1第一節(jié)會(huì)計(jì)確認(rèn)的定義與特征

1、第一節(jié) 會(huì)計(jì)確認(rèn)的定義一、會(huì)計(jì)確認(rèn)的定義與分類(lèi)“確認(rèn)是將某一項(xiàng)目，作為一項(xiàng)資產(chǎn)、負(fù)債、收入、費(fèi)用正式地記錄或記入某一主體財(cái)務(wù)報(bào)表的程序（過(guò)程），它包括同時(shí)用文字和數(shù)字描述某一項(xiàng)目，其金額則包括在報(bào)表總計(jì)之中。對(duì)于一項(xiàng)資產(chǎn)或負(fù)債，確認(rèn)不僅要記錄該項(xiàng)目的取得和發(fā)生，還要記錄其后發(fā)生的變動(dòng)，包括從財(cái)務(wù)報(bào)表中予以取消的變動(dòng)"（FASB第5號(hào)概念公告，1984）。6. Recognition is the process of formally recording or incorporating an item in the financial statements of an entity

2、 as an asset, liability, revenue, expense, or the like. Recognition includes depiction of an item in both words and numbers, with the amount included in the totals of the financial statements. For an asset or liability, recognition involves recording not only acquisition or incurrence of the item bu

3、t also later changes in it, including changes that result in removal from the financial statements. . 根據(jù)以上討論，借鑒FASB的成果，我們認(rèn)為，確認(rèn)是一種基于會(huì)計(jì)準(zhǔn)則的規(guī)定對(duì)經(jīng)濟(jì)活動(dòng)是否應(yīng)納入會(huì)計(jì)報(bào)表核算以及納入會(huì)計(jì)報(bào)表核算的資產(chǎn)、負(fù)債價(jià)值變化的判斷，并且要以文字或數(shù)據(jù)反映這種判斷。前者為初次確認(rèn)，后者為重新確認(rèn)（再確認(rèn)與終止確認(rèn)）。第一，“要將某一項(xiàng)目記入某一主體財(cái)務(wù)報(bào)表”，從會(huì)計(jì)實(shí)務(wù)來(lái)講，需要做兩件事：首先是對(duì)記錄經(jīng)濟(jì)業(yè)務(wù)發(fā)生的原始憑證的合法性與合理性的判斷，他是項(xiàng)目應(yīng)否列入財(cái)務(wù)報(bào)表某一

4、要素的第一道關(guān)口。其次是對(duì)該項(xiàng)目類(lèi)別的判斷。就會(huì)計(jì)工作而言，會(huì)計(jì)確認(rèn)就是審核原始憑證、編制記賬憑證。第二，由于確認(rèn)“要用文字和數(shù)字來(lái)描述一個(gè)項(xiàng)目，且其金額必須包括在財(cái)務(wù)報(bào)表的總計(jì)之中”。那么用其他方法（如注釋?zhuān)闹屑永ㄌ?hào)，輔助信息等）在財(cái)務(wù)報(bào)告中披露的信息與事實(shí)，就不是確認(rèn)。第三，確認(rèn)的范圍限于會(huì)計(jì)報(bào)表項(xiàng)目，而不考慮會(huì)計(jì)報(bào)表項(xiàng)目以外的內(nèi)容。第四，確認(rèn)的分類(lèi)確認(rèn)是會(huì)計(jì)程序中的某種會(huì)計(jì)行為發(fā)生前，會(huì)計(jì)人員基于特定標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的專(zhuān)業(yè)判斷。因此，確認(rèn)貫穿于整個(gè)會(huì)計(jì)程序中： 確認(rèn)涉及對(duì)記錄和報(bào)告兩個(gè)層次的決策，一切交易和事項(xiàng)都要經(jīng)過(guò)初始確認(rèn)（Initial Recognition）作成記錄（depiction

