, D. & Magnan, M. (2008),
Equity recognition of mandatory accounting
changes: the case of transitional goodwill
impairement losses, Canadian Journal of
Administrative Sciences, Vol. 25, No. 1 (March): 3754, DOI: 10.1002/CJAS.41;
Lander, H. G. & Reinstein, A. (2003), Models to measure
goodwill impairment, International Advances in
Economic Research, Vol. 9, No. 3: 227-232;
Larson, R. K. (2008), An examination of comment letters
to the IASC: special purpose entities, Research in
Accounting Regulation, Vol. 20: 27-46;
Marco, A. C. & Rausser, G. C. (2008), The role of patent
rights in mergers: consolidation in plant
biotechnology, American Journal of Agricultural
Economics, Vol. 90, No. 1 (February): 133-151;
114
Massoud, M. F. & Raiborn, C. A. (2003), Accounting for

goodwill: are we better off?, Review of Business,
Vol. 24, No. 2 (Spring): 26-32;
McClain, G. & McLelland, A. J. (2008), Shaking up
financial statement presentation, Journal of
Accountancy, Vol. 206, No. 5: 56-64;
Mller, O.-V. (2010), Situaii financiare consolidate.
Dezvoltri i aprofundri la nivel internaional,
european i naional, Editura Alma Mater, ClujNapoca, Romnia;
Munter, P. (2002), SPEs: What is their role in furture
mergers?, Journal of Corporate Accounting and
Finance, Vol. 14, No. 2: 39-43;
Nobes, C. (2002), An analysis of the international
development of the equity method, Abacus, Vol. 38,
No. 1: 16-45;
Nobes, C. W. (2005), Rules-based standards and the
lack of principles in accounting, Accounting
Horizons, Vol. 19, No. 1: 25-34;
Pope, F. P. (2003), Discussion of disclosure practices,
enforcement of accounting standards, and analysts
forecast accuracy: an international study, Journal of
Accounting Research, Vol. 41, No. 2, The Effects of
Regulation (Including Taxation) on Financial
Reporting Disclosure, (May): 273-283;
Qasim, A., Haddad, A. E. & AbuGhazaleh, N. M. (2013),
Goodwill accounting in the United Kingdom: the
effect of International Financial Reporting
Standards, Review of Business and Finance
Studies, Vol. 4, No. 1: 63-78;
Scrin, M. (2008), Teoriile consolidrii i implicaiile
acestora n informarea financiar, Revista Audit
Financiar, Vol. 6, No. 10: 29-39;
Seetharaman, A., Balachandran, M., Saravanan, A. S.
(2004), Accounting treatment of goodwill: yesterday,
today and tomorrow: Problems and prospects in the
international perspective, Journal of Intellectual
Capital, Vol. 5 Iss: 1, pp.131 152;
Shuto, A. (2009), Earnings management to exceed the
threshold: a comparative analysis of consolidated
and parent-only earnings, Journal of International
Financial Management and Accounting, Vol. 20, No.
3: 199-231;
Stoltzfus, R. L. & Epps, R. W. (2005), An empirical study
of the value-relevance of using proportionate
consolidation accounting for investments in joint
ventures, Accounting Forum, Vol. 29, No. 2: 169-190;
Thomas, W. B., Herrman, D. R. & Inoue, T. (2004),

Earnings management through affiliated
transactions, Journal of International Accounting
Research, Vol. 3, No. 2: 1-25;
Vallely, M., Stokes, D. & Liesch, P. (2008), Equity
accounting: empirical evidence and lessons from
the past, Australian Accounting Review, Vol. 7, No.
14: 16-26;
Walker, R. G. (2007), Reporting entity concept: a case
study of the failure of principles-based regulation,
Abacus, Vol. 43, No. 1: 49-75, DOI: 10.1111/j.14676281.2007.00217.x;
Nr. 2(122)/2015
Yen, A. C., Hirst, D. E. & Hopkins, P. E. (2007),

A content analysis of the comprehensive
income exposure draft comment letters,
Research in Accounting Regulation, Vol. 19:
53-79, DOI: 10.1016/S1052-0457(06)19003-7;
http://europa.eu/eu-law/decision-making/legal-acts/
index_en.htm
http://www.ifrs.org/Pages/default.aspx
http://www.iasplus.com/en
http://www.fasb.org/home
115
Audit financiar, XIII,

