外币折算会计简史[文献翻译].doc

本科毕业论文（设计）外 文 翻 译题 目 外币报表折算方法分析及中国的选择初探 专 业 会 计 学 外文题目 a brief history of accounting for the translation of foreign currencies 外文出处 journal of management history 外文作者 todd jackson, doris m. cook 原文：a brief history of accounting for the translation of foreign currenciesaccounting for the translation of foreign currency is a topic that has received a great deal of attention from the various accounting standard-setting bodies this century. the attention given to this topic is a natural result of the phenomenal increase in international trade that has taken place.trade among enterprises domiciled in different countries can be traced back to ancient times. the phoenicians are remembered as the great barterers of the ancient world. during the latter part of the middle ages, enterprising individuals saw that the establishment of foreign branches could facilitate international trade. the importance of international commerce to the economic well-being of nations has increased ever since.accounting for foreign operations and transactions has taken many forms throughout history. this paper primarily discusses the evolution of accounting for foreign currency translation in the usa in the twentieth century. however, some of the evidence of foreign currency accounting practices from the ancient greeks to the colonial americans are discussed first.some early foreign currency accounting practicesthe existence of foreign currency transactions can be traced back to the earliest civilization known to have used coined money, the ancient greeks. the invention of coined money is believed to have taken place in this civilization about bc 630 (chatfield, 1977, p. 21). although the use of coinage spread rather slowly, in time a number of the greek city-states issued their own coins. these greek city-states engaged in trade with each other, thus resulting in essentially foreign currency transactions. the ancient greeks often translated to the local coinage transactions denominated in a foreign coinage, but this treatment was not consistent (littleton and yamey, 1956, p. 21). they also were inclined to record quantities of commodities and units of a foreign currency in the accounts.during the middle ages (400 to 1400 ad), international trade expanded significantly as a result of the crusades which stimulated european demand for foreign goods. toward the end of this period foreign trade had become quite prevalent and the establishment of foreign business branches was a natural result. in the datini archives is a balance sheet for the barcelona branch dated january 31, 1399, and an income statement covering the period from 11 july 1397 to 31 january 1399. the income statement is interesting because it contains an account entitled pro di cambio (profits on foreign exchange (littleton and yamey, 1956, p. 145). the barcelona branch kept the accounts with the foreign correspondents, the nostro accounts, in terms of both the foreign currencies and the local currency. at a point in time, the exchange profit or loss was calculated by taking the difference between the balances stated in the foreign currencies and the balances stated in the local currency (littleton and yamey, 1956, p. 145).a similar accounting technique was used by colonial american merchants during the 15 years between 1795 and 1810 when businesses were making the transition from english pounds to us dollars. the accounts of these merchants were often kept in terms of both currencies (littleton and yamey, 1956, p. 287).early twentieth century foreign currency accountinga 1900 textbook by george lisle, an english chartered accountant, describes accounting for foreign currencies at that time in england (lisle, 1900). lisle wrote that domestic companies that have branches in foreign countries “should convert the transactions which take place in the various local currencies into pounds sterling on a correct basis, with the view of these transactions being recorded in the home book and being submitted in the annual abstract of accounts to the proprietors of the business” (lisle, 1900, p . 285). he noted that a number of erroneous principles were being used by companies at that time for converting their foreign transactions.according to lisle, when the trial balance of a foreign branch is sent home, the first thing to be done is to convert each item to pounds sterling (lisle, 1900, p. 288). he stated that various exchange rates should be used to translate the items in the trial balance. he essentially advocated what later came to be known as the monetary-nonmonetary method.the impact of the first world war on foreign currency accountingbefore the first world war, exchange rates were fairly stable and the volume of trade between usa and european nations was not so great as to make the topic of foreign currency translation a major issue in the usa. a number of accounting texts were written after lisles which contain no discussion on the topic. the stability of exchange rates prior to the first world war can be attributed largely to the fact that most nations had established a fixed relationship between their currencies and the gold standard (roberts, 1920, p. 321).one