Andrew W Higson 
Corporate Financial Reporting 
Theory and Practice

`This is a book which should be read by all students, whether undergraduate and postgraduate. It also provides a succinct guide for the manager who wishes to come to grips with this topic, or the accountant nostalgic to recollect the non too praiseworthy and indecisive history of this topic′
– Managerial Auditing Journal

Corporate Financial Reporting critically examines contemporary corporate financial reporting. The complexity of the reporting process and the myriad of issues facing the directors, accountants and auditors can only be successfully understood from a firm conceptual base. Recent financial scandals clearly highlight the interrelationships between all the themes explored in this book, from financial reporting to auditing, from management′s motivations to fraud.

Special features of this book include:

– A critical examination of accounting ′theory′

– Senior practitioners′ insights on ′a true and fair view′

– An exploration of ′the financial reporting expectations gap′

– A discussion of the nature of ′corporate performance′

– An examination of corporate fraud

– An examination of the implications of ′real-time′ reporting by companies

– Discussion questions at the end of each chapter

The book will be relevant to advanced undergraduate as well as postgraduate and MBA students.

Table of Content

Issues in Financial Reporting

An Exploration of the Nature of Accounting `Theory′

Developments in Accounting and Corporate Reporting

Financial Reporting

Frameworks without Foundations?

Developments in Auditing and Assurance

The Management-Auditor Relationship

Auditing Motivations

Communication through the Audit Report

What Is the Auditor Trying to Say?

An Exploration of the Financial Reporting Expectations Gap

A Reconfiguration of the External Reporting Conceptual Framework Conundrum

The Elusive Holy Grail