Accounting under a holistic focus with regard tophilosophy, ethics and law - a critique on theconvergence process from rules-based toprinciples-based accounting

Bu çalışmanın amacı muhasebe biliminin, ait olduğu toplumda, sosyo-kültürelköklerinden ayrılamaz bir disiplin olduğunun önemini vurgulamaktır. Muhasebe ku ralları, ilkeleri ve standartları iş dünyasının ihtiyaçları doğrultusunda ortaya çıkar ve toplumun bu ihtiyacı (muhasebe) meslek örgütleri tarafından karşılanır. Toplumlar birçok etkenlerin bir araya gelmesiyle oluşan paylaşılan kültürel değerler üzerine kurulmuştur. Bu değerler toplamı - toplumsal akıl programlanması- bir anlamda programlanmış toplumsal düşünce anlamına da gelmektedir. Ulusal muhasebe standartlarının hazırlanma sürecinde ulusal/yerel ihtiyaçlar daha fazla dikkate alınırken, şu an devam etmekte olan yakınlaşma oluşumu, Amerikan Genel Kabul Görmüş Muhasebe İlkeleri ile Uluslararası Finansal Raporlama Standartları’nı birleştirme yönünde olup; kural ve ilke-temelli muhasebe yapılarını böylece aynı çatı altında birleştirmektir. Bu birleşmenin ana amacı, işletmelerin gerçek iktisadi durumlarını ve performanslarını gösterebilmek olup, bu amacına ek olarak da genel kabul görmüş muhasebe ilkelerine ters düşen uygulamaları, bir kısım muhasebe uygulamalarına sınır getirerek ortadan kaldırmaktır. Ancak kural-temelli olan Amerikan Genel Kabul Görmüş Muhasebe İlkeleri’nden, kısmen de olsa sübjektif sayılabilecek olan ilke-temelli olan Uluslararası Finansal Raporlama Standartları yönüne bir değişim, soru işaretleri yaratmaktadır. (Doğal olarak) hiçbir kurul ya da komitenin hile ve etik dışı davranışa sıcak bakmadığı; beyaz-yakalıların neden olduğu hilelere sert yaptırımlar uygulanmasına karşın,günümüzde halen dahi muhasebe dünyasının geniş boyutlu skandallara şahit olması, bahsi geçen soru işaretlerine temel oluşturmaktadır.

Hukuk, kültür, etik ve felsefe açısından muhasebe bilimine bütünsel yaklaşım - kural-temelli muhasebe ve ilke-temelli muhasebe sisteminin yakınlaşmasına eleştirel bakış

The aim of this paper is to put emphasis on the notion that accounting is a dis cipline inseparable from socio-cultural roots within the societies it belongs. Accounting rules, principles, and standards stem from the needs of the business societies, constructed by the accountancy bodies to fulfill the needs of the public. Societies are formed of shared cultural values - collective programming of the mind- which are constructed over long periods of time with the mingling of many ingredients. While the national accounting standards are formed by taking the local basis more into account, the current cooperative effort is to establish convergence between the United States Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (US GAAP) and the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). This effort strives for bringing the rules-based andthe principles-based accounting treatments under one roof. While the aim of such convergence is to portray the real economic position and performance of businesses to enhance accounting quality and minimize earnings management and earnings smoothing simply through eliminating (accounting methods) alternatives, making a shift from the rules-based US GAAP to a considerably more subjective system of principles-based IFRS raises concerns. The fact that no board or committee promotes fraud or mischief, on the contrary establishes harsh penalties in cooperation with other institutions; yet the world of accounting witnesses scandals with greater volumes, as in theexamples of last decade, originates the source of the mentioned concerns.

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