Home  Journals  International Accounting  38(380) - 2015 October

The public disclosure principle of financial statements in XIX-century statutory regulations of Russia

Received: 28 December 2015

Accepted: 20 January 2016

Available online: 10 February 2016

Subject Heading: REGULATION AND STANDARDIZATION OF REPORTING

JEL Classification: 

Pages: 48-68

Subject The article addresses the genesis and development of the public disclosure principle of financial statements in laws and regulations of the second half of the 19^th century in Russia.
     Objectives The research aims to consider historical aspects of the statutory regulation of financial statements, examine the reasons that influenced the content of the laws and regulations, identify trends in forming the procedure for financial statement presentation, and provide the background of the public disclosure principle of financial statements.
     Methods The study rests on scientific methods of research, i.e. analysis, synthesis, generalization, abstraction, historical and logical methods, and the systems and chronological analyses.
     Results The paper reveals and systematizes conditions for public reporting development, points out the milestones in the development of statutory regulation of public reporting, and formulates basic stages of the evolution of the public disclosure principle in Russia.
     Conclusions In the middle of the 19^th century, the need for public financial statements was enshrined in bylaws of joint stock companies. This anticipated the practice of statutory regulation at the national level. The Regulation on State Tax on Trade, which was enacted in 1898, gave effect to the public disclosure principle of financial statements at the legislative level.

Keywords: financial reporting, regulation, publicity, joint stock company, foundation

References:

1. Chuprov A.I. Ob ekonomicheskom znachenii obrazovatel'nykh i vospitatel'nykh uchrezhdenii dlya rabochego klassa. V kn.: Obrazovatel'no-vospitatel'nye uchrezhdeniya dlya rabochikh i organizatsiya obshchedostupnykh razvlechenii v Moskve [The economic importance of educational and fostering institutions for the working class. In: Educational and fostering institutions for workers and organization of accessible-to-public entertainment in Moscow]. Moscow, 1898, 71 p.
2. Timoshina T.M. Ekonomicheskaya istoriya Rossii [The economic history of Russia]. Moscow, Yustitsinform Publ., 2009, 218 p.
3. Sokolov Ya.V. Osnovy teorii bukhgalterskogo ucheta: monografiya [Fundamentals of the accounting theory: a monograph]. Moscow, Finansy i statistika Publ., 2003, 496 p.
4. L'vova D.A. Statistika i uchet aktivov v epokhu merkantilizma [Statistics and asset accounting under the mercantilism]. Finansy i biznes = Finance and Business, 2012, no. 2, pp. 144–158.
5. Medvedev M.Yu., Nazarov D.V. Istoriya russkoi bukhgalterii [The history of Russian accounting]. Moscow, Bukhgalterskii uchet Publ., 2007, 436 p.
6. L'vova D.A. Istoriya Admiralteiskogo reglamenta. V kn.: Bukhgalterskii uchet v Sankt-Peterburge. 1703–2003 [The history of Admiralty regulations. In: Accounting in St. Petersburg. 1703–2003]. Moscow, Yuridicheskii tsentr press Publ., 2003, 402 p.
7. Kaverina O.D. Sankt-Peterburg – kolybel' normativnogo regulirovaniya bukhgalterskogo ucheta. V kn.: Bukhgalterskii uchet v Sankt-Peterburge. 1703–2003 [St. Petersburg as a birthplace of statutory regulation of accounting. In: Accounting in St. Petersburg. 1703–2003]. Moscow, Yuridicheskii tsentr press Publ., 2003, 402 p.
8. Karel'skaya S.N. Stanovlenie normativnogo regulirovaniya bukhgalterskogo ucheta i otchetnosti v Rossii [The development of statutory regulation of accounting and reporting in Russia]. Finansy i biznes = Finance and Business, 2011, no. 1, pp. 169–177.
9. Sokolov Ya.V. Bukhgalterskii uchet – veselaya nauka [Accounting is a cheerful science]. Moscow, 1S-Pablishing Publ., 2011, 637 p.
10. L'vova D.A. Reformirovanie zakonodatel'stva o bukhgalterskom uchete v Rossii na rubezhe XIX–XX vv [The reform of the accounting legislation in Russia at the turn of the 20th century]. Bukhgalterskii uchet = Accounting, 2006, no. 21, pp. 56–61.
11. Mogilevskii S.D. Pravovye osnovy deyatel'nosti aktsionernykh obshchestv [Legal framework for joint stock companies' activities]. Moscow, Delo Publ., 2004, 206 p.
12. Shepelev L.E. Aktsionernye kompanii v Rossii: XIX – nachalo XX veka [Joint stock companies in Russia: the 19th – beginning of the 20th century]. St. Petersburg, SPbSU Publ., 2006, 604 p.
13. Belinskii V.E. Sostavlenie ustavov aktsionernykh kompanii u nas i za granitsei [Articles of association in Russia and abroad]. Zhurnal Sankt-Peterburgskogo yuridicheskogo obshchestva = Journal of Saint Petersburg Law Society, 1898, no. 10, pp. 61–87.
14. Gorbachev I.A. Otchetnost' predpriyatii i kazennye palaty [Reporting of enterprises and the treasury chamber]. Moscow, Tovarishchestvo tipografii A.I. Mamontova Publ., 1908, 209 p.
15. Evzlin Z.P. Obshcheponyatnyi otchet aktsionernykh predpriyatii i ego znachenie v torgovo-promyshlennoi zhizni [A generally comprehensible report of joint stock companies and its importance for industrial and commercial sphere]. St. Petersburg, Tipografiya A.G. Farbera Publ., 1901, 112 p.
16. Shepelev L.E. Aktsionernaya statistika v dorevolyutsionnoi Rossii [Shareholder statistics in the pre-revolutionary Russia]. Trudy Leningradskogo otdeleniya Instituta istorii AN SSSR = Proceedings of Leningrad Branch of Institute of History of AS USSR, 1962.
17. Sokolov Ya.V. Bukhgalterskii uchet: ot istokov do nashikh dnei [Accounting: from the outset to our times]. Moscow, Audit Publ., 1996, 638 p.

View all articles of issue

ISSN 2311-9381 (Online)
ISSN 2073-5081 (Print)

Journal current issue

Vol. 27, Iss. 4 April 2024

Archive