From SAS to IFRS- Emerging Issues and Implications for Nigeria. By S .C. Okaro Department of Accountancy, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria. E- Mail Address:
[email protected] Abstract Purpose . This paper attempts to re-examine the decision of Nigeria to begin a phased adoption of International financial reporting standards from 2012.Certain emerging issues have made this important. They include researches on the effects of IFRS from the perspective of early adopters, the timeline set for adoption of IFRS by Nigeria, the current state of accounting, legal, regulatory and technological infrastructure in Nigeria and the delay by US, one of the major trading partners of Nigeria to make a firm commitment to the date of adoption. Design/Method/Approach In doing this, we rely extensively on review of theoretical and empirical literature germane to the objective of the paper. Findings Nigeria has already fallen behind some of its self imposed timelines for achieving certain actions on the road to commencement of adoption by 2012. Empirical evidence may have confirmed that a strong regulatory, accounting, legal and technological infrastructure, which seems to be lacking in Nigeria at the moment, remains a fundamental requirement for reaping the perceived benefits of adoption. The delay by US, one of the major trading partners of Nigeria, in taking a firm date for full convergence between IFRS and US may have reduced the urgency for Nigeria to fully converge. Implication The 2012 deadline for commencement of adoption is no longer feasible for Nigeria if the country must reap the perceived benefits of adoption of IFRS in enthroning transparent and accountable governance which will in turn help to drive economic development in Nigeria. Originality/value
This paper has provided alternative view to Nigeria’s roadmap for full convergence of SAS with IFRS. It has also raised emerging issues that may necessitate that the country takes a second look on the decision to fully converge in the first instance.. Key words: statement of accounting standards; international financial reporting standards; adoption; emerging issues; roadmap. Introduction The buzz word is International Financial Reporting Standards as many Nations adopt the global Standards for corporate financial reporting. Other Countries are still weighing their options while yet others, Nigeria inclusive, have announced Roadmaps for the eventual convergence of their local Standards with IFRS. For Nigeria, the phased adoption will start in 2012 with Public interest entities while full convergence will be achieved in 2014 with Small and Medium scale enterprises joining. Many researchers have hailed the phenomenal success of IFRS in commanding International acceptability with well over 100 countries already signing up for the new standards. See for example (Luxenberg 2008). Some researchers are not, however, persuaded that uniform global accounting standards will on its own guarantee comparability of financial statements (Wagenhofer 2009; Jeanjean & Stolowy 2008). This paper is an attempt to present an alternative view point on Nigeria’s decision to transit from its local equivalent (SAS) and begin phased implementation of IFRS. The rest of the paper will proceed as follows. The background to IFRS will be given followed by the sketching of Nigeria’s roadmap for full convergence from SAS to IFRS. Some emerging issues in respect of IFRS adoption will be chronicled followed by the summarization of the findings from the extensive review of Literature. We will discuss the findings particularly in respect to its implications for Nigeria. We will then conclude. IFRS- A backgrounder The international reporting standards are principle based standards as opposed to rule based standards (Agoglia, Doupnik & Tsakumis 2011a). IFRs are issued by International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), an independent body based in London (Ball 2006a).Accounting Standards is said to have three main objectives. Firstly, they help to standardize the diverse accounting policies and eliminate the incomparability of financial statements within an entity and across entities. Secondly, they facilitate the presentation of high quality, transparent and comparable information in financial statements. Thirdly, they reduce to accounting alternatives and thereby eliminate the element of subjectivity in financial statements (Chakrabarty 2011). IASB, therefore, has its job clearly cut out for it. Accordingly, the global body has set for itself the objective of developing a single set of high quality, understandable, enforceable and globally accepted financial reporting standards based upon clearly articulated principles.(IFRS Foundation 2011) Many writers ascribe the clamour for uniform global accounting standards to the forces of globalization that has seen increasingly the integration of global markets(Ball 2006a; McGee & Preobragenskaya 2004; Chakrabarty 2011). Perhaps, the immediate impetus for the increased clamour for the adoption of IFRS as a global standard for corporate financial reporting can be traced