of the effects of the first world war was to make the shipping of gold practically impossible. as a result, when the usa entered the war in 1917, it chose to go off the gold standard (gray, 1983, p. 261). by the end of the war, most other nations had also gone off the gold standard (finney, 1923, p. 451).however, the stability of exchange rates is also dependent on a stable set of trade relations. the first world war upset that stability. the european industries became disorganized and were desperately in need of raw materials that could only be obtained from the usa. roberts described the situation by stating that “we have seen the european exchange sinking lower and lower from month to month” (roberts, 1920, p. 325).the exchange rate instability prompted renewed interest in accounting for foreign currency translation in the usa. in 1921, h.a. finney wrote that accountants would now “have to understand the principles involved in the accounting for foreign commerce and the conversion of foreign balances” (finney, 1923, p. 451).in his discussion of the appropriate methodology for translating the accounts of a foreign branch, finney advocated the monetary-nonmonetary method that was prescribed by lisle in 1900 for balance sheet items. however, for nominal accounts, he felt that end of the period exchange rates were preferable to average exchange rates (finney, 1923, p. 458).the impact of the great depressionby 1925, most nations had gone back to the gold standard and the foreign exchange stabilized (gray, 1983, p. 261). the worldwide great depression of the 1930s, however, proved to be too much for the gold standard. according to mcconnell, each nation became afraid that “its economic recovery would be aborted by a balance of payments deficit which would lead to an outflow of gold and consequent contractionary effects” (mcconnell, 1981, p. 855). in an attempt to bolster exports and reduce imports, several nations began to devalue their currencies in terms of gold (mcconnell, 1981, p. 855). the result of these devaluations was a breakdown of the gold standard system.during this time, the number of writings on foreign currency accounting increased. an early article by cecil s. ashdown described the current-noncurrent method (ashdown, 1922, p. 262). the most notable publication was a recommendation made in 1931 by a special committee on accounting procedure of the american institute of accountants (now aicpa) that the current-noncurrent method be used (aia, 1931). this was the first official pronouncement on the subject in the usa. this method essentially involves: the translation of current assets and current liabilities at end of year exchange rates; and noncurrent assets and noncurrent liabilities at historical exchange rates. the nominal accounts were to be translated at average exchange rates (the same as monetary-nonmonetary method). the committee reiterated their position in another bulletin in 1934 (aia, 1934).foreign currency provisions of arb 4the special committee was disbanded in 1938 and the new committee on accounting procedures (cap) took over. in december 1939, the cap issued accounting research bulletin no. 4 (arb 4) entitled “foreign operations and foreign exchange”. in 1953, arb 4 was incorporated into arb 43 as chapter 12 (aicpa, 1953). this bulletin essentially repeated the special committees endorsement of the current-noncurrent method but also stressed the desirability of conservatism when reporting foreign earnings and consolidating foreign subsidiaries. arb 4 also required that both realized and unrealized losses in foreign exchange be charged against operations and that realized gains be credited to operations (aicpa, 1953). the bulletin stated that unrealized gains should only be recognized to the extent of unrealized losses charged to income in prior periods (aicpa, 1953).impact of the second world warwith the stimulus of additional economic turmoil created by the second world war, leaders of the major industrial nations set out to create an economic system that would not be susceptible to the risk of another depression. one significant result of their efforts was a fixed exchange rate system established in a conference at bretton woods, new hampshire, in 1944 (gordon, 1987, p. 544).for some years, the bretton woods system worked well. but, economic pressures soon came to bear again and nations began to depart from the agreement by devaluing their currencies in relation to the us dollar. the resulting instability created new interest in foreign currency accounting. in 1948, a.b. hecker, an english chartered accountant, described the reporting situation of the time as follows: “increasing chaos in foreign currency rates makes impossible general rules for handling statements of foreign subsidiaries” (hecker, 1948).the economic situation raised many questions about the appropriateness of the current-noncurrent method. one of the critics was samuel r. hepworth who is usually given primary credit for developing the monetary-nonmonetary method of translation (hepworth, 1956, p. 8). monetary assets and liabilities are those which are fixed in terms of a number of units of a foreign