While voluntary disclosure theory posits that profit‐oriented companies voluntarily disclose information to increase their market value, this does not explain why a charity would report in accordance with a more comprehensive financial reporting framework than required. Using a unique financial reporting framework choice available in Australia, our study examines factors associated with large charities' choice of a General Purpose Financial Statements (GPFS) reporting framework, which encompasses expansive financial reporting requirements, versus a Special Purpose Financial Statements (SPFS) reporting framework, where management, within limits, effectively chooses that subset of accounting standards applicable to that charity. For those preparing GPFS, we then examine the factors that determine those charities that report in accordance with the complete set of Australian Accounting Standards (Tier 1) versus Reduced Disclosure Requirements (Tier 2). Using manually collected data from 11,471 large‐registered charities for 2014–2016, we find that the economic importance of the charity, its funding sources, and level of indebtedness are significant in explaining charities choosing a more comprehensive financial reporting framework. Further, we find a substantial increase in the proportion of large charities electing to disclose GPFS‐Tier 2 over this three‐year window. The choice of a large audit firm (Big 4 and mid‐tier audit firms) is significantly associated with charities both lodging more comprehensive GPFS, and also reporting GPFS in accordance with the less onerous GPFS‐Tier 2 framework. Our results provide insights into voluntary reporting choices made by charities and inform charities, accounting firms, and regulators of factors influencing charities' choice of financial reporting frameworks.

中文翻译：

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慈善机构的财务报告：为什么有些人选择在更广泛的报告框架下进行报告？

虽然自愿披露理论假定以利润为导向的公司自愿披露信息以增加其市场价值，但这并不能解释为什么慈善机构会根据比要求更全面的财务报告框​​架进行报告。使用澳大利亚提供的独特财务报告框​​架选择，我们的研究检查了与大型慈善机构选择通用财务报表 (GPFS) 报告框架相关的因素，其中包含广泛的财务报告要求，以及特殊目的财务报表 (SPFS) 报告框架，其中管理层在限制范围内有效地选择适用于该慈善机构的会计准则子集。对于准备GPFS的人，然后，我们研究了决定按照完整的澳大利亚会计准则（第 1 级）与减少披露要求（第 2 级）进行报告的慈善机构的因素。使用 2014-2016 年从 11,471 家大型注册慈善机构手动收集的数据，我们发现慈善机构的经济重要性、资金来源和负债水平对于解释慈善机构选择更全面的财务报告框​​架具有重要意义。此外，我们发现在这三年窗口中选择披露 GPFS-Tier 2 的大型慈善机构的比例大幅增加。选择大型审计公司（四大和中级审计公司）与慈善机构密切相关，它们既可以提供更全面的 GPFS，又可以根据不太繁琐的 GPFS-Tier 2 框架报告 GPFS。