ABSTRACT
The Council for Annual Reporting (CAR) publishes Richtlijnen with which it endeavours to operationalize the 'generally acceptable accounting principles' for Dutch companies that have to present external annual reports. In the field of annual financial reporting the European Union has published the Fourth and Seventh EU Directives. This chapter provides an overview of the factors that can cause differences between the external financial reports of companies in the Netherlands, of companies in Europe, and of companies in the world. It also provides an overview of the existing differences in the types of financial statements, as well as the recognition, valuation, presentation, and disclosure of elements in these statements. Both overviews are based on literature, law and legislation, and practice. The chapter identifies the following factors as relevant: external environment and culture, legal systems, providers of finance, taxation, the auditing profession, inflation, terminology, theory, issuing authorities, legal structure of the companies and internationalization.
