France

Abstract

The main influences on the accounting environment in France have arisen from government sources rather than from the accounting profession. The strong government influence can be traced back to the introduction of the commercial code in 1807. The government perceives the financial reporting framework to be a key factor in formulating and implementing national economic policy. This is evidenced by the government’s emphasis on a standardised chart of accounts (which is used as a basis for collecting macroeconomic data), and also by the influence of tax laws on financial reporting. The relative weakness of the accounting profession is partly due to patterns of share ownership. France (unlike the UK and the US) does not have a tradition of large numbers of widely-held companies, and consequently there have been fewer demands for an accounting profession that formulates and monitors external financial reporting rules.