Fair Value in Accounting

Fair Value Accounting: From Theory to Practice is a comprehensive guide to fair value measurement – one of the foundations of modern-day accounting. Fair value measurement is extremely important since it touches upon both accounting and finance. Many items in the financial statements are measured at fair value, e.g. financial instruments, items acquired in business combinations and, under IFRS, investment property. In addition, fair value is used extensively as a valuation base by corporate finance and valuation specialists. The book gradually unfolds the full theoretical framework for measuring fair value for accounting purposes, while providing clear, hands-on implementation guidelines. It includes concise and informative explanations, focusing on the theoretical and practical issues arising from the relevant accounting standards and using illustrative examples and further analysis.

The book covers fair value in accordance with the two most prevalent accounting systems used worldwide: International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (US GAAP). Although they take very similar approaches to the topic, there are some slight, albeit significant, differences between them that are thoroughly discussed in the book.

The book combines professional accounting literature, standards and practice into a single well-rounded and user-friendly resource. The book is intended as an essential tool not only for professionals involved in preparing or auditing financial statements – such as accountants and financial managers – but also for practitioners in related domains, such as appraisers and preparers of valuations for legal proceedings based on fair value. The book includes many practical examples for students (specifically, accounting students as well as individuals preparing to take the CPA exams) and accounting and finance researchers as well as for other academic purposes.