to the Enron debacle in the United states of America in 2002. Wobbly Accounting Standards enabled the dubious management of Enron incorporated to hide huge losses using special purpose entities. The investing public was deceived and lost heavily when the company eventually collapsed. Other parts of the world were not spared either as they had their fair share of corporate financial scandals that obscured true accounting. The strident call was therefore for a global principle based standard that will ensure transparency in financial reporting (Agoglia, Doupnik & Tsakumis 2011b). This, it is hoped, will restore confidence in the Capital markets and thus drive true national development.(Baskerville 2010; Ball 2006b; Kaya & Pillhofer 2011). Many advantages of adopting IFRS as a global financial reporting standard have been put forward by its protagonists and include the following: -
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High quality and more comparable corporate reporting practices which will lead to greater market liquidity, a lower cost of capital and a better allocation of capital. Lower transaction costs for preparers of financial reports since they would be able to comply with a single set of accounting standards instead of multiple sets. Protection of Auditors against managers playing an “opinion shopping” game. Encourage foreign direct investment inflow.( Ball 2006a; Okeowo 2011). It should be noted that in the case of Nigeria, adoption of IFRS has been particularly canvassed on the grounds that it will open the flood gate, as it were, for direct foreign investment inflow while at the same time ensuring high quality reporting in the country’s corporate governance firmament.(USUKU MA 2010) At the same time, attention has been drawn to what could constitute disadvantages of adopting IFRS as a global standard. These include: Prohibitive cost of implementation especially for small and medium scale enterprises ( SMEs). Uneven implementation which curtails the ability of uniform standard to reduce information cost and information risk. Fails to take cognizance of the fact that markets remain primarily local and not global. The compromising of national pride as local standards give way to IFRS The fact that global standards ignore political and cultural factors of various jurisdictions. The fact that IFRS as currently packaged may not after all be “fit for Purpose” and The controversy surrounding the use of fair value in accounting for certain transactions under IFRS.(Enria et al. 2004; Ball 2006b) Nigeria’s Road Map for Adoption of IFRS. The journey towards IFRS adopEon for Nigeria started with the inauguraEon of a stakeholders committee on October 22, 2009 by the Nigerian Accounting Standards Board (NASB) to fashion out a roadmap to the adoption of IFRS in Nigeria. On 28 July 2010, the Federal executive council accepted the report and fixed January1, 2012 as the effective date of transition to IFRS. On September 2, 2010 the detailed road map was unveiled to the Nigerian public at a press conference in Abuja. The detailed road map is shown below:
Source:(Oyedele 2011) The highlights include: 1) 2) 3) 4)
Listed and significant public entities (PIE’s) will mandatorily start reporting under IFRS in 2012. Other PIE’s will follow suit in 2013. The reporting date for SME’s is 2014 It is expected that by the end of 2010, sensitization of the investing public, training of executive personnel and legislative changes, among others, would have reached advanced stages if not already completed. The Effects of IFRS on Early Adopters- Some Empirical Studies. Researchers have been at work investigating the various aspects of this global standard that is IFRS. Some of the studies will be highlighted here especially as they relate to their effects on adopters. i)
Exploratory Research on Earnings Management before and after IFRS adoption in Australia, France and United Kingdom titled “Do accounting standards matter” (Jeanjean & Stolowy 2008). The researchers deliberately chose the 3 countries because they were first time adopters of IFRS. The basic sample of the research comprises 1,146 firms (5,051 firm- year observations: 422 (1933) for Australia, 321 (1,316) for France and 403
(1,802) for the U.K. Banks, insurance and investment companies were excluded from the sample, because their very sector-specific accounts structure would prevent homogenous statistical processing. They found out that the pervasiveness of earnings management did not decline after the introduction of IFRS and that it did in fact increase in France. They conclude that sharing rules is not sufficient condition to create a common business language, and that management incentives and national institutional factors play an important role in framing financial reporting characteristics. Deriving from this conclusion, they suggest that IASB, the SEC and the European commission should devote their efforts to harmonizing incentives and institutional factors rather than harmonizing accounting standards.
