How do preparers perceive costs and benefits of IFRS for SMEs? Empirical evidence from the Netherlands

This paper examines how preparers perceive the association between costs and benefits of International Financial Reporting Standard for Small and Medium-sized Entities (IFRS for SMEs). Extant research on costs and benefits associated with IFRS for SMEs is inconclusive. Our results suggest that preparers consider costs and benefits of IFRS for SMEs separately, not concurrently, and evaluate them in relative terms. Taken together, the results indicate that a voluntary adoption decision depends on the preparers' context for the cost–benefit analysis, which appears to be a nonlinear process. Specifically, our findings could contribute to the discussion by the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group on taking the effects of accounting standards into account whilst developing standards.