International Accounting Issues and Multinational Finance Functions Prepared by:Arhanti Shah Sona Bhagat Ankit Panchasara Jimi Shah Bhavin Bhavi n Yogi Yogi
Decision making
CFO along with controller, chief accountant makes decision regarding company’s financial resources.
WH WHAT CAN GO WRONG Ex: parmalat’ss Ex: parmalat’ Used to show sells as profit
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Off-balance-sheet
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Role of controller Controller
Establishment of accoun accounting ting standards and principles
Preparation of financial f inancial statement for financial and external use
Evaluation Evaluatio n of operation
Hedging activities
Internal auditing
Cash flow f low management management
Tax planning pla nning
Assistant in establishing and implementing corporate strategy
A Acccounting for intern rnaational dif iffferences
Form and the content of financial statements are different in different countries.
Example:
U.S.based companies: least liquid to most liquid Assets=liabilities+Shareholder’s equity Europe: most liquied to least liquied Fixed
assets+Current
assets-Current
liabilities=capital and reserves
liabilities-Noncurrent
Accounting Objectives
To identify, record and interpret economic events.
FASB and IASB
Purpose of setting accounting objectives
Investment and credit decision
Assesment of cash flow prospects Evaluation of enterprice resources, claim and changes to resources
Users of IASB Investors
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Employees
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Lenders
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Customers
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The Public
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Suppliers and other trade creditors Government and their agencies
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Factors Affecting Affecting international accounting accoun ting practice
Cultural differences •
Secrecy-transparency/Optimism-conversation Matrix
Classi Classiffying Accounting Accounting Systems Systems
Differences in financial statements
Language
Currency
Type of statements
GAAP
Internation International al stds & Global Convergence •
GAAP into line with IFRS issued by the IASB.
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Factors leading to convergence : 1.
Investor orientation.
2.
Global integration of capital markets.
3.
MNE’s need for foreign capital.
4.
Regional political & economic harmonization.
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The new IASC
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IFRS
ransactions ons in Foreign Currencies Transacti •
Recording Transactions :
Foreign- currency receivables & payable give rise to gains & losses whenever the exchange rate changes.
Transaction gains & losses must be included in the income statement in the accounting period in which they arise.
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Correct procedures for U.S. companies: The FASB requires that U.S. companies report foreign-currency transactions at the original spot exchange rate & the subsequent gains & losses on foreigncurrency receivables or payables be put on the income statement.
Companies recast foreign- currency financial statement into statement consistent with U.S. GAAP.
2.
Companies translate all foreign- currency amounts into int o U.S. dollars.
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Translation Methods
1.
Two method : Current Rate Method
2.
Temporal Method
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Disclosing Foreign- Exchange Gains & losses
Management Accounting Issues
Performance Evaluation & control:
Performance Evaluation in the Budgeting Process
Forecast Rates
Hedging Strategies
Transfer Pricing & Performance evaluation. Balanced Scorecard Using the balanced scorecard helps mgt avoid using only one measure of performance.
The BSC – strategies giving rise to value creation from the following perspectives:
1.
Financial
2.
Customer
3. 4.
Internal business processes Learning & growth.
Corporate Governance 1. External control Mechanism- the legal system
Corporate governance practices worldwide are partly a function of the legal environment in the countries where companies operate. The Sarbanes- Oxley Act 2002 was passed in the U.S. to improve financial reporting & strengthen internal controls.
2. Internal control Mechanism
The Finance Function
The corporate finance function acquires and allocates financial resources among the company’s activities and projects. Four key functions are:
Capital structure.
Long-term financing.
Capital budgeting.
Working capital management.
The CFO acquires financial resources and allocates them among the company’s activities and projects.
Structuree Capital Structur
Capital structure of the company is the mix between long-term debt and equity
Leverage is the degree to which a firm funds the growth of business by debt.
The amount of leverage used varies from country countr y to country.
Factors that Influence the Choice of Capital Structure
Choice of capital structure depends on:
tax rates
degree of development of local equity markets
creditor rights
Companies can use local and international debt markets to raise funds.
Global Capital Markets
Two major sources of funds external to the MNE’s normal operations are debt markets and equity markets.