Nr. 2(122)/2015,
116-129
Ionela-Corina CHERSAN,
Marilena
MIRONIUC
ISSN: 1583-5812; ISSN on-line: 1844-8801
Abstract
Incursion in
the Audit and
Accounting
Research Over
One Decade.
Intuitive Analysis on
the Articles Published
in "Audit Financiar"
Journal
Lecturer Ionela-Corina CHERSAN, Ph.D.,
"Alexandru Ioan Cuza" University, Iasi, Romania,
e-mail: macov@uaic.ro
Professor Marilena MIRONIUC1 Ph.D.,
"Alexandru Ioan Cuza" University, Iasi, Romania,
e-mail: marilena@uaic.ro
The present paper is the result of a descriptiveexplanatory longitudinal study performed on the articles
published in "Audit Financiar" (Financial Audit) Journal,
over a decade, in order to intuitively provide a first image
on the structure of the scientific output in this specific
journal, through the viewpoint of the research areas
identified in the audit and accounting fields.
The structure of the topics of the publications, their
dynamics according to the status and institutional
affiliation of the authors, the extent of the collaboration in
research / publication, the number of quotations of the
articles in the journal, have been the analysed variables
in order to characterise the structure of knowledge in the
fields of audit and accounting, the concentration of the
publications according to the institutions to which their
authors belong or their impact on the development of
research in the field. The study was based on a
population of 720 articles extracted from the 112 issues
of the "Audit Financiar" journal, published between 2003
and 2013. In order to characterise the scientific
publications in "Audit Financiar" and to extract
inferences following the intuitive analysis, through direct
observation and through a comparative analysis of the
database contents, the authors resorted to the approach
specific to content analysis.
The studies lead to the conclusion that the articles
published in this strictly specialised journal are grouped,
according to the topics they approach, around the
tendencies of the international market of ideas, with an
accent in certain periods on "trendy" subjects. In spite of
this influence on the research in the audit and
accounting fields, modest at first sight, if considered
linked to the number of quoted articles or to the low
degree of international exposure, "Audit Financiar" is a
publication that, due to its publishing policy, is under
continuous development of its scientific degree, of its
national and international visibility.
Keywords: research, audit, accounting, bibliometrics,
content analysis
JEL Classification: M21, M40, M41, M42
The authors have equal contributions in drawing this paper.
116
Incursion in the Audit and Accounting Research Over One Decade
1. Introduction
Publishing in specialised magazines has always been a
challenge as well as a professional obligation for
teachers and researchers. The changes in legislation
concerning the development of the academic career, as
well as the ever higher demands reflected in the
dynamics of the evaluation criteria applied in research,
have recently determined an increase in the need and
desire to publish, which generated, on the one hand, a
development in the number of quoted / indexed
specialised magazines and, on the other hand, an
increase in the number and quality of the published
articles.
The rise of the knowledge level in all scientific fields is
mainly due to the dissemination of the researchers'
ideas and explicit knowledge, through publications in
magazines, journals, and specialty books (Chtioui, T.,
Soulerot, M., 2006, p. 8). In recent years, we can note a
tendency towards the specialisation of university studies,
respectively a higher frequency of specialised
researchers who publish in magazines with a welldefined identity, who acquire prestige and visibility in a
hyper-specialised scientific community.
Research in the fields of audit and accounting
qualitatively depends, in turn, on spreading information
through the publication of articles written by specialised
researchers in the field, so that knowing the context of
the research concerns in the mentioned fields, for the
period 2003-2013, and in relation to international
tendencies, is definitely useful.
At an international level, for the accounting and audit
fields, we can identify numerous studies that use
bibliometrics on the articles published in representative
specialised magazines or on quoted references, in order
to identify the structure of knowledge and the factors that
influence the knowledge used in publications, or to
measure the degree of concentration of the publications.
The first part of the present paper, dedicated to a review
of specialised literature related to the bibliometry studies
performed in the fields of accounting and audit, is
followed by a section that summarises the methodology
used to collect the data and analyse the results of the
evaluation of the structure of the scientific articles
published in "Audit Financiar" journal, taking into
account the selected analysis criteria. An analysis of the
quotations and self-quotations of the articles included in
the magazine over time has also been performed, in
Nr. 2(122)/2015
order to infer the influence of this publication on the

development of the audit and accounting fields.
2. Measuring the Research Activity

Using Bibliometry. Perspectives
in Specialised Literature
In science, the objective must be to promote
the results of researches within the scientific
community, especially if we accept as true that "the
knowledge results not from the paratactic sum of
individual contributions, but from the successive
reporting of all to each - therefore, in creating
knowledge, the decisive elements are critical
evaluation, critical processing, and creative
transmission" (Patapievici, H.-R., 2007, p. 44).
It is generally accepted that publishing in quality
magazines is an important part of academic life. Who
works in a university or in research knows well this
alternative: "publish or perish?". Researchers always
analyse the level and impact of the magazines where
they wish to publish, all the more so that this may
influence their status or that of their institution, as well as
resource allocation, obtaining merit acknowledgement,
or career progress. Also, at a time when information
redundancy increases exponentially (Dubini, P., Giglia,
E., 2008, p. 9), the process of certification of the
scientific articles achieved by scientific experts /
referents, often through peer review, gives scientific
products the necessary credibility to be quoted, thus
guaranteeing their contribution to the development of
knowledge.
Bibliometrics is considered, in the academic world, an
ex-post measuring method of the research activity in any
field of knowledge, at a given moment or dynamically,
using quantitative and qualitative techniques to identify,
select, collect, classify, and synthesise an important
volume of textual information and determining specific
indicators (Immediacy Index, Cited Half Life, Rate of
Cites Index, Citation Impact, Impact Factor etc.), most of
them suggested by the Institute for Scientific Information
(ISI). Significantly developed as a result of online access
to large databases, bibliometrics quantify the degree of
spread of the scientific articles within the academic
community and/or their impact, of the authors, or of the
magazines on the related research field (De Robbio, A.,
2007, p. 257).
117
Bibliometrics is based on the conviction that a scientific

