A study of TAS19 standards of employee benefits with respect to legal legislation and an example of application

For those who are responsible of business management and investment decisions according to the financial staments, accurate and realistic representation of the of employee costs which constitute an important booking item of cost accounting on the financial statements is very important. The variety of economic activities and globalization of capital have increased the need for accurate, realistic and transparent financial statements. However, as the regulations of countries about employees and their accounting systems differ this need is more important and general standards have become an important issue. International Financial Reporting Standards are the standards applied as a result of that need. IAS 19 has set the accounting principles of employee benefits within that framework. TAS 19, The Standards of Employee Benefits, which is the subject of this study is the exact translation of IAS 19.The Turkish Accounting Standards Board, now called Public Oversight, Accounting and Auditing Standards Authority, initiated an important step and published Turkish Accounting Standards and Turkish Financial Reporting Standards using the exact translation of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in order to adjust our country?s accounting system to international accounting and financial reporting system. These standards were applied in different dates by the firms that are registered to İstanbul Stock Exchange. TAS 19 The Employee Benefits has been effective as of 2006.The subject of this study `TAS 19 The Standards of Employee Benefits? sets the standards for the accounting system of employee costs which is an important cost item for firms. TAS 19 has categorized the Employee Benefits in four sections as; short term benefits, post employment benefits, other long term benefits and termination benefits.In this study the applicability of TAS 19 Standards of Employee Benefits and its harmony with the legislation has been searched. First of all, TAS 19 and the legislation of our country have been explained by case studies, comparisons have been made and finally similar and contrasting aspects have been shown with an application example. As a result, TAS 19 has viewed employee rights in a wider perspective compared to traditional accounting applications. Furthermore, although TAS 19 is compatible with Turkish legislation in terms of short term benefits, it shows some differences in terms of long term benefits. Key Words: Employee Benefits, Turkish Accounting Standards, TAS 19Employee Benefits.