The Development of Accounting and Financial Reporting Practices in Sri Lanka: An Exploratory Investigation

IF 2 Q2 BUSINESS, FINANCE

International Journal of Accounting Pub Date : 2019-08-25 DOI:10.1142/S1094406019500082

Jayasinghe Hewa Dulige, N. Abayadeera, Muhammad Jahangir Ali, Paul R. Mather

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引用次数: 3

Abstract

In this paper, we examine the factors that influence the development of accounting and reporting practices in Sri Lanka in the backdrop of its political and economic environment. We find that the early days of accounting in Sri Lanka were heavily influenced by the British colonial system. Subsequently, its greatest influence was derived from the regulatory and institutional framework backed by local and British professional accounting bodies. We also interview key stakeholders to draw insights on how the institutional factors contribute to the development of financial reporting in Sri Lanka. We discover that the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (ICASL) is a key player in developing and implementing accounting standards and the best financial reporting practices. We observe that although the Sri Lankan Government has undertaken many initiatives to improve the quality of financial reporting, monitoring and enforcing regulations remain weak partly due to political interference. Therefore, we suggest that strengthening the existing regulatory mechanisms will help to improve the reporting quality and build investor confidence.

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斯里兰卡会计和财务报告实务的发展:一项探索性调查

在本文中，我们研究了在其政治和经济环境的背景下影响斯里兰卡会计和报告实践发展的因素。我们发现，斯里兰卡早期的会计制度深受英国殖民制度的影响。随后，其最大的影响力来自于由本地和英国专业会计机构支持的监管和制度框架。我们还采访了主要利益相关者，以深入了解制度因素如何促进斯里兰卡财务报告的发展。我们发现斯里兰卡特许会计师协会(ICASL)在制定和实施会计准则和最佳财务报告实践方面发挥着关键作用。我们注意到，尽管斯里兰卡政府采取了许多举措来提高财务报告的质量，但由于政治干预，监督和执行法规仍然薄弱。因此，我们建议加强现有的监管机制将有助于提高报告质量，建立投资者信心。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

International Journal of Accounting BUSINESS, FINANCE-

CiteScore

1.20

自引率

0.00%

发文量

期刊介绍： The aim of The International Journal of Accounting is to advance the academic and professional understanding of accounting theory, policies and practice from the international perspective and viewpoint. The Journal editorial recognizes that international accounting is influenced by a variety of forces, e.g., governmental, political and economic. Thus, the primary criterion for manuscript evaluation is the incremental contribution to international accounting literature and the forces that impact the field. The Journal aims at understanding the present and potential ability of accounting to aid in analyzing and interpreting international economic transactions and the economic consequences of such reporting. These transactions may be within a profit or non-profit environment. The Journal encourages a broad view of the origins and development of accounting with an emphasis on its functions in an increasingly interdependent global economy. The Journal also welcomes manuscripts that help explain current international accounting practices, with related theoretical justifications, and identify criticisms of current policies and practice. Other than occasional commissioned papers or special issues, all the manuscripts published in the Journal are selected by the editors after the normal double-blind refereeing process.