currency. nonmonetary assets and liabilities are not so fixed.the current-noncurrent method, however, prevailed as the only acceptable method until october 1965 when the accounting principles board (apb) opinion no. 6, in substance, permitted the use of the monetary-nonmonetary method. the opinion stated that it might often be appropriate to translate long-term receivables and long-term payables, which are essentially monetary assets and liabilities, at current exchange rates (apb, 1965). at this time, both methods were used in practice and accepted by the authoritative bodies.the exchange rate effects of the vietnam warthe problems with the bretton woods system became more acute in the 1960s owing to an acceleration of inflation in the usa, relative to the inflation rates of other countries because of the heavy spending by the us government on the vietnam war and an easy monetary policy. this change in relative inflation rates caused a decline in us exports and an increase in us imports (gordon, 1987, p. 545). this change in trade structure made it impossible to maintain a system of fixed exchange rates between the usa and other countries. by 1971, it was clear that a more equitable system had to be devised. that year, the smithsonian agreement was made which essentially put the world in a flexible exchange rate system by 1973 (gordon, 1987, p. 546).accounting research study no. 12in june 1972, the accounting research division issued accounting research study no. 12, “reporting foreign operations of us companies in us dollars”, by leonard lorensen. this ars reviewed the current-noncurrent and monetary-nonmonetary methods then in practice in the usa, as well as the current rate method which had been recommended by standard setting bodies in england and scotland (lorensen, 1972, p. 8). this latter method translates all assets and liabilities at the exchange rate effective on the balance sheet date.the fasbs efforts to standardize accounting for foreign currency translationthe fasb statement no. 8 was one of the most heavily criticized pronouncements issued by the fasb. the chief objection to the statement was the required recognition of all exchange gains and losses, whether realized or not, in the income statement. hence, in 1981, fasb statement no. 52, “foreign currency translation”, replaced the controversial statement no. 8. it was adopted by a four to three vote. the primary changes relate to translation of foreign currency statements.the major objectives of statement no. 52 are to: provide information that is generally compatible with the expected economic effects of a rate change on an enterprises cash flows and equity; and reflect in consolidated statements the financial results and relationships of the individual consolidated entities as measured in their functional currencies in conformity with usa generally accepted accounting principles (fasb, 1981). conclusionproblems in accounting for the translation of foreign currencies are as old as money itself, but in the usa these problems have been of primary concern in the twentieth century. interest in accounting for foreign currency translation seems to have varied directly with the instability of exchange rates, of particular notability is the interest created by the unsettling economic effects of the major wars this century including the first and second world wars, and the vietnam war.the cap, the apb, and particularly the fasb have devoted significant efforts to the development of accounting principles in this area. although no pronouncement has been without criticism, statement no. 52 appears to be have weathered the storm quite well since its issuance in 1981.source: journal of management history ,todd jackson, doris m. cook译文：外币折算会计简史外币折算会计在本世纪受到了各类会计准则委员会的关注。这一关注的产生来源于当今国际贸易的兴起。跨国交易的历史可追溯到古时候。腓尼基人是史上有名的大商人。在中世纪的后半叶，商人们意识到在国外建立企业分支可促进国际贸易，自那时起，国际贸易对于国民经济的重要性与日俱增。外币折算会计在历史上经历了多种形式的转变。本文主要阐述二十世纪以来美国的外币折算会计的演变过程。但在此之前会先讨论从古希腊人到殖民地美国人时期的外币折算会计实践。一些早期的外币折算会计外币交易的产生最早可追溯到古希腊人开始使用铸币的时候。铸币发明于公元前630年，但是铸币的传播相当缓慢，古希腊的一些城邦发行了自己的铸币。这些古希腊城邦彼此之间有贸易往来，因此形成了最早的国际贸易。古希腊人也会在交易时用外国货币直接兑换成本地货币，但这一现象并不常见，他们更倾向于在帐面上记录通过交易收到的外国货币数量和商品数。在中世纪，随着十字军远征至欧洲并大大刺激了欧洲的货物需求，国际贸易得到大力发展。直至世纪末，国际贸易得到普及并自然带来了很多跨国组织。在datini 档案馆保存有1399年1月31日一家企业设在巴塞罗那的分公司的资产负债表，以及1397年6月31日至1399年1月31日的利润表。这份利润表很有意思，它包括了一个名为pro di cambio（国外交易利润）的帐目。这家巴塞罗那分公司一直记录着有关外币和本币交易的往来账，其汇兑差额由外币期末余额和本币期末余额的换算差异产生。在1795年到 1805年的十五年间，美国殖民地时期的商人也使用该方法来记录美元和英镑的交易。这些商人往往会用两种货币进行记账。二十世纪初的外币折算会计在乔治赖尔（一位英国注册会计师）于1900年编写的一本书中，他描述了英国当时的外币折算会计。乔治写道：那些在国外拥有分支机构的本国公司，以总公司报表的角度来说，应当将所有用各种货币进行的交易最终转换成以英镑为计量单位入账，并在年报中进行确认，最终上交给企业的所有者。他提到当时的企业在进行外币交易折算时使用了一些错误的准则。根据乔治的说法，当一家在国外的分公司将他的交易记录传回本部时，首先应进行的步骤是将外币项目全部折算成英镑。他认为不同的项目应使用不同的汇率进行折算，这在后来演变成为了“货币项目-非货币项目法”。第一次世界大战对外币折算会计的影响在第一次世界大战以前，各国货币汇率基本保持稳定，并且英美两国的贸易量并没有庞大到使外币折算成为美国会计界的一大问题。许多在乔治赖尔之后出版的会计教材中并没有对外币折算进行讨论。一战前的稳定汇率很大程度上取决于各国已经建立了平衡的货币-金本位制关系。但是稳定的汇率同时也依赖于稳定的贸易关系。第一次世界大战打破了这种稳定关系。欧洲的工业陷入混乱并且急需只能在美国才能获取的原材料。罗伯特描述道：我们眼见着英镑汇率一个月接一个月地下降。汇率的不稳定引发了美国对于外币折算会计的新兴趣。1921年，h.a芬尼写道：现在的会计师不得不去学习和理解有关外币折算和国外贸易平衡的准则知识。在谈到用适当的方法对国外分支机构的账户进行折算处理时，芬尼提倡的是赖尔在1900年提出的“货币项目-非货币项目”法。但是他认为在损益类账户的折算汇率选择上，选择期末汇率比期间平均汇率更优。大萧条的影响到了1925年，大部分国家回归到金本位制度，外汇汇率也逐渐稳定下来。但1930年代发生的大萧条说明金本位制度实行过了头。各国均担心由于国际收支逆差会带来资金外流