Issues in the Australian differential reporting debate

This article focuses on the differential reporting debate and the approach to differential reporting adopted by the Australian Accounting Research Foundation (AARF). The AARF's approach is outlined and it is argued that it has been developed as part of an overall conceptual framework for general purpose financial reporting. This is contrasted with the ad-hoc approaches to financial reporting requirements found in the United Kingdom, United States and the Australian Corporations Law, in which the application of certain accounting standards and regulations to certain entities is dependent upon some quantitative factor such as size. The article then discusses recent developments surrounding the Corporations Law approach to differential reporting. A number of practical issues on the application of the AARF's differential reporting policy are identified. The article discusses these issues and comments on the direction of research in this area.