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Accounting Principles And The International Financial Reporting Standards Essay

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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

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