A Comparative Study On Chinese And South Korean Accounting Principles And Financial Statements

From the prospect of trade and investment, the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and South Korea (Korea) in August1992, needs to be converted into providing a broader prospect to not only China and Korea, but also to the global platform, which also calls for a broader understanding of the accounting aspects. The purpose of this study is to compare and analyze modern Chinese and Korean corporate accounting standards, financial statements, and shapes to the International Accounting Standards (IAS) in accordance to the above mentioned needs.Below is a brief description of the research conclusion:Financial statement on the International Accounting Standards targets all aspects of general-purpose financial statement of the stakeholder’s report. The financial statements on International accounting standards target basic premises of what makes up financial statements, that is, the quality characteristics and uniform structural factors, thus, comparing IAS with both Chinese and Korean corporate accounting standards provides a more improved possibility for financial statements comparison.In order to achieve globalization, regarding formation and reporting of accounting reports, China needs to transform internal standards into accounting standards. Thus, it was announced that from2007’s annual financial statements accounting standards that applicable to the international accounting standards will be applied to the listed companies. Financial standards that comply with these standards improve the comparison possibility, as well as improve communication with overseas investors.In response to the need for globalization of accounting standards and improvement of the possibility for comparison of its corporate accounting information and the IAS, in2007, Korean Accounting Institute announced plans to introduce international accounting standards. By2009enterprises wishing to apply international accounting standards applied international accounting standards, and by2011all listed companies must apply international standards.Balance sheets for both China and Korea reflect a certain accounting period of assets, liabilities and capital but the biggest difference is that Korea’s balance sheet equity is divided into capital, capital surplus and capital adjustments; others include the amount of profit or loss accumulated and benefit surplus. On the other hand, China’s balance sheet equity is divided into paid-in capital, capital reserves, profit reserves, retained earnings, rather than distinguishing capital adjustments and other income (loss) accumulated amounts.China’s income statement is:the main business income minus the cost of principal operationsand the main business tax and surcharges occurred in the normal course of business activities which draw profit from principal operations, minus operating expenses, management fees, and operating profit drawn after finance costs. On the other hand, for Korea, income statement is:sales minus sales cost giving total sales profit, then, minus sales cost, operating profit after administrative expenses. Since financial cost is a non-operating cost, thus it is not calculated when calculating operating profit. Due to the high tax rate on principal operations profit in China, thus profit from principal operations is relatively small.The relevancy of statement of cash flow and financial statements:When making statement of cash flow, China puts an emphasis on accounting adjustments, while Korea takes interest surplus calculation books as one of the important financial statements when making statement of cash flow.