Indian economy is witnessing transition in the overall policies post the major initiatives taken in the year 1991, mostly discussed as new economic policy. In the process of achieving better results, initiatives have been taken by various governments on a continuous basis. One of the major initiatives which can boost and drive the economy through improved competitiveness of the Indian business is ‘Goods and Services Tax (GST)’. Though the bill is pending clearance, the preparation is required from all corners. Accounting post the passing of the bill is presented and discussed by the authors, Anup Kumar Ghosh and Siddhartha Swroop Ray, in the paper, “Accounting System Under GST Regime: A Prologue”. They have made an attempt to present the best practices model in the forthcoming GST regime, usable in the routine accounting process by the businesses.

Two major issues that the whole world is facing across the globe are environment and terrorism. The change in the climate because of industrialization, deforestation and land degradation leading to global warming is forcing everyone to seriously invest and reduce the impact on the future generation. To do the same, the businesses have to invest huge money to protect the environment and also disclose the same to the owners of the business as well as to the stakeholders. In the paper, “Factors Influencing Environmental Accounting and Disclosure Practices in India: Empirical Evidence from NIFTY Companies”, the authors, B Omnamasivaya and M S V Prasad, examine as to what factors will influence the accounting and disclosure for investments made by the companies to protect the environment.

To enable the investors across the globe to understand the financial statements better, a benchmark for all the companies over the world was created and initiated by drafting and implementing International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). IFRS may be adopted by the jurisdictions (countries) or the country may choose to converge over a period. India has decided to converge with IFRS. In the paper, “A Comparative Study of Segment Reporting Under AS-17 and IFRS 8: Empirical Evidence from India”, the authors, D D Bedia and Kshema Patodi, present a comparison of presentation of financial statements for ‘segment reporting’ and discuss the pros and cons of Indian Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (IGAAP) and IFRS.

The responsibility of the managers of the firm does not end with accounting for the business performance, but they have to also disclose the same with transparency. But the agents in the process of showing better performance save some water when rains are heavy, and use the same when the rains are short of requirement, known as income smoothing in the accounting parlance. In the paper, “Investigation on the Presence of Income Smoothing Among NSE-Listed Companies”, the authors, Jutimala Bora and Ashit Saha, probe if the firms listed on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) of India indulge in income smoothing as one technique of earnings management. Also the study makes an attempt to explore and understand as to what factors influence such behavior in the sample firms.

-- Vunyale Narender
Consulting Editor