Abstract
Recent developments of digital technologies have created rapid fundamental changes in the production, processing and reporting of financial information. Blockchain may be considered as the most important of these technologies, which as a distributed ledger, provides decentralized, transparent and immutable recording and maintenance of information. By eliminating traditional intermediaries in transaction recording and verification, this technology has created the potential for massive transformations in accounting, auditing, and financial reporting. Therefore, in the past decade, blockchain technology has emerged as a key tool of accounting in rhe most of international companies. Our country will also inevitably need to adopt this technology in the near future.
In this paper, the impact of implementing blockchain technology on the qualitative characteristics of financial information is reported. Toward this end, a questionnaire was prepared and distributed among 384 individuals. The research population included accountants, auditors, and individuals familiar with financial topics and blockchain technology. After validating the questionnaire and analyzing the relationships between the research variables using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling, the findings indicated that blockchain technology has a significant positive impact on the qualitative characteristics of financial information, including relevance, reliability, understandability, and comparability. The temporal scope of the research covers the years 1403 and 1404. The findings of this study can serve as guidance for accountants, auditors, and company managers in improving the qualitative characteristics of financial information and reporting, keeping pace with new technologies—especially given the nascent nature of blockchain discussions—and contribute to developing accounting information system.