Financial reporting - Breaking the boilerplate

We were exceptionally pleased to announce that Dr. Jochen Schmitz, an acknowledged accounting expert, has agreed to give a speech on the topic: "Financial reporting - Breaking the boilerplate".

Dr. Jochen Schmitz is Head of Accounting, Reporting and Controlling at Siemens AG, Munich.

Date:           Friday, 8th July 2016
Time:           5.00 pm
Location:     University of Augsburg,
                    Hörsaal Wiwi (Lecture Hall) 1002

On the topic

The communication of publicly listed companies to the capital markets has been subject to significant change over recent years. Today, companies inform on a timely basis about new developments, using a broad variety of instruments and communication channels. As a result, the role of the annual report has changed. While it was a central element of capital market communication in the past, today it is only one of many instruments.

Despite this changed role, the size of annual reports of many companies has increased substantially over the last years. There are several reasons for this trend, including the steady increase in regulatory requirements and the desire of companies to address a broad spectrum of stakeholders with one single report.

It is questionable whether the additional information provides more clarity and transparency of the company’s situation to the users. Due to many new disclosures, users of the report find it increasingly difficult to distinguish material from immaterial information. This development has led to a phenomenon that is known in the literature as “disclosure overload”.

Siemens AG decided to take action by fostering the decision-usefulness of its 2015 annual report. The company’s approach focuses on the original goals of MD&A and the financial statements and thereby counter disclosure overload. However, measures taken by preparers alone are not sufficient; standard setters, auditors and regulators also need to question themselves how they contribute to this effort.

CV - Dr. Jochen Schmitz

Dr. Schmitz, Jochen: born 1966, since 2011 Corporate Vice President & Controller of Siemens AG, Munich/Germany. He studied Business Administration and Economics at the University of Augsburg and holds also a Ph.D. in the same field. During his time with Siemens he held for the first eight years various positions with increasing responsibility in Corporate Finance until he moved to the Healthcare Sector as head of Performance Controlling. In Healthcare he was promoted CFO of the Healthcare Business Unit Molecular Imaging in Hoffman Estates, IL. After this he took helm as the CFO of the Healthcare Division Diagnostics in Tarrytown, NY and finalized his time at Siemens Healthcare by being the CFO of the Healthcare Division Imaging & Therapy Systems, Erlangen, Germany.

Siemens AG

Siemens AG (Berlin and Munich) is a global technology powerhouse that has stood for engineering excellence, innovation, quality, reliability and internationality for more than 165 years. The company is active in more than 200 countries, focusing on the areas of electrification, automation and digitalization. One of the world’s largest producers of energy-efficient, resource-saving technologies, Siemens is No. 1 in offshore wind turbine construction, a leading supplier of gas and steam turbines for power generation, a major provider of power transmission solutions and a pioneer in infrastructure solutions as well as automation, drive and software solutions for industry. The company is also a leading provider of medical imaging equipment – such as computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging systems – and a leader in laboratory diagnostics as well as clinical IT. In fiscal 2015, which ended on September 30, 2015, Siemens generated revenue of €75.6 billion and net income of €7.4 billion. At the end of September 2015, the company had around 348,000 employees worldwide. Further information is available on the Internet at  www.siemens.com.

The keynote speech is integrated in the program of the Joint International Conference of the Journal of International Accounting Research (JIAR) and Accounting, Organizations and Society (AOS) in Cooperation with the American Accounting Association.