Blockchain and financial reporting: Toward a distributed convergence of interests?
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 accounting, 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 no alterations whatsoever are allowed, unless every participant of the network approves each variation. This paper aims to push forward the academic debate on blockchain, with the debated aspects ranging from accounting issues through to financial reporting and audit. Hence, the authors conducted a systematic review of national and international publications to address how blockchain may impact both the preparation and the auditability of financial statements. Results suggest that the blockchain contribution is mainly narrowed to the enhancement of the clarity principle, whereas sever-al 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.
Keywords: Blockchain, Financial reporting, Auditing, Literature review