research published in a quality journal after peer review
will be quoted by other researchers in the same field, will
influence their subsequent studies, thus becoming a
reference for future publications. As a consequence,
following this logic, the higher the number of quotations
of a scientific product, the higher its quality and prestige
and the more significant its subsequent influence on the
researches that approach the same topic.
The bibliometric studies performed by consecrated
researchers in the field show that "many articles are
published in top specialised journals, but many of them
are never quoted" (Brown, L.D., 1996, p.723). However,
some empirical studies note that there is a direct
connection between the status of the journal and the
probability for the articles published in it to be quoted,
meaning that it is more probable for articles in top
journals to be quoted than for articles in other journals,
starting from the premise, often true, that the articles
published in these journals are of high quality. It is
therefore very difficult for new journals to rise in ranking,
if the evaluation criterion is the percentage of quotations
out of the number of articles published in these journals.
In the international context, bibliometric studies are
performed over large time horizons (20-30 years),
which allows making a high number of observations
and formulating pertinent conclusions. Thus, Brown
(1996, p.725) performed a study on the degree of
quotation of the articles published in seven top
accounting journals included in the Accounting
Research Directory, identifying three categories of
articles: "classical", quoted more than four times a
year, "almost classical", quoted three times a year, and
the rest of the articles grouped in "top 100", quoted
less than three times a year. In his study, the author
took into account the articles published in the most
important seven accounting journals, during the period
1963-1992, and the quotations of these articles in the
most important five accounting journals, during the
period 1976-1992, respectively beginning 13 years
after the first year of publication of the articles.
Some of the conclusions of the studies are: the
significant number of negative quotations, the
presence of self-quotations, the "halo" effect generated
by consecrated authors and the quotations triggered by
"trendy" subjects. In the author's opinion, the chances
for a scientific article to be quoted increase as time
passes.
118
Other empirical studies (Spigler, R., 2002, p. 8) confirm

that approximately 90% of the papers published in
academic scientific papers are never quoted, and about
50% of them are only lectured by their own authors, by
the scientific referents of the magazine where the
articles were published, and as a consequence are not
quoted. The articles that are highly lectured have a
greater probability to be quoted. The more quoted an
article is, the higher its impact in quoted journals, and
researchers are more inclined to publish in the
respective journal. This determines positive externalities
for the involved "actors" (authors, publishers, evaluating
experts, etc.), which translates into a more rigorous
selection process and in a higher probability for the
scientific articles to be very relevant (Dubini, P., Giglia,
E., 2008, p. 4).
Other researchers consider that the articles that review
scientific literature are more often quoted than empirical
studies and also that the quotation frequency of an
article does not necessarily reflect its importance or
impact within the scientific community. For example,
some researchers are tempted to quote themselves or to
quote colleagues from the same research entity, in spite
of the limited contribution of the respective papers. Other
articles are subject to "negative quotations", which
means that they are quoted for critical purposes (Chtioui,
T., Soulerot M., 2006, p. 9).
International studies (De Robio, A., 2007, p. 285)
consider that a scientific article posted online, in an
Open Access system, will be more read and quoted that
a paper also posted online, but on a commercial
platform with limited access. The higher usage of Web
databases and the greater number of access means to
scientific literature amplify the accuracy of the evaluation
of the impact and quality of the scientific products all
over the world, contribute to developing scientific
communication networks which are useful for
establishing connections between authors, departments,
disciplines, and journals that quote and influence each
other.
Beyond the controversial perspectives noticed in
specialised literature, numerous researchers consider
bibliometry as an objective method for identifying the
structure of knowledge and measuring the ability of a
scientific contribution to leave something behind. The
history of the publications, reflected in bibliographical
sources through quotations, is meant to show the
belonging to a scientific community. Quotations
contextualise research, bring the author closer to the

reader and guide the reader in the evaluation of the
author's work based on the quality of the selected
references (Dubini, P., Giglia, E., 2008, p. 4).
3. Research Methodology
This paper can constitute a scientific production study,
created on a database made up of the set of articles
published in the "Audit Financiar" issues, for the period
2003-2013. We have thus attempted to stress the
influence of this journal on the knowledge in the fields of
audit and accounting, following the analysis of the
structure of the topics approached by authors with
different statuses and institutional affiliation, in
identifying the degree of collaboration in research /
publication, in quantifying the annual number of
quotations of journal's articles and its extent of
internationalisation.
In order to build up a corpus of reliable data, a minute
process of analysis of 112 issues was initiated for the
period 2003-2013, together with the manual collection of
720 articles from the website of the "Audit Financiar"
journal or from the ProQuest database, where it is
indexed. We excluded from this database the articles
that summarised: professional debates, seminars,
studies, conferences and congresses. The articles that
remained in the database have been classified
according to their belonging to the two research fields,
accounting and audit, and then, within each field, to
thematic areas (Table no. 1.). The articles that touched
in an interdisciplinary manner several areas have been
classified according to the most significant topic
identified in the article. According to the methodology
specific to content analysis, in order to meet the need for
a detailed study, organising the database involved
designing a list of variable-criteria, relevant for the
purpose of our research, and interdependent tables that
summarise information on: the year and number when
the articles were published, the author(s), their
institutional affiliation, their professional status
(academic / researcher, practitioner, PhD Student etc.),
the quality of member of the Scientific Editorial Board of
the journal, key words, and number of quotations. In
order to identify the annual number of readers of the
articles included in the analysed population, we
interrogated the ProQuest database and used the
Publish or Perish quotation research and analysis
software (Harzing, 2009). Verifying the collected data in
Nr. 2(122)/2015
order to suppress any redundancies was the last step in

