A Study On The Government Subsidy Accounting Problems Of China's Listed Companies

As a way of government's direct participation and intervention in the enterprise's economy,the government subsidy reflects the close relationship between the government and enterprises,which has a positive impact on improving our economic operation efficiency and optimizing the allocation of market resources.At present,most listed companies in China mainly rely on Accounting Standards for Business Enterprises No.16-Government Grants(hereinafter referred to as CAS16)for accounting treatment of government grants.However,there are specific practical issues involved in the definition,initial confirmation and subsequent measurement of government subsidies.How to solve it is not specified in CAS16,resulting in inconsistent accounting treatment in the same practical issues.In addition,the accounting standards for government subsidy information disclosure regulations are not detailed,and the definitions of concepts such as “important” and “substantial government subsidies” are ambiguous in related systems.This makes enterprises have greater selectivity in information disclosure and increases the Information asymmetry between information users.Therefore,it is necessary to conduct in-depth research on the related accounting treatment and information disclosure issues of listed companies receiving government grants.This article takes the listed steel industry as an example.First of all,through the statistical description of 15 listed steel companies,the state of the government subsidy of listed companies in China is shown.Then,this paper takes “International Accounting Standard No.20-Disclosure of Government Subsidy Accounting and Government Assistance”(hereinafter referred to as IAS20)and CAS16 as Based on the main theoretical basis and research basis,through a number of case studies of iron and steel companies,we found that the government subsidy in China has the following accounting problems.First,when the government subsidy is recognized and measured,it is impossible to accurately classify the government subsidy,as well asthe issue of the government subsidy with conditions and the timing of confirmation of the government subsidy that is acquired later than the asset purchase time,and compensation for relocation,etc.The measurement of special categories of subsidies;secondly,in the presentation and disclosure,the presentation of government subsidies in the cash flow statement,as well as the insufficient,untimely,and incomparable disclosure of government subsidies.Finally,the paper proposes corresponding suggestions for improvement on the above issues,such as the correct definition and classification of subsidies with the intention and substance of funds as the criteria,and the basic starting point for the accounting theory and accounting information quality requirements to address the initial accounting and Subsequent measurement problems and the use of the audit to determine the overall "importance" of financial statements to clarify the scope of information disclosure.These improvements aim to make up for the inadequacies and vacancies of the existing regulations,further improve China's financial accounting theory system,and provide guidance and reference for the practical treatment of listed companies.