The extent of commitment of industrial shareholding companies in the Gaza Strip to the application of the International Accounting Standard (IAS 16) on property, plant and equipment. (Analytical Study)

Abstract

This study aims at identifying the commitment of the industrial shareholding companies working in the Gaza Strip to the application of the international accounting standard rules (IAS 16) concerning properties, plants and equipment (fixed assets). The study also aims at identifying the major difficulties that limit the applying the rules of these standards and determining if commitment to the rules of the Standards is related to some variables such as: years of experience, type of industry and the amount of capital. In addition, it aims at providing recommendations that would contribute to the implementation of the Standards. The sample consists of (52) industrial shareholding companies whose capitals are more than half a million dollars. Percentages, frequencies, T-test and analysis of variance “ANOVA” have been used. The study concluded that: 1) Industrial shareholding companies working in Gaza Strip are not committed to applying the rules of standard (IAS 16). 2) There are some difficulties that impede the commitment to applying that standard such as absence of an official authority, the economic circumstances and insufficiency of professional bodies and organizations that are in charge of accounting and auditing. 3) There is no relationship of a statistical significance between the commitment to the application of the standard and the following variables: years of experience, type of industry and amount of capital. Some of the recommendation of the study are: 1) Necessity of commitment to applying of the standard (IAS 16). 2) Emphasizing the fact that the industrial companies should develop their systems of accounting treatment in line with the requirements of the Standard. 3) Enactment of a new and unified Palestinian law for companies instead of the laws carried out in West Bank and Gaza Strip.