building the database.
Describing and explaining the scientific output in "Audit
Financiar" journal, the tendencies identified in the audit
and accounting research in relation to the international
trend in the same fields, extracting inferences following
an intuitive analysis through direct observation and a
comparative analysis of the database contents were
achieved according to the approach specific to content
analysis.
4. Research Results
After examining the annual flow of articles published in
"Audit Financiar" journal during the analysed period
(Table 1), we noticed an obvious superiority of the
articles specific to the field of Audit (55.5% of the total
population, with a mean for the analysed period of 36.3
articles per year), in comparison with the articles in
Accounting (44.5% of the total number of 720 articles,
the mean for the period being 29.2 articles per year). An
exception is 2004, when the articles in Accounting
overtake, both in number (10) and in weight (62.5% of
the annual number of published articles) those that
approach topics specific to the field of Audit (6 articles
representing 37.5% of the articles published in 2004 in
the analysed magazine) (Table 2). In the following years
of the analysed period, we notice a continuous tendency
towards diminishing the difference between the number
of published articles in the two fields, so that in 2012 the
articles in Accounting (43 articles, respectively 53.7% of
the number of articles published that year) exceed those
in Audit (37, articles, representing 46.3% of the annual
number of published articles), the balance being
reached only in 2013.
A ranking of the topics that raised the interest of the
authors of the magazine during 2003-2013 show that the
1st place was taken by "External financial audit", with
27.8% of the total articles published within the analysed
period and a mean for the period of 18.2 published
articles per year. The topic "Accounting practices /
Regulations /Reporting" gained second place, with 24%
of the total population of published articles and a mean
for the period of 15.7 articles per year. The last places in
the hierarchy, according to the representation in Table 2,
are occupied by topics in both research fields, which
demand a high degree of specialisation in order to be
approached, such as: "The audit of information systems
119
administration, budget management, fiscal implication of

the adherence to the EU, modifications of the fiscal code
implications in audit, etc.) We can therefore notice a
full correspondence between the main topic approached
in the articles of the magazine and the specificity of
"Audit Financiar" journal.
/ Audit technologies" (the impact of information

technologies on audit, information models for risk
evaluation in audit, business intelligence technologies ERP, IT applications, etc.) and the "Relation TaxationAccounting-Audit" (the audit of the collection function,
the application of the audit methodology in fiscal
Table 1. Characterisation of the dynamics of the articles published in "Audit Financiar" journal according to
fields and topics, for the period 2003-2013
Accounting: topics
Finance / Financial
analysis
Total Accounting
Field
26
10
36
2004
10
16
2005
11
17
2006
19
20
49
27
36
85
2007
34
14
55
24
13
41
96
2008
22
14
10
48
18
29
77
2009
16
10
12
42
14
18
37
79
2010
21
14
49
20
35
84
2011
28
38
24
11
36
74
2012
20
37
21
18
43
80
2013
27
38
15
22
38
76
Total (no. art.)
200
89
81
29
399
173
44
104
321
720
Mean for the

period (no.
art./year)
18.2
8.0
7.4
2.7
36.3
15.7
4.0
9.5
29.2
65.5
Total/Grand total
(%)
27.8
12.4
11.3
4.0
55.5
24.0
6.0
14.4
44.5
100
Ranking of topics
IV
VII
II
VI
III
II
Grand total
The relation TaxationAccounting-Audit
Total Audit Field
2003
Analysed period
Internal audit
Accounting
practices/ National
and international
regulations /Financial
reporting
The audit of information

systems / Audit
technologies
Professional and ethical

standards / Professional
deontology
External financial audit
Audit: topics
Analysing the structure of the articles according

to topics allows making more analytical interpretations.
We can generally notice that the authors' interest in
research on specific topics has changed in time,
along with the subjects for which researchers showed
120
concern at the international level, with the

dynamics of international regulations, and with the
need to harmonise them, or with the stringency of the
problems for which an answer is searched in certain
economic contexts.
Table 2. Number and structure of the articles published in "Audit Financiar" according to fields and topics for
the period 2003-2013
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Grand total
Total Accounting Field
Finance / Financial
analysis
The relation TaxationAccounting-Audit
Total Audit Field
Accounting practices/
National and
international regulations
/Financial reporting
Accounting: topics
The audit of information

systems / Audit
technologies
Professional and ethical

standards / Professional
deontology
Internal audit
Analysed
period
External financial audit
Audit: topics
No
26
10
36
25.0
19.4
22.2
5.6
72.2
13.9
11.1
2.8
27.8
100
No
10
16
12.5
12.5
12.5
37.5
18.7
31.3
12.5
62.5
100
No
11
17
11.8
17.7
11.8
23.4
64.7
11.8
17.6
5.9
35.3
100
No
19
20
49
27
36
85
22.4
5.9
23.5
5.9
57.7
31.7
8.2
2.4
42.3
100
No
34
14
55
24
13
41
96
35.4
14.6
6.3
1.0
57.3
25.0
4.2
13.5
42.7
100
No
22
14
10
48
18
29
77
28.6
18.2
13.0
2.6
62.4
23.3
5.2
9.1
37.6
100
No
16
10
12
42
14
18
37
79
20.3
12.7
15.2
5.0
53.2
17.7
6.3
22.8
46.8
100
No
21
14
49
20
35
84
25.0
16.6
10.8
5.9
58.3
23.8
7.1
10.8
41.7
100
No
28
38
24
11
36
74
37.8
10.8
1.4
1.4
51.4
32.4
1.4
14.8
48.6
100
No
20
37
21
18
43
80
25.0
7.5
10.0
3.8
46.3
26.3
22.4
53.7
100
No
27
38
15
22
38
76
35.6
7.9
6.6
50.1
19.7
1.3
28.9
49.1
100
For example, in the first issues of the magazine (2003),

