Abstract

The study examined the extent of commitment of maritime companies in Lebanon to implementing the International Accounting Standard (IAS) 16. It aimed at recognizing the extent to which maritime firms in Lebanon apply the International Accounting Standard (IAS) 16 by explaining the financial statements and their features and constituents. A five-point Likert style questionnaire was constructed as a study tool to collect information from the sample that consisted of 70 people who were accountants at maritime companies in Lebanon in addition to auditors of these companies. From the 70 questionnaires distributed, 63 were retrieved. The research concluded that maritime companies in Lebanon apply the IAS 16 in the income statement and the statement of financial position. The researchers recommended that the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) should set up a clear and coordinated approach to deal with the issue of the periodic maintenance for ships, especially that the IAS 16 did not specify a preferred approach to settle this issue; rather, the IASB left it for the companies to choose the most convenient approach. They also recommended increasing disclosure of Lebanese maritime companies using the procedures followed in determining, depreciating and itemizing fixed assets in the financial statements.

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