Eurocurrencies
A Eurocurrency is any currency banked outside its country of origin, but it is primarily dollars banked outside the United States Four majorgovernments sources of Eurocurrencies: Foreign or individuals who want to hold
dollars outside the United States Multinational enterprises that have cash in excess of current needs European banks with foreign currency in excess of current needs Countries such as Germany, Japan, and Taiwan that have large balance-of-trade surpluses held as reserves
Types of international bonds
Foreign bonds
Eurobonds Global bonds
Equity Securities and the Euro equity Market
The three largest stock markets in the world are in New York, Tokyo, and London, with the U.S. markets controlling nearly half of the world’s stock market capitalization.
Euroequities are shares listed on stock exchanges in countries other than the home country of the issuing company
American Depositary Receipts (ADRs)
Most foreign companies that list on the U.S. stock exchanges do so through American Depositary Receipts, which are financial documents that represent a share or part of a share of stock in the foreign company
ADRs are easier to trade on the U.S. exchanges than are foreign shares
Offshore Financial Centers
Offshore financing is the provision of financial services by banks and other agents to nonresidents.
Offshore financial centers are cities or countries that provide large amounts of funds in currencies other than their own.
A U.S. company can raise Eurodollar Eurodo llar in London.
Capital Budgeting in a Global Context
Capital budgeting is the process whereby MNEs determine which projects and countries will receive capital investment funds.
Methods Of Capital Budgeting
Capital budgeting techniques:
Payback period. Net present value of a project. Internal rate of return.
MNEs need to determine free cash flows based on cash flow estimates and tax rates in different countries and an appropriate required rate of return adjusted for risk. Two ways to deal with the variations in future cash flows: determine several different scenarios or adjust the hurdle rate
Internal Sources of Funds
Funds are working capital, or current assets minus current liabilities.
Sources of internal funds are:
Loans.
Investments through equity capital.
Intercompany receivables and payables.
Dividends.
Funds (I): Internal Funds How the MNE Handles Its Funds
Global Cash Management
Cash budgets and forecasts are essential in assessing a company’s cash needs.
Dividends are a good source of intercompany transfers, but governments often restrict their free movement.
Multilateral netting is the process of coordinating cash inflows and outflows among subsidiaries so that only net cash is transferred, reducing transaction costs.
Netting
requires
sophisticated
relationships in different countries.
software
and
good
banking
Funds (II): Multilateral How the MNE Handles Its Funds Cash Flows
Funds (IV): How the MNE Handles Its Funds Multilateral Netting
Foreign-Exchange Risk Management
Translation Tra nslation exposure arises because the dollar value of the exposed asset or liability changes as the exchange rate changes.
Transaction exposure arises because the receivable or payable changes in Transaction value as the exchange rate changes.
Economic, or operating, exposure arises from effects of exchange-rate changes on:
Future cash flows.
The sourcing of parts and components.
The location of investments.
The competitive position of the company in different markets.
Taxati axation on of Foreign Source Income
Tax planning influences profitability and cash flow. flow. Taxation has a strong impact on several choices: Location of operations
Choice of operating form, such as export or import, licensing agreement, overseas investment Legal form of the new enterprise, such as branch or subsidiary Possible facilities in tax-haven countries to raise capital and manage cash Method of financing, such as internal or external sourcing and debt or equity Capital budgeting decisions Method of setting transfer prices
Internationa Internationall Tax Tax Practices
Problems with different countries’ tax practices arise from:
Lack of familiarity with laws.
Loose enforcement.
With a value-added tax, each company pays a percentage of the
value added to a product at each stage of the business process. Corporate tax rates vary from country to country country..
to Corporate Approaches to Corporate Taxation Taxation
In the separate entity approach, governments tax each taxable entity when it earns income.
An integrated system tries to avoid double taxation of corporate income through split tax rates or tax credits.
Taxing Branches And Subsidiaries Subsidiaries
Foreign branch income (or loss) is directly included in the parent’ parent’ss taxable income.
Tax deferral means that income from a subsidiary is not taxed until it is remitted to the parent company as a dividend.
In a CFC, U.S. shareholders hold more than 50 percent of the voting stock.
Active income is derived from the direct conduct of a trade or business. Passive income (also called Subpart F income) usually is derived from operations in a tax-haven country count ry..
Transfer Prices Prices
A transfer price is a price on goods g oods and services one member of a corporate family sells to another another..
The OECD has set transfer pricing guidelines to eliminate the manipulation of prices and, therefore, taxes for MNEs.
Double Taxation and Tax Credit
The IRS allows a tax credit for corporate income tax U.S. companies pay to another country. A tax credit is a dollar-fordollar reduction of tax liability and must coincide with the recognition of income.
The purpose of tax treaties is to prevent double taxation or to provide remedies when it occurs.