5、 of an item in both words and numbers,），然后通過(guò)再確認(rèn)（第二步確認(rèn)）予以報(bào)告（with the amount included in the totals of the financial statements.）。（記錄層面與報(bào)告層面）對(duì)記錄層面的確認(rèn)，又可以分為三類(lèi)：確認(rèn)包括初步確認(rèn)（Initial Recognition）與再確認(rèn)（第二步確認(rèn)Subsequent Recognition）以及中止確認(rèn)三種類(lèi)別：次確認(rèn)（Initial Recognition）每當(dāng)一項(xiàng)交易、事項(xiàng)發(fā)生、就要識(shí)別是否應(yīng)在會(huì)計(jì)上正式記錄（對(duì)合法性與合理性的判斷，以及分類(lèi)的判斷

6、）；對(duì)記錄來(lái)說(shuō)，確認(rèn)主要指：（1）是否有項(xiàng)目（哪些項(xiàng)目）應(yīng)作為要素進(jìn)入會(huì)計(jì)系統(tǒng)正式記錄；（2）這些項(xiàng)目應(yīng)記錄為什么要素?（3）何時(shí)應(yīng)予記錄。對(duì)第一個(gè)問(wèn)題的回答是：“交易觀(transaction approach)”與“事項(xiàng)觀(events approach)”；“交易觀(transaction approach)”；即會(huì)計(jì)只反映那些對(duì)企業(yè)的經(jīng)濟(jì)利益(現(xiàn)在的或未來(lái)的)確實(shí)產(chǎn)生了影響或?qū)е缕髽I(yè)資產(chǎn)和負(fù)債要素發(fā)生了變動(dòng)的交易或事項(xiàng)。這些交易或事項(xiàng)可以是發(fā)生在不同主體之間，也可以是發(fā)生在同一個(gè)主體內(nèi)部?！笆马?xiàng)觀(events approach)”，也稱(chēng)“非交易觀”。美國(guó)財(cái)務(wù)會(huì)計(jì)準(zhǔn)則委員會(huì)的第6號(hào)概念

7、公告將事項(xiàng)界定為包括一主體所買(mǎi)賣(mài)物品或勞務(wù)上物價(jià)的變動(dòng)(par135)；Transactions, Events, and Circumstances135. This Statement commonly uses transactions and other events and affecting an entity to describe the sources or causes of changes in assets, liabilities, and equity or net assets. An event is a happening of consequence to

8、an entity. It may be an internal event that occurs within an entity, such as using raw materials or equipment in production, or it may be an external event that involves interaction between an entity and its environment, such as a transaction with another entity, a change in price of a good or servi

9、ce that an entity buys or sells, a flood or earthquake, or an improvement in technology by a competitor.52 Many events are combinations. For example, acquiring services of employees or others involves exchange transactions, which are external events; using those services, often simultaneously with t

10、heir acquisition, is part of production, which involves a series of internal events (paragraph 79, footnote 40). An event may be initiated by an entity, such as a purchase of merchandise or use of a building, or it may be partly or wholly beyond the control of an entity and its management, such as a

11、n interest rate change, an act of vandalism or theft, the imposition of taxes, or the expiration of a donor n.捐贈(zèng)人n.化 原料物質(zhì)-imposedvt.征稅, 強(qiáng)加, 以.欺騙vi.利用, 欺騙, 施影響 time restriction.136. Circumstances are a condition or set of conditions that develop from an event or a series of events, which may occur al

12、most imperceptiblyadv.察覺(jué)不到地, 微細(xì)地 and may converge in random or unexpected ways to create situations that might otherwise not have occurred and might not have been anticipated. To see the circumstance may be fairly easy, but to discernv.目睹, 認(rèn)識(shí), 洞悉, 辨別, 看清楚 specifically when the event or events that c

13、aused it occurred may be difficult or impossible. For example, a debtor's going bankrupt or a thief's stealing gasoline may be an event, but a creditor's facing the situation that its debtor is bankrupt or a warehouse's facing the fact that its tank is empty may be a circumstance.137

14、. A transaction is a particular kind of external event, namely, an external event involving transfer of something of value (future economic benefit) between two (or more) entities. The transaction may be an exchange in which each participant both receives and sacrifices value, such as purchases or s