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ii)
Study on IFRS ability to Facilitate International Harmonisation of Financial Statements and Efficient performance of Financial Markets and Capital Flows World Wide. This study titled “IFRS Introduction and its Effect on Listed Companies in Spain”(Perramon & Amat 2006) targeted Spanish non- financial listed companies. The outcome of this research is rather mixed. While it was confirmed that the introduction of accounting standards may influence the profit results, it seems that the new accounting methods under IFRS, especially for costs capitalization, post employment benefits and associated companies, introduce material differences in the income statements of Spanish companies.
iii)
In their own research titled “Mandatory IFRS adoption and financial Statement Comparability” (Brochet et al. 2011) isolated the effect of changes in comparability by examining changes to information asymmetry for firms domiciled in the UK. If IFRS adoption improves financial statement comparability across firms, then this should reduce private information benefits. Key findings of this work include:
Mandatory IFRS adoption results in a reduction of abnormal returns to insider purchases IFRS adoption also results in a reduction of abnormal returns to analyst recommendation upgrades. These improvements accrue in settings in which information quality is already high, and incumbent domestic standards are already similar to IFRS. iv) In a research titled “The Effect of IFRS Adoption on Trade and Foreign direct investment”(Márquez-Ramos 2008), the author focused on the importance of accounting harmonization on foreign activities from a macroeconomic perspective. The study which comprised both well established capitalist countries in the West and postcommunist countries in the East analysed the effect of IFRS adoption from a gravity framework. The findings support the view that benefits exist in terms of trade and FDI when IFRS are adopted. It found out further that the positive effect of adopting uniform accounting standards on foreign activities in Europe is higher in transition economies. v) The research on” How Tax Policy and Incentive affect Direct Foreign Investment”(Morisset & Pirnia 1999),the researchers after an extensive review of
literature on tax policy and foreign direct investment, concluded that tax incentives on their own cannot generate the desired externalities. Other factors like infrastructure, transport costs and political and economic stability must be factored in as well. vi)
(Cortese & Irvine 2010)in their research titled” investigating International Accounting
Standard Setting: the Black Box of IFRS6” they examine the role of entities and coalitions in shaping international accounting. Specifically, their focus was on the process by which the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) developed IFRS6, Exploration for and Evaluation of Mineral Resources. In its issue Paper, the IASB had recommended that the successful efforts method be mandated for pre-production costs. Majority of constituents who responded to the issues paper endorsed the view. However, the final outcome still maintained the choice between successful efforts method and full cost. The researchers attribute this outcome to the existence of a powerful lobby in the extractive industry which ensured that the status quo ante was maintained. vii)
Another research on” Mandating IFRS in an Unfavourable Environment” (Karampinis & Hevas 2010), the authors look at the impact of mandatory IFRS adoption in Greece. They perceive Greece as a representative unfavourable economy due to its code-law tradition, bank-orientation, concentrated corporate ownership, weak legal enforcement, poor shareholders’ protection and low regulatory quality. They explored possible changes in value relevance and conditional conservatism in order to address their research question. They found only minor improvements in both of the measures after IFRS implementation.
