Online Appendix for "Moving towards principles-based accounting standards: The impact of the new revenue standard on the quality of accrual accounting"

This is the online appendix of my dissertation titled "Moving towards Principles-Based Accounting Standards: The Impact of the New Revenue Standard on the Quality of Accrual Accounting". It explains how I collected the data used in my disseration through the XBRL US API.My dissertation is open access via SMU InK at https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/etd_coll/462/. The new revenue standard (ASU 2014-09, codified in ASC 606 and ASC 340-40) establishes a comprehensive framework on accounting for contracts with customers and replaces most existing revenue recognition rules. The new guidance removes the inconsistencies and weaknesses of legacy guidance, while is more principles-based and requires more managerial judgements. Using as-reported data from structured filings to construct aggregate accruals that are potentially affected by the new revenue standard (i.e., sales-related accruals), I find that the new revenue standard increases the quality of sales-related accruals, as measured by future cash flow predictability. The increased cash flow predictability comes not only from the guidance on contract revenue (ASC 606) but also from the guidance on contract costs (ASC 340-40). The effects concentrate among firms conducting long-term sales contracts, especially over longer forecast horizons. Further analysis shows that the new revenue standard also increases the combined information content of financial statements and the capital market efficiency. However, the discretion under the new standard opens avenue for earnings management when firms face strong manipulation incentives.

本内容为学位论文《迈向基于原则的会计准则：新收入准则对权责发生制会计质量的影响》的在线附录，详述了笔者通过可扩展商业报告语言美国应用程序接口（XBRL US API）收集论文所用数据的具体流程。本学位论文可通过SMU InK开放获取，访问链接为https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/etd_coll/462/。新收入准则（ASU 2014-09，编纂入ASC 606与ASC 340-40）构建了客户合同会计的综合框架，取代了绝大多数现行收入确认规则。该准则消除了旧有准则体系的不一致性与缺陷，更具原则导向性，同时要求更多管理层职业判断。笔者采用结构化申报文件中的报出数据，构建受新收入准则影响的总应计项目（即销售相关应计项目），研究发现，以未来现金流可预测性作为衡量指标，新收入准则提升了销售相关应计项目的会计质量。现金流可预测性的提升，既来自合同收入相关准则（ASC 606）的规范，也源于合同成本相关准则（ASC 340-40）的指引。该效应主要集中于签订长期销售合同的企业，且在更长的预测期内更为显著。进一步分析显示，新收入准则同时提升了财务报表的整体信息含量与资本市场效率。不过，当企业存在较强的盈余操纵动机时，新准则赋予的自由裁量空间也为盈余管理提供了操作渠道。