15、ales of goods or services; or the transaction may be a nonreciprocal transfer in which an entity incurs a liability or transfers an asset to another entity (or receives an asset or cancellation of a liability) without directly receiving (or giving) value in exchange. Nonreciprocal transfers contrast

16、 with exchanges (which are reciprocal transfers) and include, for example, investments by owners, distributions to owners, impositions of taxes, gifts, charitable or educational contributions given or received, and thefts.53138. This Statement does not use the term internal transaction (which is ess

17、entially contradictory). Transferring materials to production processes, using plant and equipment whose wear and tear is represented by depreciation, and other events that happen within an entity are internal events, not internal transactions.英國(guó)會(huì)計(jì)準(zhǔn)則委員會(huì)在討論交易外的其它事項(xiàng)時(shí)，舉例說(shuō)明，盡管企業(yè)所擁有的土地或其他財(cái)產(chǎn)的未來(lái)利益沒(méi)變(從使用角度看

18、)，但其市場(chǎng)價(jià)格水平已發(fā)生變動(dòng)，如果證據(jù)充足，就應(yīng)該確認(rèn)。由于謹(jǐn)慎考慮，最后所確認(rèn)的主要是物價(jià)變動(dòng)的損失而不是收益(par424)。但是到目前為止，仍然沒(méi)有跡象表明：由于主體長(zhǎng)期有效努力而產(chǎn)生的超額盈利能力它實(shí)際上是大量的交易累積影響的結(jié)果可以正式進(jìn)入確認(rèn)程序。也就是說(shuō)，目前會(huì)計(jì)實(shí)務(wù)所允許的非交易觀的確認(rèn)，仍然是不全面的。2. 再確認(rèn)（第二步確認(rèn)Subsequent Recognition）再確認(rèn)是將初始確認(rèn)已經(jīng)記入賬簿的事項(xiàng)記入會(huì)計(jì)報(bào)表前的判斷，是在初始確認(rèn)的基礎(chǔ)上，篩選什么信息應(yīng)列入財(cái)務(wù)報(bào)表，什么樣的信息在報(bào)表外列示。它所代表的是會(huì)計(jì)的決策行為。包括：（1）有無(wú)項(xiàng)目應(yīng)進(jìn)入報(bào)表系統(tǒng)；（2）該

19、項(xiàng)目應(yīng)列入何種要素；（3）何時(shí)應(yīng)當(dāng)在報(bào)表中表述并將其金額列入報(bào)表總計(jì)。（4）并且還應(yīng)考慮：效益是否大于成本，所應(yīng)計(jì)入報(bào)表的項(xiàng)目是否符合重要性原則。 至于如何在財(cái)務(wù)報(bào)表中表述（除確認(rèn)外還包括披露），那也意味著財(cái)務(wù)會(huì)計(jì)的活動(dòng)進(jìn)入了最后的程序-報(bào)告。 3.后續(xù)確認(rèn)（Subsequent Recognition）后續(xù)確認(rèn)主要是對(duì)已在會(huì)計(jì)報(bào)表中反映的項(xiàng)目，在后一個(gè)會(huì)計(jì)期間發(fā)生了價(jià)值或產(chǎn)權(quán)上的變化，而在會(huì)計(jì)記錄或會(huì)計(jì)報(bào)表中反映之前，由會(huì)計(jì)人員所做出的基于事實(shí)的合理合規(guī)的判斷。作為一個(gè)程序和過(guò)程，確認(rèn)對(duì)大多數(shù)交易和事項(xiàng)所應(yīng)予記錄和報(bào)告的項(xiàng)目可以一次完成。例如發(fā)生的費(fèi)用如電費(fèi)，由于購(gòu)入的該項(xiàng)勞務(wù)（能源）當(dāng)時(shí)就

