The U.S Generally Accepted Accounting Principles and the International Financial Reporting Standards are the two major accounting standards used by accountants today. The GAAP is currently used only by firms in the United States, while the IFRS is used by firms in 110 countries, including those in the European Union. The U.S Securities and Exchange Commission is in charge of GAAP for public companies, while the Financial Accounting and Standard Board overlooks private companies. The standards for IFRS are set by the International Accounting Standard Board. The main difference that separates the GAAP and the IFRS is that the GAAP was constructed based on rules, while the IFRS was created based on accounting principles. Although there are many similarities in the way most things are done, there are also striking differences regarding the way financial statements are reported, including inventory valuation, balance sheets presentation, asset definition, etc. This paper seeks to identify some of the major discrepancies between GAAP and IFRS, and present arguments people have made for and against converging the two standards. The GAAP and the IFRS is analogous to the metric system used by the majority of the world, and the imperial system used by the U.S . They essentially represent the same concept, just in a different way. As a result of this difference, entities, such as investors or firms, that adopt a different standard must find a way to translate the other standard in
Fosbre, A. B., Kraft, E. M., & Fosbre, P. B. (2009). THE GLOBALIZATION OF ACCOUNTING STANDARDS: IFRS VERSUS US GAAP. Global Journal Of Business Research (GJBR
The five research articles I have chosen to further my research on the convergence between U.S. GAAP and IFRS are The Implication of US GAAP and IFRS Convergence on American Business by Austin Willmore (2015), IFRS adoption by country by PWC (2015), International Financial Reporting Standards and American Generally Accepted Accounting Principles: the Convergence Lessons by Kuzina (2015), The economic impact of IFRS - a financial analysis perspective by Seay (2014), and Accounting for Leases The New Standard by CPA Journal (2016). These articles are related to my topic, where these researchers researched and analyzed the financial statement reporting on convergence of the U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), and certain accounts when adopting IFRS present a different result in the financial reporting for U.S. reporting companies when U.S. GAAP standards combined with IFRS. Also, these research articles discuss the existence of two systems of standards, U.S. GAAP and IFRS; and the issue and difficulty of the process to fully converge.
Pologeorgis (2012) stated that the diversity of accounting principle has an essential impact on the stock markets, corporate management, and financial reporting. He pointed that when people seeking for international capitals, varies of dissimilar accounting principles create discrepancies in their financial reporting. If people cannot understand the differences between IFRS and GAAP, they may have the chance to make the wrong decisions and loss money in the capital markets. Pologeorgis (2012) also mentioned that international investors have to relearn the new principal in order to be more familiar with the international standards. Based on above, there is a keen motivation for people to understand the differences and similarities of GAAP and IFRS. This research will show business people the main similarities and differences of GAAP and IFRS.
As the responsibilities of the global harmonization of accounting standards IFRS and GAAP transfer to IASB, FASB’s influence is waning. Advantages of the convergence include high quality financial reporting, which lowers cost of capital for investors and the cost of borrowing for companies. However, there are disadvantages to be noted, such as the costs of introducing IFRS to current and potential accountants and the risk of reducing the uniformity of financial reports due to the lax rulings of IFRS, which promotes earnings management amongst companies. Although arguments regarding the convergence remain prevalent, the completion of IFRS and GAAP is inevitable. Come year 2015, accountants, investors, and companies alike will discover whether or not the pros outweighed the cons; or vice versa.
There are several differences between the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and the U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). The IFRS is considered more of a "principles based" accounting standard in contrast to U.S. GAAP which is considered more "rules based." By being more "principles based", IFRS, arguably, represents and captures the economics of a transaction better than U.S. GAAP. As a team me collaborated to answer the following seven questions.
States. Companies should report income, liability, equity, and assets. Many people (stockholders, investors, etc.) who have a stake in the company want to know this information before providing a service. In this paper, International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) will be compared for
Although the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) have a lot of similar guidelines and expectations, they also differ in many ways. The IFRS employs more of a “principles based” accounting standards whereas GAAP utilizes more of a “rules based” approach. Even though there are differences between terminology, revenue recognition, gains and/or losses, and statement presentation, both standards do follow the same conceptual guidelines. With the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) of 2002, the standards expected of foreign countries are significantly less than those that reside as publically
This research project will inform the reader of the difference between the United States accounting standards and International accounting standards. The United States uses the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) to issue financial reporting procedures. The International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) are issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). There are proposals for the United States to adopt the International standards. Financial reporting procedures are debated about the United States using the Generally Accepted Accounting Procedures (GAAP) or following the global procedures. This
There are two sets of accounting standards that are used worldwide. One is the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and the U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). There is a huge desire for there to one set of accounting standards worldwide with the increase of companies performing business in many different countries and global expansion.
The country selected for this study is the United Kingdom (UK). UK Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (GAAP) has been in place for a long period of time and was harmonized in 2005 so as to comply with the international accounting standards. The UK embraced the principles of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in 2005 after the European Union (EU) mandated that all members that were publicly listed companies be subject to reporting under the International Accounting Standards (IAS). This was to help facilitate that those listed companies could easily be compared to onr other on their performance and transparency was improved since they were now subject to the same principles of reporting. Companies in the United
Runway Discount (Runway) has instituted the “Refer-a-Friend” program to increase its sales and customer base. When existing customers refer a new customer to Runway’s website and the new customer purchases Runway merchandise, the existing customer receives a $25 referral credit toward their next purchase. This program does not have any restrictions and is open to all existing Runway customers. Runway believes the $25 referral credit is the fair market value of the cost it would incur if Runway used the services of an unrelated third party to acquire a new customer. Runway is requesting guidance to account for the customer referral credit in its books and records. Runway has also advised it will be adopting International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) in the near future and is asking what IFRS guidance it should follow.
The US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) is a set of international accounting rules which originated from the United States. US GAAP can be defined as a set of accounting principles, standards and procedures that companies use to compile their financial statements (Elliott & Elliott, 2008). The International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) on the other hand are accounting rules originating from the United Kingdom. International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) are a set of accounting rules designed with a common global language for business affairs so that financial accounts of companies are understandable and comparable across international boundaries (Devinney, Pedersen & Tihanyi, 2010).
First, The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) issues The International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) on U.S securities and exchange companies listed.
General Accepted Accounting Principles, (GAAP) can be defined as the common set of accounting rules, standards and protocols, set by policy boards, which financial institutions and other companies use to assemble their financial statements. On the other hand, International Accounting Standards Board develops and maintains the International Financial Reporting Standards, which is a single set of accounting standards set aside with the aim of being applied internationally. As an accounting standard used in a number of countries across the world, IFRS have proven to be more effective in the representation of economics of transaction more than GAAP since it is based on principles rather than rules (Bellandi, 2012).
The International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) has been adopted by a majority of first world countries and emerging markets. However, the U.S. still uses the U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (U.S. GAAP). The 2008 financial crisis and the cost of implication halted the adoption, but there are other obstacles and implications to take into consideration. One important aspect to consider is the tax implications upon adoption, and this typically translates into how the taxes paid will be affected. The implications to tax arise due to the differences in aspects such as revenue recognition, transfer pricing agreements, compensation, strategies in repatriation, debt agreements, and so on. Specifically focusing on the effective tax rate, the income tax, differences in accounting for assets and liabilities, and income and expenses. Included in this paper will be a short explanation on preparing the accounting profession and accounting systems for IFRS adoption, and other tax implications effects to the accounting world.