수익비용대응원칙과 이익의 질 (The Matching Principle and Earnings Quality)

서지정보

· 발행기관 : 한국회계학회
· 수록지 정보 : 회계학연구 / 36권 / 2호 / 101 ~ 127페이지
· 저자명 : 백원선

초록

본 연구에서는 수익비용대응에 따른 회계처리의 중립성이 이익의 질에 미치는 영향을 분석하였다. Dichev and Tang(2008)은 당기 총수익과 전기, 당기 및 차기 총비용과의 관계로 수익비용대응을 측정하였다. 당기 총수익과 전기, 당기 및 차기 총비용간 회귀분석을 수행한 Dichev and Tang(2008)의 모형을 수정하여 본 연구에서는 전기 총비용과 차기 총비용을 제외한 당기 총수익과 당기 총비용간 회귀식의 수정 R2를 회계처리의 중립성 측정치로 정의하였다. 발생주의는 수익비용대응원칙으로 인하여 수익과 비용의 적시적 대응이 가능하며, 이익유연화가 수반된다. 따라서 수익비용의 대응이 적절한 회계처리의 중립성이 높을수록 이익의 질이 높을 것으로 예상된다.
1992년부터 2008년까지 금융업에 속하지 않는 한국거래소 상장 12월 결산법인 6,381개 기업-년을 대상으로 수행한 실증결과에 따르면 가설의 예측대로 회계처리의 중립성이 높은 집단이 그렇지 않은 집단에 비하여 이익의 질이 대체로 높았다. 구체적으로 회계처리의 중립성이 높은 집단은 다른 집단에 비하여 (1) 이익지속성과 이익예측가능성이 높았으며, (2) 발생액의 질이 높았고, (3) 이익유연화가 두드러졌으며, (4) 이익반응계수가 컸다.
지속적인 회계기준의 개정에도 불구하고 자산/부채의 공정가치평가를 기초로 성과를 측정함에 따라 수익비용대응이 약화되는 추세를 보이고 있다. 이러한 추세는 향후 계속될 전망이다. 재무보고의 목적이 정보이용자의 의사결정에 유용한 정보를 제공하는 것이라고 할 때 본 연구의 결과는 자산/부채의 공정가치평가의 포괄적 도입으로 재무정보의 유용성에 부정적인 효과가 존재할 가능성을 시사한다. 이는 국제회계기준이 재무보고의 목적을 효과적으로 달성할 수 있는 회계기준을 제개정할 때 고려해야 할 정책적 시사점을 제공할 것으로 기대된다.

영어초록

This study examines the relation between earnings quality and neutrality of accounting information characterized by matching principle between revenues and expenses. The traditional role and importance of the matching principle has diminished mainly because firms in many industries experience structural changes (such as increasing overhead costs and intangible expenditures and managerial discretion). And fair-value accounting is applied to almost every asset and liability and firm performance is measured as the change in fair value of assets and liabilities between beginning and ending points in time. This will exacerbate the matching between revenues and expenses more seriously. This study explores whether the neutrality of accounting information, affected by such underlying changes in business and accounting environment, differentiates earnings quality.
It is well known that accounting information under accrual basis is more informative than that under cash basis. This is mainly because revenues are more properly matched against expenses and accounting earnings incorporate timelier information and are smoother under the accrual basis than under the cash basis. Managerial incentives for reporting earnings also affect the matching principle. The neutral accounting is maintained when managers do not have any incentives to introduce bias in reported earnings. However, managers attempt to increase or decrease earnings for various reasons by recognizing revenues or expenses aggressively or conservatively. As a consequence, such behavior affects the matching between revenues and expenses as well as earnings quality. To the extent that aggressive or conservative accounting distorts the matching between revenues and expenses, the quality of resultant earnings is likely to be lessened. Thus, it is hypothesized that the more neutral accounting, the higher earnings quality.
To measure the degree of neutrality of accounting, I rely on Dichev and Tang’s (2008) model where current-period revenue is regressed on past-period, current-period, and next-period expenses. In particular, I modify Dichev and Tang’s (2008) model by focusing on the contemporaneous association (adjusted R2) between revenues and expenses. In other words, the higher (lower) contemporaneous association between revenues and expenses is regarded as the more (less) neutral accounting.
Empirical analysis is performed for the sample consisting of 6,381 non-financial firm-years with December fiscal year that are traded over Korea Exchange for 1992-2008. Empirical findings generally support my expectation that earnings are of higher quality for more-neutral-accounting firms than otherwise. Specifically, compared to less-neutral-accounting firms, more-neutral-accounting firms show (1) higher earnings persistence and predictability, (2) higher accrual quality, (3) more income smoothness, and (4) larger earnings response coefficients.
Despite continual revision of accounting standards, the matching between revenues and expenses has been deteriorated and such trend will continue in the near future. Many proponents of historical cost principle and matching principle argue that the most important factor contributing to deterioration of the matching is the revision of accounting standards aiming at evaluating assets and liabilities at fair value and measuring performance as the change of fair value between two points in time.
To the extent that the objective of financial reporting is to provide information users with useful information for their economic decisions, the results in this study provide policy implication of whether such objective will be achieved effectively. And they cast a doubt on desirability of current direction of setting accounting standards to enhance value relevance of assets and liabilities at the expense of quality of earnings.

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