In recent decades, accounting standards making agencies in various countries have made great efforts in establishing the disclosure system of interim financial reports, and have achieved certain results.

Due to the different social, political, economic and cultural backgrounds of different countries, they may face different specific circumstances in the formulation of interim report guidelines. Therefore, there are certain differences in the interim reporting system in various countries.

This article makes the following comparative analysis for this purpose.

A comparison of theoretical basis and purpose is made in the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, Mexico, Australia, Hongkong and other countries and regions.

The theory regards the interim period as an independent and basic accounting period. The accounting principles or policies applicable to the preparation of annual financial reports are also applicable to the preparation of interim financial reports.

The interim financial report no. thirty-fourth of the international accounting standards (IAS) requires enterprises to adopt the same accounting policies in their interim financial reports and annual financial reports, and in fact tend to be independent.

The United States financial accounting standards committee and China's Taiwan are based on one theory.

The theory regards the interim period as part of the annual period. The interim financial report is compiled to provide information that helps to predict the annual financial results. The fluctuation of interim income is temporary and can be offset within the subsequent period of the year. Therefore, the accounting estimate and deferred apportionment of the medium term establishment should take into account the operation of the remaining period of the year, and the costs and expenses in the accounting year should also be apportioned according to their beneficial period, corresponding sales volume, production volume or other basis in the middle period of the fiscal year.

The medium-term profits made by the above are relatively stable, giving business managers more space to manage profits.

The accounting standards making agencies in different countries are based on different theories, mainly based on their different understanding of the objectives of the interim report: independence theory holds that the users of interim financial reports focus on the actual performance of the medium term and the behavior of managers, because the annual distribution based on the cost of the camp will yield a smooth income. Therefore, more accrual and deferred allocation methods should not be adopted, so as to prevent the management of the company from manipulating profits through the choice of accounting policies.

According to the theory of integration, the purpose of the interim report is to help users predict the future, determine the trend of development, estimate the financial and operating performance of the whole year, and adopt the theory of independence, which may lead to sharp fluctuations in operating performance and damage the image of the company in different periods.

Although the two theories are quite different, the boundaries between them are increasingly blurred from the formulation of accounting standards for interim financial reporting.

For example, the United States adopted the theory of unity in its name, but its seasonal and cyclical income and income tax recognition standards are consistent with the standpoint of independence.

Two, the contents of the interim report are compared with the 1. interim report.

The interim reports of the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and other countries are very similar. They generally include three basic statements and relevant supporting information, such as balance sheet, profit statement and cash flow statement, such as notes or other explanatory notes.

IAS34 stipulates that the interim report should include at least: simplifying the balance sheet, simplifying the profit statement, reflecting the changes in equity or capital pactions of owners, and giving concise statements of changes in equity beyond the rights and interests arising from the distribution of owners, streamlining the cash flow statement and explanatory notes selected.

The simplification and completeness of the 2. report.

The interim financial report is simplified or the same as the annual report.

Because of the long and perfect development of the US securities capital market, the United States adopted simplified statements. The United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Brazil and other countries also adopted simplified statements. The International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC) defined the most basic content of the interim report as simplified financial statements and explanatory notes, mainly considering the timeliness and cost-effectiveness principle, but the guidelines also indicated that enterprises should not obstruct enterprises from providing complete reports.

The frequency and duration of the 3. compilation.

The United States, Canada, Brazil, France and other countries chose to make quarterly reports. In the United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, China and Hongkong, the mainland and mainland chose to make a semi annual report: IAS34 did not make any mandatory provisions on the frequency of the interim report.

However, the guidelines put forward to encourage the public offering enterprises to provide at least the interim financial report at the end of the first half of the financial year.

The period required by IAS34 is: (1) balance sheet: the end of this year and the end of last year; second, the profit table: the middle term, the beginning of this year and the comparable period of the previous year; 3. The statement of cash flow and the statement of changes in equity: the period from the beginning of this year to the comparable period of the previous year.

Some countries require less than that. Some countries demand more than this, but they are generally the same.

Three comparison of special problems, the cost of uneven or non recurring in 1..

On the basis of independence, if such costs cannot be predicted or deferred in the preparation of annual reports, it should not be expected or deferred in the compilation of the annual reports, and should be recognized as expenses at the time of occurrence. If the term of such costs exceeds one medium-term adjustment, the distribution should be allocated between the various benefits.

The United States and China Taiwan adopt the theory of integration, and IASC, the United Kingdom and Canada adhere to the theory of independence.

2. loss of assets.

This refers mainly to the loss of inventory and short-term investment, and the impairment loss of fixed assets and long-term investments.

Accounting standards in various countries generally stipulate that the estimated loss of such assets impairment is carried out at the end of the year.

According to the theory of independence, the medium term is an independent accounting period.

Since the compilation of annual reports requires re examination of the value of these assets and the confirmation of possible impairment losses, the same principle should be applied in the preparation of interim financial reports.

According to the theory of integration, in order to improve the predictive value of the intermediate newspapers, the impairment loss should be recognised in the medium term.

However, when the market price of an asset falls during the interim reporting period, it can reasonably predict that its value will rise before the annual report and whether the loss of the mid term reporting date should be confirmed.

IASC insisted on the independence theory and called for a consistent standard in the interim financial report and annual report on the issue of asset impairment loss confirmation. It is not considered that the asset value may recover after the mid term and end of the year.

The practice of Britain, Canada and Australia is roughly the same as that of IASC.

The guidelines of the United States and Taiwan of China reflect the view of holism on this issue, which stipulates that the loss of stock market price will be recognized in the medium term. However, if the market price of stock falls temporarily, and the company can reasonably predict that the fall will rise before the annual report, it should not confirm the loss in the medium term.

3., seasonal and cyclical income and expenses.

One of the main purposes of compiling an interim report is to facilitate investors to use annual information to predict annual performance.

However, for enterprises with strong seasonal agriculture, tourism, heating, and certain retail enterprises or enterprises with larger proportion of cyclical dividend income and royalties, it is possible to mislead if they use annual information to predict annual performance according to the principle of income recognition. However, if they do not follow the principle of income recognition, how can they be allocated? IAS34 believes that if the enterprises do not anticipate or detract from seasonal earnings in the end of the year, they should not predict or detract from such revenue in the interim reporting period.

Judging from national standards, the recognition of seasonal income is basically the same.

Even in countries such as the United States, the idea of income inequality is not appropriate, and the revenue recognition should be consistent with the annual report.

As for the seasonal cost allocation, some claims should be based on the volume of business, rather than on the basis of time, so as to solve the problem of unreasonable distribution of seasonal income fluctuations and enhance the predictability.

But considering that the uncertainty of this method is too strong, countries seldom adopt it, and basically solve it by off balance sheet disclosure. IASC is no exception.

According to the above comparative analysis, it is easy to see that due to the political, economic and cultural differences, as well as the development of world economic integration, the information disclosure system of the newspaper has its own characteristics and common characteristics.

The provisions of IASC can be said to be the result of compromise among nations.

It is of positive significance to understand the differences of the information disclosure system in various countries' interim reports, so as to improve China's current disclosure system and formulate relevant guidelines.