Redovisning utav kreditförluster

: subjektiva bedömningar för en rättvisande bild?

Abstract

To protect the financial stability, assessments of the risk and threats to the financial system are carried out continuously. Also, the financial system’s resilience against these risks and threats is reviewed. To prevent creation of new bank crisis new regulation are implemented continuously. Among these, a new accounting model is implemented for the accounting of credit losses - Expected loss model. This accounting model gives rise to an increase in the use of assessments in the accounting of credit losses. This makes it interesting to try explaining bank office workers and auditors’ perceptions regarding subjective judgments and their impact on a true and fair view in accounting of credit losses.

The application of an abductive view in the study made it possible to switch between empirical and theoretical reflections to be used in the creation of the hypothesis. An investigation of bank office workers and auditors’ perceptions regarding the extent to which subjective judgments impacts a true and fair view in accounting of credit losses was carried out through a questionnaire. The questionnaire was handed to bankers who in their daily work are in contact with loss provision and to all certified public accountants that are members of FAR. The result was then statistically processed in order to test the hypotheses which have been created from the study’s theoretical framework.

This study has statistically made it possible to show that there is a difference in perceptions between bank office workers and auditors’ regarding how subjective judgments reflect a true and fair value of the bank’s credit quality. Therefore it is possible in accordance with the study’s hypothesis to prove that bank office workers to a greater extent believe that subjective judgments lead to a more true and fair value in accounting for credit losses. Since assessments with high probability change in consistence with current market conditions and accounting standards, it is believed that the study fills a knowledge gap in the field.