Fair value accounting

Abstract

The thesis is devoted to fair value accounting. Fair value accounting implies that assets and liabilities get measured and reported in firm´s financial statements at their market value. The purpose of the thesis is to analyze the conceptual foundations of fair value accounting. The thesis is organized in the following way. First, origins and development offair value accounting are discussed. Second, overview of fair value accounting is presented. The overview includes definition of fair value, measurement and disclosure of fair value and its impact on financial statements. Thirdly, opposite viewpoints onfair value accounting are presented, including comparison of fair value accounting andhistorical cost accounting and brief overview of other measurement bases. Finally, the last part deals with the current financial crisis and role of fair value accounting in it. Recent developments under US GAAP and IFRS are presented. The thesis is based on various textbooks and articles in periodicals. Someinformation was found on the internet, on the official website of IFRS, US GAAP, and on other websites.