School of Accountancy Discussion Papers

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Browsing School of Accountancy Discussion Papers by Author "Kirk, N. E."

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    'True and fair view' versus 'Present fairly in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles'
    (2001) Kirk, N. E.
    The ‘true and fair view’ concept is one of two competing but not mutually exclusive legal standards for financial reporting quality that have been subject to debate on their meaning, use and importance. The other is ‘present fairly in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles’ (GAAP). While the former is closely identified with judgement and is used in the United Kingdom, the European Union, Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand, the latter is the standard for United States financial reporting and tends to be more rule based. This paper presents the findings of an empirical investigation of the ‘true and fair view’ in New Zealand. It reports the results of a survey of financial directors, auditors and shareholders of New Zealand listed companies investigating their perceptions of, and preferences for, ‘true and fair view’ versus other standards for financial statement reporting including ‘present fairly in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles’ (GAAP), 'fairly reflects' and 'present fairly', and compares the findings with relevant international research. The purpose of the research was twofold; firstly to determine if ‘within-group’ and ‘betweengroup’ differences in perceptions and preferences for the terms existed, thus contributing to an expectations gap; and, secondly, to examine whether or not the New Zealand respondents shared the preference for ‘true and fair view’ versus ‘present fairly in conformity with GAAP’ found in previous international research. The results show that a clear majority of all three groups share similar perceptions of the meaning of the 'true and fair view’ concept, and support its use in financial reporting. All groups preferred ‘true and fair view’ to other terms including ‘fairly present in conformity with GAAP’, a result consistent with previous comparisons of United Kingdom, and United States investors’ opinions. This illustrates that the 'true and fair view' concept remains an important international overall standard for financial reporting quality.
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    Web assisted teaching: an undergraduate experience
    (2002) van Staden, C. J.; Kirk, N. E.; Hawkes, L. C.
    The emergence of the Internet has created a number of claims as to the future of education and the possibility of dramatically changing the way in which education is delivered. Much of the attention has focussed on the adoption of teaching methods that are solely web-based. We set out to incorporate web-based teaching as support for more traditional teaching methods to improve the learning outcomes for students. This first step into web-based teaching was developed to harness the benefits of web-based teaching tools without supplanting traditional teaching methods. The aim of this paper is to report our experience with web-assisted teaching in two undergraduate courses, Accounting Information Systems and Management Accounting Services, during 2000. The paper evaluates the approach taken and proposes a tentative framework for developing future web-assisted teaching applications. We believe that web-assisted and web-based teaching are inevitable outcomes of the telecommunications and computer revolution and that academics cannot afford to become isolated from the on-line world. A considered approach is needed to ensure the integration of web-based features into the overall structure of a course. The components of the course material and the learning experiences students are exposed to need to be structured and delivered in a way that ensures they support student learning rather than replacing one form of learning with another. Therefore a careful consideration of the structure, content, level of detail and time of delivery needs to be integrated to create a course structure that provides a range of student learning experiences that are complimentary rather than competing. The feedback was positive from both extramural (distance) and internal students, demonstrating to us that web sites can be used as an effective teaching tool in support of more traditional teaching methods as well as a tool for distance education. The ability to harness the positives of the web in conjunction with more traditional teaching modes is one that should not be overlooked in the move to adopt web based instruction methods. Web-based teaching need not be seen as an all or nothing divide but can be used as a useful way of improving the range and type of learning experiences open to students. The Web challenges traditional methods and thinking but it also provides tools to develop innovative solutions to both distance and on campus learning. Further research is needed to determine how we can best meet the needs of our students while maintaining high quality learning outcomes.