DO CHANGES IN DEFERRED REVENUES AFFECT FUTURE FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE? EVIDENCE FROM BORSA ISTANBUL

Abstract

Reported revenues help investors make the right decision by providing a firm's past performance to be evaluated and its future performance to be predicted. That’s why, the issue of when revenue should be recorded is one of the fundamental questions of accounting theory and has an important place in determining financial performance. The purpose of this study is to determine whether changes in deferred revenue are an indicator of the financial performance of companies operating in Borsa Istanbul. Accordingly, the data of 195 non-financial companies traded in Borsa Istanbul for the years from 2012 to 2020 were used and the effect of changes in deferred revenue on future financial performance was estimated by panel regression analysis. Future financial performance is associated with changes in deferred revenue measured by future sales growth, future profit margins and future return on assets. According to the results of the analysis, as it was determined that the changes in deferred revenue increased the future sales growth and the future return on assets, it was concluded that there was no statistically significant effect on the net profit margin. Morever, it was determined that the leverage ratio and cash flow rate variables used as control variables in the study, have significant effect on future financial performance.