in External financial audit area, which accounted for 25%
of the total annual number of published articles (Table 2),
the authors approached subjects such as: the bases of
audit from the perspective of economic globalisation,
international audit standards, risk in financial audit.
Nr. 2(122)/2015
Between 2004-2005, the annual weight of the articles

written on topics belonging to this area had a
descending tendency, but was re-launched in 2007 with
subjects concerning: the risk of fraud, fraudulent
reporting, statistical techniques used in audit, the
Sarbanes-Oxley law, international regulations in audit
121
(ISA, ISA 700 revised, SAS). Starting with 2009, we

notice articles in External financial audit field that deal
with the issues of: audit in conditions of crisis and the
audit of European projects funded with structural funds,
with an intensification of these topics in 2011 (37.8% of
the annual articles of the journal) and in the following
years.
The articles that approach subjects in the other topics of
the Audit field have a significant weight in the numbers
of the magazine issued in the first years of the analysed
timeframe. A moderate position is occupied by Internal
audit with 19.4% in 2003, with subjects that mainly
concerned the organisation of internal audit and the
norms of internal audit, and subsequently with articles
on the relationship between internal audit and corporate
governance, internal audit in public institutions, etc.
Independence and objectivity in audit, the need for
ethics in audit (2003), conflicts of interests in audit
(2006), the code of ethics, audit fees, the perspectives of
the profession (2008), the new code of ethics, ethics in
conditions of crisis (2010) are subjects treated in articles
grouped under Professional and ethical standards /
Professional deontology, which owns the majority of
23.5% of the publications of the magazine in 2006
(Table 2).
The articles included in the topic Accounting practices /
Regulations / Reporting reach a maximum number of 24
in 2011 (32.4% of the articles of the magazine, for the
respective year), in comparison with the mean for the
period, which was only 15.7 articles per year. The quality
of financial reporting, value relevance and the
accounting of the financial instruments were the
research topics during the year. Also, from a quantitative
perspective 2006 stands pout with 27 articles
representing 31.7% of the total articles, a period when
the authors wrote about: fair value, the impact of
adopting the IFRS, public accounting, and consolidation.
Subjects such as: financial reporting through global
result, fair value evaluation, normalisation,
IFRS/USGAAP (2007) convergence, acknowledgement
and evaluation of intangible assets, the theory of
consolidation, qualitative features of financial-accounting
information (2008), accounting implications of crisis
(2009) were the subjects of other articles included in the
same area.
122
Following an increase in the number of studies focusing

on the effects of the accounting regulation processes at
an international level and on the professionalization of
auditors, researches in Finance / Financial analysis
intensified, occupying a central position among the
articles published in "Audit Financiar" journal (rank III in
the hierarchy). The highest number of contributions on
this topic (22 articles, compared to the mean for the
period equal to 9.5 articles per year or 28.9% of the
annual articles of the magazine) is concentrated in 2013
(Tables 1 and 2). Selectively, a review of the analysed
topics is as follows: the need for funding resources, the
cost of funding (2004), the implications of the application
of IFRS on financial indicators (2006), financial analysis
solutions for audit, the analysis of investment projects
(2007), risk and performance (2008), the analysis of the
state of crisis, the credit crisis, the analysis of toxic
assets that generate crisis (2009), the analysis on
financial instruments (2010), the analysis of performance
in the public system, the analysis of foreign investments,
corporate governance, the quality of reporting and the
cost of capital (2011), the value relevance analysis in the
financial community (2012/2013), etc.
Tort E. (2014) performs, for the period 2004-2013, a
study on a number of 322 articles extracted from four
French magazines, representative for research in
accounting (Comptabilit-Contrle-Audit, Recherches en
Sciences de Gestion, Finance-Contrle-Stratgie,
Revue Franaise de Gestion) and identifies a thematic
structure of the published articles, similar to that
described after analysing the articles contained in "Audit
Financiar" journal (Table 3).
If we analyse the structure of the articles taking into
account the number of authors per article, the situation
is as presented in Figure 1. We notice a relatively
constant decrease of the number of articles with a single
author since 2003 until the end of the analysed period
(from 92.50% to 70.20%), simultaneous with an increase
in the number of articles having two, three, four, or even
five authors. If articles with two or three authors existed
since the first issue of the magazine, the first articles
with four authors only appeared in 2009, with a
publication mean of 4.39%. Articles with five authors
were only published in the magazine in the year 2012.
Table 3. Topics identified in research in the field of accounting in France, for the period 2004-2013
Topic
IFRS
Audit
Financial
information
Results
management
Management
control and
costs
Study subject
Transition, impact studies, the contents of IFRS
International normalisation
Specific norms (IFRS 2, IAS 32/39, IAS 38, IFRS 3, IAS 36, IFRS 8)
Agents and influence factors in the quality of audit
Internal audit in the banking and public sectors
Professional deontology: ethics, independence, the auditor's competences
The market of audit, selecting the auditor, audit committees, fees
Financial reporting, the quality of reporting,
Value relevance, contents, credibility of reporting, and stock exchange performance
Results management in special situations: mergers, taking under control, diversification, changing the
manager, quota withdrawal
Accounting manipulation, fraud
The connection between management control, strategy, value management, the ABC method
The piloting system: the analysis of management performance, performance measurement systems
(dashboard, BSC), the connection between social liability and strategy
Forecast and budget management
Source: Processing after Tort, E., Quelques lments concernant la recherche comptable en France, Revue Franaise de
Comptabilit, no. 472, Jan 2014, p. 20
Figure 1. Structure of the articles of "Audit Financiar" journal according to the number of authors per article
for the period 2003-2013
Source: Own production
Nr. 2(122)/2015
123
Another type of analysis considered the structure of

