Analysis of Change in Present Value Measurements

Abstract

In recent years, the leading standard setters for financial reporting have shown an increasing preference for fair value measurement. However, present value is often the only acceptable method of estimating fair value and therefore the actual result of the swing to fair value is likely to be increased use of present value in financial reporting. This paper addresses the issue of interpretation of a change in present value between successive reporting dates and shows that the change can be analyzed by use of the familiar variance analysis framework widely used in management accounting.