COVER STORY
Accounting and Taxation Aspects of Carbon Trading
-- Anchal Singh
Nowadays in the cities and even towns of India, a new business has come into picture, which though related to trading, is a departure from the usual commodity or stock trading. It is the trading of polluting gases, which is also known as carbon trading. Carbon trading, sometimes called emission trading, is a market-based tool to limit Greenhouse Gases (GHGs). It is basically a commercial activity that aims at protecting the earth from the harmful emission of gases from industries. The emergence of this opportunity of revenue generation by taking up structured Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects has brought about a novel dimension to accounting and taxation. The present article focuses on the contours of Kyoto Protocol, highlighting the financial and accounting challenges being faced by companies in a developing country like India, where it is an emerging field.
© 2010 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
LEAN ACCOUNTING
Cost Management Tools for Competitive Advantage: Lean and Target Costing for Today's Industry
-- A Lakshminarasimha and Vivek Krishna K
Competitive advantage for the organized sector in India is the need of the hour and many companies in India are going `lean'. Hence, the use of target costing to aid the companies going lean needs to be addressed in a more focused manner. The modifications required in costing strategies, policies and practices are discussed in this article. The article provides an introduction to lean concepts and discusses the impact of target costing on lean. Suggestions and pointers for further study are indicated, which would go a long way in practical sustained implementation of lean practices. A research is also being conducted to study the practices of target costing in India, the number of companies practicing it and the methods that they follow.
© 2010 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
COSTING
Cost Management Strategies in an Economic Crisis: Secret of Survival and Success
-- CMA Ashok Panigrahi
While periods of economic instability are not unusual in today's global marketplace, this year's turmoil seems particularly challenging for companies all over the world. Sharply higher prices of food, oil and other commodities, a falling dollar, tightening credit conditions and plunging stock market prices have been accompanied by warnings that the world's major economies are to confront a new era of unusually difficult challenges. Such volatile economic conditions are making it difficult to achieve business objectives and execute plans. Faced with the most unprecedented economic conditions in living memory, the issue of improving the financial position of a business has become a challenge for everyone, and hence, major projects and expansion plans are being reviewed by the corporate sector and they have started focusing on their cost management strategies, which seems to be the key to the survival and success in the current turbulent economic scenario.
© 2010 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
ACCOUNTING STANDARDS
Corporate Reporting and Accounting Standards in Global Scenario: Relevance of Fair Value Measurement
-- Heena Sunil Oza
The convergence of Accounting Standards (AS) across the globe is gaining momentum. The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), the accounting standards making body of India has announced the strategy of one point convergence to International Financing Reporting Standards (IFRS) from April 1, 2011. The Government of India also has supported the move of the ICAI. But, there are many issues, challenges, and conceptual differences, which need to be addressed for a successful convergence to take place. One of the major issues that has created a hue and cry among the various stakeholders is use of Fair Value Measurement (FVM) in financial statements in certain cases. This article discusses the relevance of the adoption of Fair Value (FV) accounting and the various issues in its implementation.
© 2010 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
Emerging Trends in Corporate Governance Practices
-- A Vinayagamoorthy
Good corporate governance practice would assist the corporate in developing a credible opinion on its management quality and responsiveness towards the interest of all its financial stakeholders. Improved perception of investors, may in turn, influence its valuation and facilitate rising of funds at favorable terms. Corporate governance practices in the financial sector also improve the comfort level of the statutory authorities and regulators. It is used as a check to determine the position of the company with regard to the best practices in the industry.
© 2010 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
FAIR VALUE ACCOUNTING
Financial Instruments Measurement: A Critical Evaluation of Fair Value Accounting
-- Debasish Sur and Kaushik Chakraborty
As per the standards relevant to the accounting for financial instruments promulgated by different accounting standard-setting agencies, both at the national and international levels, all categories of financial instruments are valued either on `fair value' basis or on the basis of `fair value plus directly attributable transaction cost'. However, a controversy always persists over whether fair value-based measurement provides more accurate results compared to the conventional ones. Against this backdrop, the present article seeks to critically evaluate the Fair Value Accounting (FVA) system.
© 2010 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
IFRS
Assessing the Impact of International Financial Reporting Standards on Firms
-- Marjan Petreski
This article aims to study the effect of the adoption of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) on firms. For this purpose, IFRS' impact on firms' management and financial statements has been analyzed.
© 2010 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
HR ACCOUNTING
Valuation and Reporting Practices of Human Resource Accounting in India
-- CK Sonara
Although Human Resource Accounting (HRA) is a relatively new field, its development has already passed through several discernible stages. The first stage of development, from 1960-1966, was marked by interest in HRA and the derivation of basic HRA came from a variety of sources, including the economic theory of human capital, organizational psychologists' concern for leadership effectiveness, the new Human Resource (HR) perspective, and a concern for human assets as components of corporate goodwill. This article attempts to evaluate and report the present scenario of HR concerns. This article covers four different aspects on which proper attention is to be paid by the people interested in HR reporting. In particular, the article discusses HRA practices in HPCL and concludes with HR reporting.
© 2010 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
SPEECH
Speech by SEC Chairman: The Road to Investor Confidence
-- Mary Schapiro
Chairman, US Securities and Exchange Commission,
New York.
In the recently concluded Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) Annual Conference, the Chairman of US Securities and Exchange Commission, Mary Schapiro emphasized on restoring the confidence of the investors for the proper functioning of the global economy. This cannot be achieved by assuming that all is well. It needs re-energizing the division that enforces the existing securities laws, while attending to the complaints mainly coming from internal whistleblowers. The Chairman asks regulators to help companies increase the ability to analyze the risk and cutting-edge market trends. Of course, these internal reforms are just a slice of what has been keeping the regulators buzy, the refocus is again on investor protection mission.
© 2009 US Securities and Exchange Commission (www.sec.gov). Speech by Mary Schapiro, Chairman, US Securities and Exchange Commission, Conference Co-sponsored by SIFMA Annual Conference, New York, New York, October 27, 2009. Reprinted with permission.
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