Areas for further reforming the regulatory controls over accounting policies
Importance The article overviews the issues relating to reforms of regulatory controls over the process of making accounting policies. Objectives The research outlines recommendations for developing such regulation. Methods The research includes a critical analysis of the current regulatory controls over the formation of accounting policies, compares various scientific stances on issues of formulating corporate accounting policies. Results We identified unregulated aspects in the regulation of the accounting policy making process within the framework of the Russian Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (Russian GAAP). We also substantiate approaches to further developing theoretical frameworks of the accounting policy making process, and the need to introduce a clause on the accountant's professional judgment into the Russian GAAP as the basis of accounting policies. The article provides for the structure and content of the proposed standard and outlines areas for improving the regulatory framework for accounting policy making as part of further reforms of accountancy in Russia. Conclusions and Relevance Further reforms of the Russian accountancy and accounting policies should entail the development of theoretical grounds for accounting policies and improve regulatory controls over addressing specific tasks. The national framework for regulatory controls over accounting practices should be supplemented with a separate standard that would govern professional judgment of the accountant and its application as the basis for corporate accounting policy making. In certain circumstances, it would be reasonable to adopt regulations that would specify how accounting types should be chosen for accounting policies in the process of their formation. The findings are of applied and theoretical use in financial accounting.