【正文】 261). By the end of the war, most other nations had also gone off the gold standard (Finney, 1923, p. 451). However, the stability of exchange rates is also dependent on a stable set of trade relations. The First World War upset that stability. The European industries became disorganized and were desperately in need of raw materials that could only be obtained from the USA. Roberts described the situation by stating that “we have seen the European exchange sinking lower and lower from month to month” (Roberts, 1920, p. 325). The exchange rate instability prompted renewed interest in accounting for foreign currency translation in the USA. In 1921, . Finney wrote that accountants would now “have to understand the principles involved in the accounting for foreign merce and the conversion of foreign balances” (Finney, 1923, p. 451). In his discussion of the appropriate methodology for translating the accounts of a foreign branch, Finney advocated the moarynonmoary method that was prescribed by Lisle in 1900 for balance sheet items. However, for nominal accounts, he felt that end of the period exchange rates were preferable to average exchange rates (Finney, 1923, p. 458). The impact of the Great Depression By 1925, most nations had gone back to the gold standard and the foreign exchange stabilized (Gray, 1983, p. 261). The worldwide Great Depression of the 1930s, however, proved to be too much for the gold standard. According to McConnell, each nation became afraid that “its economic recovery would be aborted by a balance of payments deficit which would lead to an outflow of gold and consequent contractionary effects” (McConnell, 1981, p. 855). In an attempt to bolster exports and reduce imports, several nations began to devalue their currencies in terms 5 of gold (McConnell, 1981, p. 855). The result of these devaluations was a breakdown of the gold standard system. During this time, the number of writings on foreign currency accounting increased. An early article by Cecil S. Ashdown described the currentnoncurrent method (Ashdown, 1922, p. 262). The most notable publication was a remendation made in 1931 by a special mittee on accounting procedure of the American Institute of Accountants (now AICPA) that the currentnoncurrent method be used (AIA, 1931). This was the first official pronouncement on the subject in the USA. This method essentially involves: ? the translation of current assets and current liabilities at end of year exchange rates。這一關注的產生來源于當今國際貿易的興起。 外幣折算會計在歷史上經(jīng)歷了多種形式的轉變。鑄幣發(fā)明于公元前 630 年，但是鑄幣的傳播相當緩慢，古希臘的一些城邦發(fā)行了自己的鑄幣。直至世紀末，國際貿易得到普及并自然帶來了很多跨國組織。 在 1795 年到 1805 年的十五年間，美國殖民地時期的商人也使用該方法來記錄美元和英鎊的交易。喬治寫道：那些在國外擁有分支機構的本國公司，以總公司報表的角度來說，應當將所有用各種貨幣進行的交易最終轉換成以英鎊 10 為計量單位入賬，并在年報中進行確認，最終上交給企業(yè)的所有者。 第一次世界大戰(zhàn)對外幣折算會計的影響 在第一次世界大戰(zhàn)以前，各國貨幣匯率基本保持穩(wěn)定，并且英美兩國的貿易量并沒有龐大到使外幣折算成為美國會計界的一大問題。第一次世界大戰(zhàn)打破了這種穩(wěn)定關系。 1921 年， 芬尼寫道：現(xiàn)在的會計師不得不去學習和理解有關外幣折算和國外貿易平衡的準則知識。但 1930 年代發(fā)生的大蕭條說明金本位制度實行過了頭。 在這一時期，有關外幣折算會計的著作大量涌現(xiàn)。這是美國首次關于外幣折算方法提出官方闡述。非流動性資產和非流動性負債項目以歷史匯率進行折算。 1939年 12 月， CAP 發(fā)布了第四號會計研究公告（ ARB 4）標題為“國外經(jīng)營與外匯”。 第二次世界大戰(zhàn)的影響 隨著第二次世界大戰(zhàn)帶來的額外的經(jīng)濟危機，幾大工業(yè)國的政府開始建立一個能夠抵抗另一場大蕭條的經(jīng)濟體系。 1948 年， AB 赫克將當時的情況描述如下：外匯匯率與日俱增的混亂使得外幣報表折算的統(tǒng)一準則成為一大難題。 在 1965 年十月 APB 發(fā)布第六號意見稿承認貨幣性項目 非貨幣性項目法以前，流動性項目 非流動性項目法是唯一受到認可的方法，意見稿指出長期應收款與長期應付款，通常被認定為貨幣性項目， 可以由現(xiàn)行匯率進行折算。這一情況引起美國的進口大增而出口減弱。該會計研究闡述了流動性項目和非流動性項目法和貨幣性項目和非貨幣性項目法并在美國的實踐，還有剛被提出的現(xiàn)行匯率法。因此，在 1981 年，美國財務會計準則委員會又發(fā)布了第五十二號準則，“外幣折算”，以此替換了廣受爭議的第八號準則。國外分支機構的合并財務報表應采用功能貨幣并遵循美國公認會計準則，體現(xiàn)與母公司的關系。 CAP,APB， FASB 等組織對于外幣折算會計問題做出了巨大的貢獻，盡管至今沒有哪一種準則的公布是能免于人們批評的， FASB1981 年發(fā)布的第五十二號準則仍是占有重要分量的。庫克