News

Accounting paper awarded best article prize

Sat, 28 Apr 2012 11:33:00 BST

An accounting review paper by a Portsmouth Business School Professor has been awarded the best article prize for 2011 by the British Accounting and Finance Association (BAFA).

Professor of Accounting, Lisa Jack, co-authored the paper which reviews the history of fair value accounting - a financial reporting approach.

The paper ‘In pursuit of legitimacy: A history behind fair value accounting’ was written by Professor Jack from Portsmouth Business School and Omiros Georgiou from the Norwich Business School.

It examines the history of attempts by regulators, practitioners and scholars from the mid nineteenth century to 2005 to establish an appropriate accounting measurement basis for financial reporting.

Professor Jack said: “It’s very pleasing to gain recognition for a piece of work so I’m delighted that the paper has been awarded best article prize. The study began from a question in class around five years ago concerning where fair value accounting had come from – and it’s become a topical issue since the financial crisis.

“Fair value is used in the valuation of assets and liabilities on the balance sheet, particularly financial instruments and some have alleged that the financial results of some companies linked to the crisis were misleading as a result.”

BAFA aims to advance knowledge and understanding of education and research in all areas of accounting and finance, and to promote closer relations among teachers and accounting practitioners.