20、能消耗掉，已記錄的項(xiàng)目不可能發(fā)生后續(xù)的變動(dòng)，因此這類(lèi)交易和事項(xiàng)只需要一次確認(rèn)即可完成 。有一些交易和事項(xiàng)的確認(rèn)，其已記錄和已報(bào)告的項(xiàng)目嗣后可能發(fā)生變動(dòng)，而需要后續(xù)確認(rèn)甚至不再符合確認(rèn)標(biāo)準(zhǔn)而需要終止確認(rèn)，比如：固定資產(chǎn)按歷史成本確認(rèn)為資產(chǎn)后，由于價(jià)值變動(dòng)而批準(zhǔn)進(jìn)行重估，則重估價(jià)的記錄與報(bào)告的確認(rèn)，應(yīng)屬于后續(xù)確認(rèn)。 按現(xiàn)行成本或公允價(jià)計(jì)量的某些項(xiàng)目在其交易開(kāi)始時(shí)是通過(guò)初始確認(rèn)，在初始確認(rèn)后如現(xiàn)行成本或公允價(jià)值發(fā)生變動(dòng)時(shí)，一般于下一個(gè)報(bào)告年度開(kāi)始按變動(dòng)后的成本或價(jià)值重新確認(rèn)，即所謂后續(xù)確認(rèn)。如果已確認(rèn)的某個(gè)項(xiàng)目不再符合某一要素的定義，例如已確認(rèn)的資產(chǎn)由于作為其他企業(yè)的抵押（擔(dān)保）而當(dāng)做擔(dān)保品被償付債

21、務(wù)進(jìn)行處置，本企業(yè)對(duì)它不再保持控制的能力，這時(shí)，對(duì)該項(xiàng)資產(chǎn)，就要在會(huì)計(jì)記錄和財(cái)務(wù)報(bào)表中終止確認(rèn)（Derecognition）第四，確認(rèn)的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)在第5號(hào)概念公告中，還提出確認(rèn)的四項(xiàng)基本標(biāo)準(zhǔn)：定義性、可計(jì)量性、相關(guān)性、可靠性(par63)“。Fundamental Recognition Criteria63. An item and information about it should meet four undamental recognition criteria to be recognized and should be recognized when the criteria are

22、met, subject to a cost-benefit constraint and a materiality threshold. Those criteria are:DefinitionsThe item meets the definition of an element of financial statements.MeasurabilityIt has a relevant attribute measurable with sufficient reliability.RelevanceThe information about it is capable of mak

23、ing a difference in user decisions.ReliabilityThe information is representationally faithful, verifiable, and neutral.All four criteria are subject to a pervasiveadj.彌漫的；遍布的；普遍的 cost-benefit constraint: the expected benefits from recognizing a particular item should justify perceivedv.感知, 感到, 認(rèn)識(shí)到 co

24、sts of providing and using the information.38 Recognition is also subject to a materiality threshold: an item and information about it need not be recognized in a set of financial statements if the item is not large enough to be material and the aggregate of individually immaterial items is not larg

25、e enough to be material to those financial statements (1)定義性：所確認(rèn)的項(xiàng)目要符合財(cái)務(wù)報(bào)表中某一要素的定義；(2)可計(jì)量性：所確認(rèn)的項(xiàng)目要能予以量化；(3)相關(guān)性：因所確認(rèn)的項(xiàng)目所生成的信息，對(duì)使用者的決策有影響； (4)可靠性：所確認(rèn)的項(xiàng)目是真實(shí)、可驗(yàn)證、中立的。這四條標(biāo)準(zhǔn)缺一不可，因?yàn)?，總的確認(rèn)標(biāo)準(zhǔn)可以概括為：一個(gè)項(xiàng)目符合于會(huì)計(jì)要素的定義并能可靠地計(jì)量，同時(shí)對(duì)信息使用者相關(guān)。在第2號(hào)公告中，論述會(huì)計(jì)信息的質(zhì)量特征時(shí)，將相關(guān)性、可靠性做了展開(kāi)：第一，相關(guān)性（Relevance）。相關(guān)性指與決策相關(guān)，所提供的會(huì)計(jì)信息具有揭示差異、影響決

