SFAS No. 123's Earnings Effect: Was It As Significant As Expected?

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

1-1-2001

School

Accountancy

Abstract

SFAS 123 represented a significant compromise by the FASB and ended one of the most controversial projects in the Board's history. The main issue centered on how to recognize the expense associated with stock-based compensation. The FASB wanted to use the fair value of the stock-based compensation as the expense measure. This measurement would have increased the amount of expense for most firms. SFAS 123 encourages fair value measurement and recognition in the income statement but does not require it. Instead, a firm may choose to report in the footnotes pro forma net income as if the fair value measure had been used. This study examines the income effect associated with SFAS 123 for 688 firms that elected to report the effects through the footnote disclosure. The study finds the income effect of SFAS 123 to be material but not to the extent that many argued during the FASB's consideration of the issue.

Publication Title

Allied Academies International Conference

Volume

6

Issue

1

First Page

167

Last Page

171

Find in your library

Share

COinS