Analysing 20 interviews with CFOs of German non-listed family firms, I report how the firms’ financial reporting is organised, who are the financial statement addressees, how the CFOs define accounting quality, whether they manage earnings, and how owner families influence reporting. I also discuss the firms’ costs of reporting and disclosure. Most CFOs see the requirement to disclose financial statements as a burden. They react by disclosing statements as late as possible and by providing only the minimum content necessary. As regards accounting quality, the CFOs value formal correctness, but also sustainability, persistence, and conservative estimation of net income. Most CFOs engage in earnings management, above all to achieve a positive trend in net income, in some cases also to comply with debt covenants. The influence of the owner families differs; however, in most cases the family at least “sets the tone” for the reporting. On average, the direct costs of accounting and auditing in my sample firms amount to about 1% of revenues. According to the CFOs, public disclosure does not result in material indirect costs, and most CFOs would not change much if the requirements for reporting and disclosure were abolished. These findings add to our understanding of private firm financial reporting and suggest several directions for future research.

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非上市家族企业的财务报告：来自首席财务官的采访中的见解

通过对德国非上市家族企业的20名首席财务官的访谈进行分析，我报告了这些公司的财务报告的组织方式，财务报表的收件人，首席财务官如何定义会计质量，他们是否管理收入以及所有者家庭如何影响报告。我还将讨论公司的报告和披露成本。大多数首席财务官将披露财务报表的要求视为负担。他们通过尽可能晚地公开声明并仅提供必要的最小内容来做出反应。关于会计质量，首席财务官重视形式上的正确性，也重视可持续性，持久性和对净收入的保守估计。大多数首席财务官从事收益管理，最重要的是实现净收益的积极趋势，在某些情况下还遵守债务契约。业主家庭的影响力有所不同。但是，在大多数情况下，家庭至少为报告“定下了基调”。平均而言，在我的样本公司中，会计和审计的直接成本约占收入的1％。根据首席财务官的说法，公开披露不会导致实质性的间接成本，而且如果取消对报告和披露的要求，大多数首席财务官也不会有太大改变。这些发现增加了我们对私人公司财务报告的理解，并为未来的研究提出了一些方向。如果取消了报告和披露的要求，大多数CFO不会有太大变化。这些发现增加了我们对私人公司财务报告的理解，并为未来的研究提出了一些方向。如果取消了报告和披露的要求，大多数CFO不会有太大变化。这些发现增加了我们对私人公司财务报告的理解，并为未来的研究提出了一些方向。