Financial Accounting for Merck, the Company Is Case Study

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Financial Accounting

For Merck, the company is based in the U.S. And uses the U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) to compile its financial statements.

Novartis is based in Switzerland, and it uses international financial reporting standards (IFRS) to prepare its financial statements. It is allowed to use this as foreign firm, even though it has a cross-listing on the New York Stock Exchange, but it files a different form, the 20-C, to recognize that is a foreign entity with foreign accounting practices.

The external auditors for Merck are Price Waterhouse Coopers. They certify that they have followed the standards set by the Public Companies Accounting Oversight Board. They also followed the internal control integrated framework of COSO. The auditor for Novartis is also Price Waterhouse Coopers. They used the criteria of the internal control integrative framework from COSO and the standards of the Public Companies Accounting Oversight Board.

It is interesting to see that both of these auditors are the same company and that they use the same auditing standards. This can be explained with the cross-listing of Novartis. Because Novartis is listing in the U.S., it is subject to U.S. law, including the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Indeed, the CEO and CFO of Novartis had to sign off on these statements as well, as part of the company's duties under SOX. So while Novartis does not need to use GAAP, it does need to follow the tenets of Sarbanes-Oxley with respect to the use of standards from the PCAOB.

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There are several differences in these statements. First, with regards to presentation, the Merck statements use an unusual format for GAAP statements, for example not distinguishing between cost of goods sold and operating expenses. Novartis, using IFRS, has statements with a strange layout. Among the differences are that on the balance sheet the long-term assets are listed above the current. Equity is listed above the liabilities. There actually is not much difference with the income statement.

Overall, these statements are comparable. There are some internal difference, for example in how revenue is recognized. But with regards to presentation, they are actually fairly comparable. The way the balance sheet is rendered is slightly different, but the adjustment is not hard to make. The income statement, for the most part, only has minor cosmetic differences. Thus, on the surface it should not be hard to move between these two statements.

While superficially these….....

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