articles according to the status of the authors
(Figure 2). Naturally, we noticed that, except in 2007,
the number of authors who teach or research is always
higher than the number of authors who practice. The
difference is higher as we approach the end of the
analysed period, reaching 82.78% in 2013. It is
possible that, in reality, there are slight differences
to our observations, caused by the fact that some

authors did not mention their status. In this respect,
we mention that the present analysis also considered
the authors with an unmentioned status, whose
maximum number is reached in 2003, in relation with the
total number of articles. Since 2008, we notice the
complete absence of authors whose status was not
mentioned.
Figure 2. Structure of the articles of "Audit Financiar" according to the authors' status,
We considered that it is important for our study to

analyse the structure of the publications taking into
account the authors' institutional affiliation (Figure 3),
identifying the institutions to which the most prolific
authors belong, who also have the greatest influence on
knowledge in the field of audit and accounting. Thus, the
following affiliation categories have been identified:
tradition universities, a category where we included the
Bucharest University of Economic Studies, "Alexandru
Ioan Cuza" University of Iai, "Babe-Bolyai" University
of Cluj-Napoca, The West University of Timioara, and
the University of Craiova, while the other universities
have been conventionally included in the category
universities other than traditional, foreign universities,
professional organisations, accounting and audit
companies, public institutions or authorities, trading
124
companies (other than accounting and audit), as well as

a category of non-affiliates.
With a percentage of 56.53% of the total publications,
we point out those whose authors teach or research as
affiliates in traditional universities, followed, in order and
closely, by those whose authors are affiliated to the
other universities (14.33%), to public institutions or
authorities (13.94%), respectively non-affiliates
(12.95%). At a difference of several percentages are
articles whose authors are affiliated to professional
accountants' organisations (7.56%), respectively to
accounting and audit companies (6.97%). A smaller
number of articles are written by researchers affiliated to
foreign universities, which can be easily explained by the
language of publication of the journal during the
analysed period.
Figure 3. Structure of the articles of "Audit Financiar" according to the institutional affiliation of the authors,
An interesting evolution can be noticed from the analysis

of the number of articles published by PhD Students
grouped, according to whether or not they belong to
academic structures, into teachers (researchers) and
practitioners (Figure 4). Thus, if for the period 20032006 there were no PhD practitioners among the
authors, starting with 2007 they not only make their
presence felt, but this is also the first year when their
number exceeds that of PhD students who are also
teachers. In 2008 the number of the two categories
becomes equal, still remaining low (13 authors),
whereas in the period 2009-2010, the number of PhD
students as practitioner authors exceeds in growth the
PhD students as teachers, and starting with 2010, the
ascending trend is preserved only for PhD students as
teachers. 2013 brings the greatest absolute difference
between the two categories (33 authors). The
explanation of this evolution is logical if we consider that
doctoral studies started to develop in 2007 in an
unprecedented rhythm, as a result, on the one hand, of
the implementation of the Bologna system, and on the
other hand, of the consistent funding of doctoral studies
through POSDRU projects The Sectoral Operational
Programme for the Development of Human Resources.
At the end of the first funding stage through these
Nr. 2(122)/2015
projects (2007-2013), the number of PhD students as

authors dropped to one person.
The analysis of the composition of the Scientific Editorial
Board of the journal "Audit Financiar" shows that it is
made up of 19 teachers (18 university professors and one
university lecturer) and an academician (Figure 5). Of
these, 6 are foreign and 14 Romanian. From the
perspective of the institutional affiliation of the Editorial
Board members, only the Bucharest University of
Economic Studies and "Alexandru Ioan Cuza" University
of Iai have more than one member (the former - 5 and
the latter - 2), the other members belonging to other
universities or institutions.
Of the total published articles, the authors of
approximately 10% of them are members of the Scientific
Editorial Board of the journal "Audit Financiar". Previously
published studies showed that this practice is accepted
among magazines. Moreover, some journals request to
publish one or several articles as a condition of
acceptance as a member of the Editorial Board. Our study
confirms, therefore, the results of previous researches,
with the observation that not all the members of the
Scientific Editorial Board have published in the journal.
Actually, seven of them have not published any articles.
Of them, four are Romanians and three are foreigners.
125
Figure 4. The dynamics of the number of articles published by PhD students in "Audit Financiar"
journal for the period 2003-2013
Figure 5. Number of articles published by authors members of the Scientific Editorial Board of
"Audit Financiar" journal, for the period 2003-2013
126
A quote attributed to Albert Einstein reminds us

that "not everything that counts can be counted, and
not everything that can be counted counts", but
returning to our study, its specific value system counts
the number and frequency of the quotations of articles
published in specialised magazines, in order to
transform them into evaluation criteria for their relevance
and impact on a scientific community or on

