On 2 February 2017, Toyota Industries Corporation announced that the Board of Directors decided to adopt, voluntarily, the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) replacing the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles in Japan (Japanese GAAP), for the Group consolidated financial statements for the fiscal year ending on March 31, 2017. (https://www.toyota-industries.com/news/release/2017/02/02/001703/ accessed 11 May 2021) Table 1 - Disclosure schedule (tentative) associated with the IFRS adoption April 2017 Financial Results for the Fiscal Year Ending March 31, 2017 (Japanese GAAP) Forecasts of Consolidated Financial Results for FYE2018 (April 1, 2017 - March 31, 2018) (IFRS) May 2017 Consolidated Financial Statements for the Fiscal Year Ending March 31, 2017 (Japanese GAAP) June 2017 Annual Securities Report for the Fiscal Year Ending March 31, 2017 (IFRS) Source: News Release, 2 February 2017 The Chair of the International Accounting Standards Board, Hans Hoogervorst, in his speech to participants of a seminar on 6 March 2019, included in his comments about IFRS as global standards: In Japan, companies have had the option to adopt IFRS since 2012. After a relatively slow start, were now seeing many of the major Japanese companies adopting or planning to adopt IFRS. To date, almost 200 companies representing more than 30% of the total market capitalisation are using IFRS Standards. Only last month, the CFO of ToyotaJapans largest companystated his intention to adopt IFRS Standards in the near future. That leaves the US as the only large jurisdiction where adoption has stalled. (https://www.ifrs.org/news-and-events/news/2019/03/hans-speech-pfs-a-game-changer-in-financial-reporting/ accessed 11 May 2021) It therefore appears from the statement that Toyota, as well as other Japanese companies, have been slow to adopt (or are still yet to adopt) the IFRSs, compared to Australia, where the IFRS were adopted on 1 January 2005 effective from for the first full financial reporting year from 1 July 2005. Required 1. Identify and discuss the influences on accounting practices in Japan. (20 marks) NOTE: Use Hofstedes three (power distance, individualism, and uncertainty avoidance) cultural dimensions as well as their influence on accounting practices; based on Grays continuum of the four accounting values (Secrecy Vs Professionalism, Flexibility Vs Uniformity, Secrecy Vs Transparency, Conservatism Vs Optimism). 2. Identify and discuss (with examples) how any of these influences are possible causes of this slowness by Toyota Industries Corporation to adopt the IFRSs. (20 marks) 3. Paragraphs 2.42 and 2.43 of the 2018 IASB Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting relate to the cost constraint on useful financial reporting. Do you think that costbenefit considerations regarding the adoption of this conceptual framework will be different in different countries? If so, how would costbenefit considerations be determined by a global accounting standard-setter such as the IASB, if not, explain how different regulatory environments in different countries should influence the accounting standards? (20 marks) 4. Critically analyse and outline your points of agreement or disagreement with Chand and Whites (2007, p. 606) claim that harmonised regulatory framework for financial reporting, this is unlikely to best serve the diverse interests of the disparate user groups of financial reports in developing countries. (20 marks) 5. Provide further support for your opinion in requirement 4. by using Hofstedes three (power distance, individualism, and uncertainty avoidance) cultural dimension to analyse two examples of developing countries.