TimeLine Set by Nigeria For Adoption of IFRS. Going by the time line set for the adoption of IFRS by the Nigerian Accounting Standards Board, training of executive manpower, sensitization of the investing public and legislative would have reached advanced stages by the end of 2010. Between 19th and 20th July, 2010, Access Bank (Nig.) Plc hosted an International conference on International Financial Reporting Standards in Abuja to among others assess the readiness of operators and regulators for the adoption of IFRS in Nigeria. At the end of the conference, the communiqué read as follows: 1. Nigeria's adoption of (IFRS) must be implemented as a matter of national urgency to enable our nation attain its full economic potential and its deserving leadership position within the global financial community. 2. The Nigeria Accounting Standards Board (NASB) must expedite all approvals and processes required for Nigeria's formal adoption of IFRS as the national accounting standard. 3. The IFRS Roadmap Implementation Committee lacks sufficient private sector representation. Indeed, the burden of IFRS implementation rests, to a large extent, on private sector operators. To this end, NASB is enjoined to formally engage private sector operators whose input will ensure a roadmap that is robust and sustainable enough to withstand the significant challenges ahead. 4. The education, sensitization and communication to stakeholders of issues associated with IFRS must commence as a matter of urgency. It was noted that IFRS implementation would require extensive paradigm shifts by all stakeholders, and this will best be achieved through well conceived
and executed change management programs. 5. All laws and regulations that conflict with IFRS must be identified and amended as an integral part of the nation’s IFRS implementation roadmap program. 6. Members of the organized private sector should constitute IFRS implementation committees along industry lines (i.e. banking, oil & gas, insurance, etc). Each industry implementation committee should ensure that its sector achieves economies of scale and scope through shared services and collaboration. 7. It is important for deposit money banks and NSE-quoted companies to obtain early buy-in and endorsement of their boards and shareholders for the adoption of IFRS. 8. Whilst operators carry the weight of IFRS implementation, regulators are expected to drive its adoption. As such, a rigorous IFRS capacity building program should be embarked upon by all Regulatory bodies. 9. Operators should ensure that external consultants engaged for IFRS implementation transfer knowledge to their employees through extensive organization-wide training programs. 10. Tertiary educational institutions and professional bodies such as the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) must adopt IFRS in their curriculums and syllabi. 11. A peer review committee representing chartered accounting firms should be constituted as a platform to discuss technical issues affecting the implementation of IFRS and to adopt common positions on issues of interpretation. 12. All stakeholders should learn to avoid the pitfalls associated with the implementation of IFRS in countries that have already adopted IFRS. 13. The adoption of certain principles of the Basel II Capital Accord by financial institutions and their regulators are critical for the smooth implementation of IFRS. As such, the financial services sector is enjoined to accelerate adoption of aspects of the Basel II Capital Accord as deemed necessary for IFRS Implementation.(Access Bank 2010). This was happening some six months before the end of December 2010. This prompted the question of Nigeria’s preparedness for IFRS (Ahmed 2010). The proposed #2billion IFRS academy which is scheduled to commence operation in August 2011, will train regulators, academicians and industry operators. However, the proposed school had drawn the ire of some private sector operators because of the costs involved including that of foreign experts that will facilitate the training programmes.(Olalere 2011) State of Accounting and Legal Infrastructure in Nigeria. A joint initiative of the World Bank and the IMF in 2004 produced a report on Nigeria, titled “REPORT ON OBSERVANCE OF STANDARDS AND CODES”. The executive summary of that report is reproduced below: This report provides an assessment of accounting and auditing practices within the context of the Nigerian institutional framework to ensure the quality of corporate financial reporting. There is a multiplicity of laws and bodies for the regulation of accounting, financial reporting, and auditing requirements of companies, including differential financial reporting requirements for small companies. However, the accounting and auditing practices in Nigeria suffer from institutional weaknesses in regulation, compliance, and enforcement of standards and rules. Although Nigerian Accounting Standards (SAS) have been based on International Accounting Standards (IAS), SAS have not been reviewed or updated in line with current IAS, and in many cases
there are no equivalent SAS to current IAS. Compliance with more lenient national accounting standards is achieved, however with some exceptions. National auditing standards do not exist; auditors are advised to follow International Standards on Auditing (ISA) although such compliance is not mandatory, and there appears to be inadequate adherence to auditing standards and professional ethics. Furthermore, ethical codes for auditors in Nigeria are not in line with international requirements. Except within the banking sector, monitoring and enforcement mechanisms are very weak. These factors, as well as poor accounting education and training, have contributed to weaknesses of the financial reporting and auditing regime. The policy recommendations provided in this ROSC &A report focus on improving the statutory framework, strengthening enforcement mechanisms, upgrading professional education and training, and enhancing capacity of regulatory and professional bodies. A major recommendation is that an independent oversight body—Financial Reporting Council—should be established. The Financial Reporting Council would be responsible for adoption, monitoring, and enforcement of IAS-based and ISA-based financial reporting by public interest entities. In addition, current arrangements will need to be reviewed to develop a simplified financial reporting framework for small- and mediumsize enterprises.