specific knowledge fields. For this reason, our
research has performed a brief analysis of the
quotations, which generated rather predictable results
(Figure 6.). Thus, the first quoted article published in
"Audit Financiar" journal was identified in the year 2007.
Figure 6. Annual number of quotations of the articles of "Audit Financiar" journal, for the period 2006-2013
This can be explained, on the one hand, by the fact that

starting with 2006, the frequency with which the
magazine appeared increased from quarterly issues to
monthly issues, and on the other hand, by the fact that
"Audit Financiar" journal was indexed in known
databases only in 2009, when its distribution policy also
changed (publication of information on his own website,
free access to journal' issues over two years old, etc.).
The maximum level of quotations was reached
immediately after indexation, the number of quotations
raised compared to the previous period to 8 quotations
in 2009 (10.12% of the number of articles published in
"Audit Financiar" that year), still insignificant. In 2010,
the situation is similar to the previous year, with 7 real
quotations (8.33% of the number of articles published in
2010). The drop in the number of quotations as we
approach the recent years can also be explained by the
Nr. 2(122)/2015
fact that, traditionally, quotations take place several

years after a study has been published. Definitely, free
electronic access to the articles has changed this
tradition, and we witness a lower time interval between
the publication of a paper and its quotation. Another
possible explanation of the small number of quotations is
the publication language in the journal "Audit Financiar",
given that the academic visibility requirements normally
demand publication in English.
The analysis of the quotations, by observing the logical
relations between the most quoted articles and the
quoted articles (one-way citation), reveal the most
researched topics in the most influential or impacting
articles, respectively: professional deontology,
international audit standards, statistical analysis in audit
missions, business intelligence technologies for audit,
National Bank regulations in the context of the
127
implementation of IFRS in the banking system, fair

value, relevance of information in the finance-accounting
field, financial audit in conditions of crisis, corporate
governance.
Additionally, we note that the majority of the quoted
articles are published under the signature of authors as
teachers / researchers who belong, in the order of the
number of quotations, to "Alexandru Ioan Cuza"
University of Iai, "Babe-Bolyai" University of ClujNapoca, "Constantin Brncoveanu" University of Piteti,
"1 Decembrie 1918" University of Alba-Iulia, ASE
Bucharest, and "Petru Maior" University of Trgu Mure.
The frequency of quotations of articles signed by ACCA
lecturers, PhD students and accounting professionals is
also important.
Conclusions
The "Audit Financiar" journal is a strictly specialised
publication for the fields of audit and accounting. The
articles published in this magazine are aligned, through
the topic approached, with the tendencies of the idea
market in an international context.
The magazine is characterised, nevertheless, by a low
degree of internationalisation, estimated both through
the not very significant number of foreign authors who
published in "Audit Financiar" journal, and in relation
with the quasi-inexistent number of quotations of articles
included in it in specialised publications abroad. The low
degree of internationalisation can be explained, on the
one hand, by the fact that until 2015 the journal was only
issued in Romanian and, on the other hand, by the fact

that it could not be consulted directly, in an open access
system, as it was indexed until 2014 in databases that
allowed, within limitations, access to this publication, for
open scientific dissemination.
"Audit Financiar" is one of the publications where the
intention to publish is also a result of the fact that it is
indexed in databases acknowledged by the National
Council for the Certification of Titles, Diplomas, and
University Degrees from Romania (Consiliul Naional de
Atestare a Titlurilor, Diplomelor i Certificatelor Universitare), also acknowledged in the process of evaluation of
the candidates who register for contests for occupying
teaching and research positions, and respectively in the
evaluation of the teaching and research staff.
In spite of its modest influence at a first sight, if it is
considered the number of quoted articles and the low
degree of internationalisation, generated on research in
the fields of audit and accounting, "Audit Financiar" is a
publication which, thanks to its publishing policy,
undergoes a continuous development of its scientific
level, of its visibility from a national and international
perspective. The magazine concentrates contributions of
researchers who, especially from a theoretical viewpoint,
are constantly connected to the international trend of
ideas, as well as pragmatic approaches specific to
professionals who, in their turn provide solutions or find
answers to the challenges of the business world. Thus,
this magazine helps the transfer in both directions of the
flow of knowledge, professional debates, and specific
experiences in audit and accounting.
REFERENCES
Baccini, A., Valutare la ricerca scientifica. Uso e abuso
degli indicatori bibliometrici, Il Mulino, Bologna,
2010
Babbie, E., Practica cercetrii sociale, Polirom, Iai, 2010
Brown, L.D., Influential Accounting Articles, Individuals,
PhD Granting Institutions and Faculties: A Citational
Analisys, Accounting, Organizations and Society,
Vol. 21. No 7/8, 1996, pp.923-754
Chan, K.C., Chan, K.C., Seow, G.S., Tam, K. (2009),
Ranking accounting journals using dissertation
citation analysis: A research note, Accountig,
Organizations and Society, Volume 34, Issues 67,
August-October 2009, pp. 875-885
128
Chtioui T., Soulerot M., Quelle structure des

connaissances dans la recherche franaise en
comptabilit, contrle et audit ? Une tude
bibliomtrique de la revue CCA sur la priode 19952004, Comptabilit, Contrle et Audit, Tome 12,
May 2006, Volume 1, pp. 7-25
De Robbio, A., Analisi citazionale e indicatori
bibliometrici nel modello Open Access, Bollettino
AIB, Vol. 47, no. 3, 2007, pp. 257-288
Dubini, P., Giglia, E., La sostenibilit economica dei
modelli di Open Access, 2008, available at
http://eprints.rclis.org/13216/1/Dubini_Giglia.pdf,
accessed on 5.12.2014
Gavard-Perret, M.-L., Gotteland, D., Haon, Ch., Jolibert,

