Intermediate Accounting: IFRS Edition, 2nd Edition

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After studying this chapter, you should be able to:

1. 1 Describe the usefulness of a conceptual framework.
2. 2 Describe efforts to construct a conceptual framework.
3. 3 Understand the objective of financial reporting.
4. 4 Identify the qualitative characteristics of accounting information.
5. 5 Define the basic elements of financial statements.
6. 6 Describe the basic assumptions of accounting.
7. 7 Explain the application of the basic principles of accounting.
8. 8 Describe the impact that the cost constraint has on reporting accounting information.

What Is It?

Everyone agrees that accounting needs a framework—a conceptual framework, so to speak—that will help guide the development of standards. To understand the importance of developing this framework, let's see how you would respond in the following two situations.

Situation 1: “Taking a Long Shot ...”

To supplement donations collected from its general community solicitation, Tri-Cities United Charities holds an Annual Lottery Sweepstakes. In this year's sweepstakes, United Charities is offering a grand prize of $1,000,000 to a single winning ticket holder. A total of 10,000 tickets have been printed, and United Charities plans to sell all the tickets at a price of $150 each.

Since its inception, the Sweepstakes has attracted area-wide interest, and United Charities has always been able to meet its sales target. However, ...