Accounting literature has identified fundamental conceptual issues and uncertainties regarding the financial reporting treatment of liabilities. This paper assesses whether the underlying concepts for the definition of a liability are robust and sufficiently developed in the 2018 Conceptual Framework of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) to create a conceptual foundation to identify, recognise, measure and derecognise liabilities. Doctrinal research is applied to evaluate the proposed concepts by using authoritative interpretation. The outcome of the authoritative interpretation is the contribution to the accounting literature. The paper finds that the 2018 Conceptual Framework significantly improves the conceptual foundation of the identification, recognition, measurement and derecognition of liabilities. The 2018 Conceptual Framework clarifies the obligation and past event criteria of the definition of a liability and, as a result, has paved the way for removing the reference to future outflow or sacrifices in both the definition and the recognition criteria of a liability. The 2018 Conceptual Framework also implies that when meeting the definition of a liability, in principle, it appropriately triggers recognition. It also clearly defines the different measurement bases and clarifies the measurement decision process regarding liabilities, which are sufficiently based on the nature and benefits of different measurement bases and the factors of useful information. The uncertainty about the existence of a liability for incorporation in financial statements is, however, still problematic and could create uncertainty in developing related International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) and in practical applications.

会计文献已经确定了有关负债的财务报告处理的基本概念问题和不确定性。本文评估了负债定义的基本概念是否健全并在国际会计准则理事会（IASB）的2018年概念框架中得到了充分发展，从而为识别，确认，计量和终止确认负债奠定了概念基础。通过权威的解释，运用理论研究来评估所提出的概念。权威解释的结果是对会计文献的贡献。该论文发现2018年概念框架大大改善了负债的识别，确认，计量和终止确认的概念基础。2018年概念框架阐明了负债定义的义务和过去事件标准，因此为在负债的定义和确认标准中删除对未来流出或牺牲的提法铺平了道路。2018年概念框架原则上还意味着在满足负债定义时，它会适当触发确认。它还清楚地定义了不同的计量基础，并阐明了有关负债的计量决策过程，这些过程充分地基于不同计量基础的性质和收益以及有用信息的因素。但是，关于合并财务报表中负债的存在的不确定性仍然存在问题，并且可能在制定相关的《国际财务报告准则》（IFRS）和实际应用中产生不确定性。