26、策的能力。一項(xiàng)信息是否具有相關(guān)性，主要由三個(gè)因素決定，即預(yù)測(cè)價(jià)值（Predictive Value）、反饋價(jià)值(Feedback Value)和及時(shí)性(Timeliness)。其中，預(yù)測(cè)價(jià)值指信息具有幫助決策者預(yù)測(cè)過(guò)去、現(xiàn)在或未來(lái)事項(xiàng)可能結(jié)果的能力；反饋價(jià)值指信息能使決策者證實(shí)或更正過(guò)去決策時(shí)的預(yù)期結(jié)果；及時(shí)性指信息應(yīng)當(dāng)在失去影響決策的能力之前提供給決策者。這三個(gè)概念對(duì)會(huì)計(jì)準(zhǔn)則的制定產(chǎn)生了重大影響，原因在于預(yù)測(cè)價(jià)值和反饋價(jià)值是選擇確認(rèn)和計(jì)量政策的依據(jù)，及時(shí)性則與披露政策密切相關(guān)。  RELEVANCE46. In discussions of accounting criteria,

27、 relevance has usually been defined in the dictionary sense, as pertaining to or having a bearing on the matter in question. That broad definition is satisfactory as far as it goesinformation must, of course, be logically related to a decision in order to be relevant to it. Mistaken attempts to base

28、 decisions on logically unrelated information cannot convert irrelevant information into relevant information 5 any more than ignoring relevant information makes it irrelevant. However, the meaning of relevance for financial reporting needs to be made more explicit. Specifically, it is information&#

29、39;s capacity to "make a difference" that identifies it as relevant to a decision.47. To be relevant to investors, creditors, and others for investment, credit, and similar decisions, accounting information must be capable of making a difference in a decision by helping users to form predi

30、ctions about the outcomes of past, present, and future events or to confirm or correct expectations. "Event" is a happening of consequence to an enterprise (Exposure Draft on elements, paragraph 67), and in this context can mean, for example, the receipt of a sales order or a price change

31、in something the enterprise buys or sells. "Outcome" is the effect or result of an event or series of events and in this context can mean, for example, that last year's profit was $X or the expectation that this year's profit will be $Y. The event in question may be a past event th

32、e outcome of which is not already known, or it may be a future event the outcome of which can only be predicted.48. Information need not itself be a prediction of future events or outcomes to be useful in forming, confirming, or changing expectations about future events or outcomes. Information abou

33、t the present status of economic resources or obligations or about an enterprise's past performance is commonly a basis for expectations (Concepts Statement 1, paragraph 42).49. Information may confirm expectations or it may change them. If it confirms them, it increases the probability that the

34、 results will be as previously expected. If it changes them, it changes the perceived probabilities of the previous possible outcomes. Either way, it makes a difference to one who does not already have that information. Decisions already made need not be changed, nor need a course of action already

35、embarked on be altered by the information. A decision to hold rather than to sell an investment is a decision, and information that supports holding can be as relevant as information that leads to a sale. Information is relevant if the degree of uncertainty about the result of a decision that has al

36、ready been made is confirmed or altered by the new information; it need not alter the decision.50. One of the more fundamental questions raised by the search for relevance in accounting concerns the choice of attribute to be measured for financial reporting purposes. Will financial statements be mor

37、e relevant if they are based on historical costs, current costs, or some other attribute? The question must be left for consideration in other parts of the conceptual framework project; but because of lack of experience with information providing measures of several of those attributes and differenc

38、es of opinion about their relevance and reliability, it is not surprising that agreement on the question is so difficult to obtain. Feedback 6 Value and Predictive Value as Components of Relevance51. Information can make a difference to decisions by improving decision makers' capacities to predi

39、ct or by confirming or correcting their earlier expectations. Usually, information does both at once, because knowledge about the outcome of actions already taken will generally improve decision makers' abilities to predict the results of similar future actions. Without a knowledge of the past,

40、the basis for a prediction will usually be lacking. Without an interest in the future, knowledge of the past is sterile.52. The same point can be made by saying that information is relevant to a situation if it can reduce uncertainty about the situation. Information that was not known previously abo

