Problems of preparing business financial statements according to international standards

The importance of the study stemmed from the necessity to identify ways to enhance the quality and harmonise the financial statements of small and medium-sized firms in Azerbaijan so that they met international requirements. The aim of the work was to analyse the reporting of Azerbaijani small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as to identify significant inconsistencies between the basic concepts and principles in certain sections of international standards, the elimination of which will increase the comparability of the financial data of Azerbaijani enterprises at the global level. The methodological approach was based on statistical data analysis, which was used to study the change in the number of small and medium-sized enterprises in Azerbaijan for 2018-2023; and an analogy method for comparing the qualitative characteristics of financial statements specified in the Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting to international standards. The main results include: a proposal to adopt indicators of the quality of information in the financial statements in accordance with the characteristics specified in the Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting; justification of the need to use the initial and fair value methods based on the requirements for assessing the possible, current and discounted value of assets, liabilities, income, and expenses, as well as using simpler approaches to reflect them in financial statements; proof of the need for wider disclosure of information presented in the explanatory notes to the financial statements, which would help improve the quality and usefulness of information on the financial condition of business entities. The findings of scientific research, as well as the conclusions drawn from it, are of practical value to small and medium-sized business leaders, national politicians, and financial statement auditors