(Olowo-Okere et al. 2004). The financial reporting council bill has however been passed into law (Nwachukwu 2011). Efforts have been made since the report was published to improve the legal, accounting and regulatory environment of financial reporting in Nigeria. The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria has, for example, overhauled its professional examination syllabi to admit of a good dose of courses in ethics. It has also resumed peer review of chartered accounting firms. The Nigerian accounting teachers association which would have driven the move to review the course contents of the accounting syllabi of tertiary institutions in Nigeria has remained rather in active. A large chunk of the reforms in the accounting and regulatory environment was to be powered by the Financial Reporting Council which was given the force of law only in July 2011.(Okoye & Ofoegbu 2006) reports that the Nigerian corporate reporting environment is still fraught with many inadequacies. A review of CAMA 1990 to expunge it of all laws inconsistent with the IFRS environment has not taken place (Business Day 2011)
America and IFRS To date, America has not made a firm commitment as to whether it will fully converge its GAAP with IFRS and the date for such convergence. This has created uncertainty for many countries who are looking up to America for leadership in such matters .America appears to have three choices in the matter. It could adopt IFRS. It could allow U.S. listing firms decide whether to and when to adopt. Another choice is to retain U.S. based set of global standards that will serve as alternative to IFRS.(Luzi Hail et al. 2010). American companies appear not to be particularly interested in early adoption of IFRS as some of them perceive no gain in early adoption (Cole 2008). The cost of conversion for early adopters appear to be another reason for the apathy of some American companies.(Scott 2008). Recently, FASB/IASB had to extend the convergence timetable for American GAAP and IFRS.(Schneider 2011). A recent SEC staff paper, painted a positive picture of convergence.(Orlik 2011). Early report from the roundtable conference hosted by SEC on 7th July 2011 suggests a divided opinion on convergence. While small issuers were not persuaded because of cost implications, investors were largely indifferent while analysts applauded the idea.(IFRS ROUNDATABLE 2011). Summary of Findings
The findings of this paper are summarized as follows: - Empirical evidence on benefits for early adopters is mixed. While some studies report positive impact for early adopters others were not so upbeat. - Favourable tax rates, quality reporting standards are not enough to guarantee inflow of foreign direct investments. Other factors like political and economic stability, transport costs and state of infrastructural developments are also important. - Unfavourable environment including lack of legal and accounting infrastructure may deny a country the benefits of high quality standards. - Nigeria is behind its time line for adoption of IFRS. The Financial reporting council bill has just been signed into law while laws inconsistent with IFRS in the statute books are yet to be repealed. - The IFRS training academy is yet to takeoff while the investing public is yet to be sufficiently sensitized about IFRS. - Nigeria’s legal and accounting infrastructure still needs to be strengthened - America’s adoption of IFRS is not guaranteed nor is the time line in case of adoption clear. - The standard setting process for IFRS is not completely insulated from influence Implications for Nigeria. 1) Nigeria’s adoption of IFRS as scheduled in 2012 may have serious consequences for the executive capacity to implement the transition from SAS to IFRS. It may mean bringing in foreign experts which may unnecessarily increase the cost of mandatory adoption for companies. 2) Nigeria may well be disappointed if it implements as scheduled as direct foreign investment inflow may not flow in because of other factors like political and economic stability which are imperatives for such inflows. 3) If Nigeria goes ahead to implement in 2012 and America decides to have an alternative set of standards to IFRS, it will be faced with the dilemma of trying to comply with two sets of standards as America remains one the country’s major trading partner 4) Implementation as scheduled may further alienate the private sector already grumbling about marginalisation in the processes leading to adoption. Conclusion The hard reality is for Nigeria to delay mandatory adoption of IFRS by at least one year. Meanwhile with the passage of the Financial reporting council bill the coast is clear to begin in earnest, the process of reigning in professionals concerned with ensuring quality corporate reporting in Nigeria, strengthening the accounting and legal infrastructure and training of local manpower to drive the transition process. “High quality financial reporting is a threelegged stool made up of high standards, robust disclosures and rigorous enforcement” (Quentin 2011).Our suggestion will enable the Financial Reporting Council create the enabling environment for robust disclosures and acquire the competence for rigorous enforcement. It will also enable Nigeria See clearly the direction America is going and save the country the avoidable cost of achieving compliance with two competing standards. If Nigeria does this, she will be pleasantly surprised to find that she is in good company with India and Japan. REFERENCES
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