Accounting standards and financial reporting of small and medium scale enterprises in Nakawa division Kampala district.

Abstract

This research report sought to establish if the adoption of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) for SMEs and UKGAAP by Nakawa division SMEs has been associated with high quality of accounting financial reports. The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) in its objectives assumes that the beneficial effects from IFRS for SMEs and UKGAAP adoption include honesty, timeliness, and comparability and reduced cost of capital. Based on the above assumptions, this research report applied accounting reports quality measures to find out whether the adoption of IFRS and UKGAAP has led to improvements in accounting reports of Small and Medium Enterprises in Nakawa division in Kampala, Uganda. The research applied both descriptive and analytical research designs to explain in detail the findings. The methodology was also based on prior literature definition of metrics of accounting quality testing the relevance, honesty, timeliness and comparability that IFRS for SMEs and UKGAAP Accountng Standards have on the financial reports of the Nakawa division SMEs. The study measured the reactions of the respondents through the use of both closed ended and open ended questionnaires together with oral interviews. The total findings showed that the majority of the respondents were impresed with the financial reports their enterprises produce while following International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) for SMEs and UKGAAP. The results of the correlation analysis showed a postive significant relatioship between the relevance and quality of accounting reports of SMEs with the application of IFRS and UKGAAP (r = 0.550, p 0.01). In conclusion therefore, adopting IFRS for SMEs and UKGAAP is a big move for the SMEs in Nakawa division, accounting regulatory body and the Government of Uganda because the benefits are more than the disadvantages. This research report recommends that the Government should introduce some incentives to motivate the owners of the SMEs across the country to adopt IFRS for SMEs and UKGAAP for making accounting finanancial reports and the carriculum of academic institutions should also be restructured in order to be IFRS and UKGAAP compliant. The cost of acquiring IFRS and UKGAAP training should also be subsidised especially for SMEs by accounting regulatory body.