The conceptual framework for financial reporting: educational implications

The Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting (International Accounting Standards Board – IASB, 2018) encompasses relevant accounting concepts. However, research on international standards has overlooked the educational implications of these concepts. This article addresses this gap by analysing how the inadequate formulation of key concepts in the Conceptual Framework influence accounting education from the lenses of the theory of developmental learning. As a result, inconsistencies are revealed when applying essential elements to comprehend accounting concepts related to income, expenses and equity, which can harm the process of learning concepts. Additionally, the results demonstrate alignment between the concepts of assets and liabilities and their theoretical assumptions. They offer novel insights into a pertinent aspect that has received limited attention from standard setters: the pursuit of a clearer definition for concepts of main accounting elements. Thus, educators could pay more attention to how they work with teaching and learning concepts that consider students’ development. Based on the results, we propose insights for the improvement of concepts stated in the Conceptual Framework that should be considered by standard setters when defining concepts during the standards implementation phase, focusing on the learning process of a concept that educators should take into consideration in classes.