The future of financial accounting seems to be highly transformed by the advent of the so-called “disruptive” technologies. Among these, the blockchain should guarantee transparency and faithfulness of information by the “distributed ac-counting”, i.e., a complete record of all past transactions on a network of peers. The main feature to consider is that every transaction is permanently recorded and any alterations are not allowed, unless every participants of the network approve each variation. This paper aims to push forward the academic debate on blockchain from accounting issues towards financial reporting and audit. Hence, we conducted a systematic review of national and international publications to address how blockchain may impact both the preparation and auditability of financial statements. Results suggest that the contribution of blockchain is mainly narrowed to the enhancement of the clarity principle, whereas several concerns affect the substantial issues of financial reporting (i.e., estimate judgments). On the other hand, a common acknowledgment on the enhancement of auditability processes of financial statements is recognized. The paper concludes with several insights on future research directions of blockchain in corporate reporting and auditing.

Blockchain e bilancio di esercizio: verso una convergenza di interessi “distribuita”?

Diego Valentinetti
;
Michele A. Rea
2022-01-01

Abstract

The future of financial accounting seems to be highly transformed by the advent of the so-called “disruptive” technologies. Among these, the blockchain should guarantee transparency and faithfulness of information by the “distributed ac-counting”, i.e., a complete record of all past transactions on a network of peers. The main feature to consider is that every transaction is permanently recorded and any alterations are not allowed, unless every participants of the network approve each variation. This paper aims to push forward the academic debate on blockchain from accounting issues towards financial reporting and audit. Hence, we conducted a systematic review of national and international publications to address how blockchain may impact both the preparation and auditability of financial statements. Results suggest that the contribution of blockchain is mainly narrowed to the enhancement of the clarity principle, whereas several concerns affect the substantial issues of financial reporting (i.e., estimate judgments). On the other hand, a common acknowledgment on the enhancement of auditability processes of financial statements is recognized. The paper concludes with several insights on future research directions of blockchain in corporate reporting and auditing.
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11564/786674
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