41、ut a past activity clearly reduces uncertainty about its outcome, and information about past activities is usually an indispensable point of departure for attempts to foresee the consequences of related future activities. Disclosure requirements almost always have the dual purpose of helping to pred

42、ict and confirming or correcting earlier predictions. The reporting of business results by segments is a good example of accounting reports whose relevance is believed to lie both in the information they convey about the past performance of segments and in their contribution to an investor's abi

43、lity to predict the trend of earnings of a diversified company. Another example is to be found in interim earnings reports, which provide both feedback on past performance and a basis for prediction for anyone wishing to forecast annual earnings before the year-end.53. To say that accounting informa

44、tion has predictive value is not to say that it is itself a prediction. It may be useful here to draw an analogy between the financial information that analysts and others use in predicting earnings or financial position and the information that meteorologists use in forecasting weather. Meteorologi

45、sts gather and chart information about actual conditionstemperatures, barometric pressures, wind velocities at various altitudes, and so onand draw their conclusions from the relationships and patterns that they detect. Success in forecasting the weather has increased as new methods of gathering inf

46、ormation have been developed. New kinds of information have become available, and with greater speed than was previously possible. To the simple sources of information available to our ancestors have been added satellite photographs, radar, and radiosondes to give information about the upper atmosph

47、ere. New information makes possible more sophisticated predictive models. When a meteorologist selects from among the alternative sources of information and methods of gathering informationabout existing conditions, since future conditions cannot be knownthose sources and methods that have the great

48、est predictive value can be expected to be favored. So it is with information about the existing financial state of a company and observed changes in that state from which predictions of success, failure, growth, or stagnation may be inferred. Users can be expected to favor those sources of informat

49、ion and analytical methods that have the greatest predictive value in achieving their specific objectives. Predictive value here means value as an input into a predictive process, not value directly as a prediction. 54. An important similarity and an important difference between predicting the weath

50、er and predicting financial performance may be noted. The similarity is that the meteorologist's information and the information derived from financial reporting both have to be fed into a predictive model 7 before they can throw light on the future. Financial predictions, like weather forecasts

51、, are the joint product of a model and the data that go into it. A choice between alternative accounting methods on the basis of their predictive value can be made only if the characteristics of the model to be used are generally known. For example, the econometric models now used for economic forec

52、asting are designed to use as data financial aggregates(among other things) as those aggregates are compiled at present. They might work less well if price-level adjusted data were used. However, it might be possible to revise the model for use with that kind of data so that even better predictions

53、could be made. The point is that the predictive value of information cannot be assessed in the abstract. It has to be transformed into a prediction, and the nature of the transformation as well as the data used determine the outcome.55. The important difference between meteorological and financial p

54、redictions is that only exceptionally can meteorological predictions have an effect on the weather, but business or economic decision makers' predictions often affect their subjects. For example, the use of financial models to predict business failures looks quite successful judged in the light

55、of hindsight by looking at the financial history of failed firms during their last declining years. But a prediction of failure can be self-fulfilling by restricting a company's access to credit. The prediction could also bring about a recovery by initiating action by managers or bankers to aver

56、t failure. Because information affects human behavior and because different people react differently to it, financial information cannot be evaluated by means of a simple tally of the correct predictions that are based on it. Nevertheless, predictive value is an important consideration in distinguis

57、hing relevant from irrelevant accounting information.Timeliness56. Timeliness is an ancillary aspect of relevance. If information is not available when it is needed or becomes available only so long after the reported events that it has no value for future action, it lacks relevance and is of little

58、 or no use. Timeliness in the present context means having information available to decision makers before it loses its capacity to influence decisions. Timeliness alone cannot make information relevant, but a lack of timeliness can rob information of relevance it might otherwise have had.57. Clearl

59、y, there are degrees of timeliness. In some situations, the capacity of information to influence decisions may evaporate quickly, as, for example, in a fast-moving situation such as a take-over bid or a strike, so that timeliness may have to be measured in days or perhaps hours. In other contexts, such as routine reports by an enterprise of its annual results, it may take a longer delay to diminish materially the relevance and, therefore, the usefulness of the information. But a