Date of Award

2-2020

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Business Administration (DBA)

Department

School of Business

First Advisor

Justine Haigh, Ph.D.

Second Advisor

Debra Espinor, Ph.D.

Third Advisor

David Tucker, Ph.D.

Abstract

This research empirically assesses the impact on the financial statements for businesses listed on the Russell 3000 Index after the transition to FASB ASC Topic 606: Revenue from Contract with Customers. The study was focused on the 272 companies that elected the Full Retrospective Method of accounting after transition from rules-based accounting to principles-based accounting. The research applied Gray Comparability Index and Student t-Test to determine the significance of the difference between the ex ante and ex post revenues reported in the Form 10K filed with the Securities Exchange Commission. The companies were divided into all adopters, early-adopters, and non-early adopters to assess their impact on the financial statements. The results indicated that there was no statistical or material difference for all the participants (all adopters) investigated. The results also indicated that there was no statistical or material difference for early-adopters and non-early adopters. Additional results by industry segments indicated that the difference in revenues for health care was statistically significant and material. The impact on the financial statements for the rest of the industries were not material or statistically significant. The results provided answer to the research question that there is no difference between the before and after revenues in the financial statements after the transition to principles-based accounting in the United States for companies tracked by the Russell 3000 Index. This research brings to the awareness of stakeholders the impact on the financial statement after the transition from rules-based to principles-based accounting in the implementation of the new revenue recognition standard in the United States. The findings in this study have implications to the FASB, IASB, professional accounting firms, management, and investors as they look forward towards the ongoing convergence between US GAAP and IFRS on other accounting standards not related to revenue.

Included in

Accounting Commons

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