does immateriality matter evidence from accountants concerning the acceptability of questionable accounting practices非物质重要证据从会计师关于可疑的会计实践的可接受性.pdfVIP

Modern Economy, 2012, 3, 223-228 /10.4236/me.2012.32031 Published Online March 2012 (http://www.SciRP.org/journal/me) Does Immateriality Matter? Evidence from Accountants Concerning the Acceptability of Questionable Accounting Practices 1 1* 1,2 Wen Chang , Mien-Ling Chen , Chi-Ying Chiao 1Department of Accounting Information, Hsing Wu Institute of Technology, New Taipei City, Chinese Taipei 2Department of Ph.D. Program in Graduate School of Management, Chung Yuan Christian University, Chung Li, Chinese Taipei * Email: {084012, 085006, 078004}@.tw Received January 16, 2012; revised February 18, 2012; accepted February 27, 2012 ABSTRACT Questionable accounting practices, sometimes, cause from misusing the concept of materiality to manage their reported earnings. The purpose of this study is to examine the attitudes of accountants concerning the acceptability of 14 ques- tionable accounting practices from the amount of material and immaterial perspectives. The results show that, for all 14 questionable accounting practices, the differences in acceptability between the amount of materiality and immateriality were all statistically significant. Regarding the amount of immateriality, especially for questionable, but still legal ac- counting practices, accountants appear to have the higher average level of acceptability under the extreme pressure from the top management. While questionable accounting practices are clearly illegal, no matter what the amount is material or immaterial, accountants appear to have the lowest average level of acceptability. This finding may be helpful for