A Study on Accounting Transparency of South Korean Religious Organizations
Choi, Yoonsun (2023)
2023
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2023120734850
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2023120734850
Tiivistelmä
The author occasionally heard in the media about a series of scandals related to accounting or finances of South Korean religious organizations. As the author majored in accounting, he became curious about these questions and wanted to pursue them academically, so he decided to conduct a comparative study on accounting transparency of the religious organizations in South Korea and Finland.
This thesis relates to a study that ultimately seeks answers as to accounting transparency of religious organizations in South Korea. Accordingly, this thesis also explains the important elements of accounting transparency for the research, such as accounting disclosure, external auditing, accounting standard as well as accounting-related basic knowledge to understand the research content.
This thesis research was conducted in three phases. The first phase discusses accounting transparency of the South Korean religious organizations, and the second phase focuses on accounting transparency of the religious organizations in Finland. Lastly, the third phase is to compare the differences in accounting transparency between the two countries.
There were significant differences in accounting transparency of the research case religious organizations in the two countries. The religious organizations in South Korea do not disclose financial statements, but all the religious organizations in Finland disclose their financial statements to the public. In addition to that, the South Korean religions organizations have no obligation to external auditing, whereas the religious organizations in Finland have external audit obligations. Regarding accounting standards, the South Korean religious organizations do not have strict accounting standards established by the government, but the religious organizations in Finland follow accounting standards by the law.
For further research on accounting transparency for religious organizations, using tax-related field or other accounting knowledge, such as auditing may be recommended to study.
This thesis relates to a study that ultimately seeks answers as to accounting transparency of religious organizations in South Korea. Accordingly, this thesis also explains the important elements of accounting transparency for the research, such as accounting disclosure, external auditing, accounting standard as well as accounting-related basic knowledge to understand the research content.
This thesis research was conducted in three phases. The first phase discusses accounting transparency of the South Korean religious organizations, and the second phase focuses on accounting transparency of the religious organizations in Finland. Lastly, the third phase is to compare the differences in accounting transparency between the two countries.
There were significant differences in accounting transparency of the research case religious organizations in the two countries. The religious organizations in South Korea do not disclose financial statements, but all the religious organizations in Finland disclose their financial statements to the public. In addition to that, the South Korean religions organizations have no obligation to external auditing, whereas the religious organizations in Finland have external audit obligations. Regarding accounting standards, the South Korean religious organizations do not have strict accounting standards established by the government, but the religious organizations in Finland follow accounting standards by the law.
For further research on accounting transparency for religious organizations, using tax-related field or other accounting knowledge, such as auditing may be recommended to study.