A., Mthodologie de la recherche en sciences de
gestion, 2e dition, Pearson, Montreuil, 2012
Lefrancq, S., Recherche et action: la comptabilit dans
son contexte. Une tude de la politique editoriale
dAccounting,
Organizations
and
Society,
Comptabilit-Contrle-Audit, Numro thmatique,
June 2004, pp.297-315
Lukka, K, Kasanen, E., The problem of generalizability:
anecdotes and evidences in accounting research,
Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal,
1995, Issue 8, Vol. 5, pp.71-90
Nr. 2(122)/2015
Patapievici, H.-R., Despre idei & blocaje, Humanitas,

Bucureti, 2007
Reinstein, A., Calderon, T. G., Examining accounting
departments rankings of the quality of accounting
journals, Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 17(4),
2006, pp. 457490
Spigler, R., Peer-Reviewing and Electronic Publishing,
High Energy Physics Libraries Webzine, issue 6,
March 2002, available at http://library.cern.ch/
HEPLW/6/papers/5/, accessed on 6.12.2014
Tort, E., Quelques lments concernant la recherche
comptable en France, Revue Franaise de
Comptabilit, no. 472, Jan 2014, pp. 18-22
129

Audit Financiar-Februarie-2015

Încărcat de

Informații document

Titlu original

Drepturi de autor

Formate disponibile

Partajați acest document

Partajați sau inserați document

Opțiuni de partajare

Vi se pare util acest document?

Este necorespunzător acest conținut?

Drepturi de autor:

Formate disponibile

Audit Financiar-Februarie-2015

Încărcat de

Drepturi de autor:

Formate disponibile

Anul XIII, nr.

l Reflecii privind msurarea

Informaiile financiare i non-financiare / Financial and Non-Financial Information

Reflecii privind msurarea contabil: prioritatea bilanului

Managementul rezultatului i calitatea raportrii financiare: O

tefana Maria DIMA, Adina Simona POPA, Nicoleta FARCANE

Informaiile financiare i non-financiare ntre raportare

Eugeniu URLEA, Mariana NEDELCU (BUNEA)

Studiu privind prezena femeilor n componena consiliilor de

Situaii financiare consolidate: excurs n literatura de specialitate a

Ionela-Corina CHERSAN, Marilena MIRONIUC

Incursiune n cercetarea de audit i contabilitate pe orizontul unui

Revist lunar editat de

Camera Auditorilor Financiari

Colegiul Editorial tiinific

Important pentru autori!

Tabelele i graficele se elaboreaz n alb-negru cu

Profesor emerit Alain BURLAUD,

Profesor emerit Claude SIMON,

Alain BURLAUD, Claude SIMON

De ce contabilitatea a devenit o afacere public cu

Auroux, S. sub conducerea sa (1998), Encyclopdie philosophique universelle, PUF, p. 435

AUDIT FINANCIAR, anul XIII

Reflecii privind msurarea contabil: prioritatea bilanului sau a contului de rezultate?

msurare consensual. Consensul constituie un

caracterul social al msurrii;

1. Msurarea: un demers social

1.1. Conceptul de msurare

Prin declaraia drepturilor omului i ceteanului,

1.2. Msurarea fizic i msurarea n

Alain BURLAUD, Claude SIMON

Msurarea contabil are, aadar, un statut privilegiat. Ca

2. Cum trebuie contabilitatea s

2.1. Costul istoric i valoarea de pia

folosin asimilat adesea unei valori lichidative a

ea nu poate fi luat n consideraie dect greit, din

2.2. Confruntarea valorii juste cu criza

AUDIT FINANCIAR, anul XIII

Reflecii privind msurarea contabil: prioritatea bilanului sau a contului de rezultate?

excepional s se procedeze la reclasificarea acestor

convenii pe baza crora ea este construit pot da

3. Msurarea stocurilor sau a

Alain BURLAUD, Claude SIMON

3.1. Prioritatea stocurilor sau fluxurilor n

Pn n 1978 prioritatea este de partea contului de

Normele numite internaionale (cele elaborate de FASB

3.2. Prioritatea stocurilor sau fluxurilor n

Alfred SAUVY, demograf i economist francez, explica c,

AUDIT FINANCIAR, anul XIII

Reflecii privind msurarea contabil: prioritatea bilanului sau a contului de rezultate?

efect de ser. Costul consecinelor ecologice va fi

s modifice semnalul manipulnd conturile i/sau

s ia msuri care vor ameliora efectiv rezultatul pe

mondialisation, Lempreinte de la technique,

Audit financiar, XIII, Elena

Economist, drd. Elena NECHITA,

Academia de Studii Economice, Bucureti, Romnia,

AUDIT FINANCIAR, anul XIII

Managementul rezultatului i calitatea raportrii financiare

Pentru o bun nelegere a contextului economic i

Contextul economic actual la nivel

Descrierea datelor care stau

pentru care nu au fost disponibile suficiente date n