The aim of this study is to analyze the impact of adopting IFRS on financial reporting quality
of private companies. EU regulation 1606/2002 required companies listed on any
European exchange to adopt IFRS from the 1st of January 2005 and gave each Member
State the right to decide whether to oblige/allow other kind of companies, for example,
non-listed ones, to use the same set of standards. Given the importance of understanding
the effects of this regulation on accounting quality, there have been many studies exploring
changes in earnings quality for publicly listed companies. However, the findings of these
studies are mixed and do not reach any definitive conclusions regarding the impact of IFRS
adoption on financial reporting quality. It is therefore of considerable interest to explore
the effects on private firms. Private companies constitute about 75% of European GDP
(Ecoda, 2010) and the effects of adopting International Accounting Standards on non-listed
companies has not been addressed in earlier studies.