Challenges of Harmonization of Accounting System

Generally accepted accounting principles are specific rules for accounting for transactions occurring in a business enterprise.

In the course of history and as per the needs and complexity of financial system, almost each and every country in the world developed their own accounting principles and financial reporting system in accordance to their rule, law, culture and social order. However, as the world moves more toward globalization, world market economy get close to each other, International investments spread out throughout the globe especially among countries with open economy. Thus, the diversity in accounting practices is not conducive for boosting international investments, and businesses in today’s market. For example, guess you invest in the international market and you are required to prepare a financial report in compliance with rule of that country and then you need to convert the report to where your company is originally resident. First of all, it is a hassle for the investing companies to report based on the host country rule and regulation. Second, it creates a lot extra costs which fall on investors to compare the result of the report with different countries and may not be able to make a good comparison anyway. Thus, it limited the effectiveness of the international capital markets as well as cross border investment. (International Accounting Pg, 65)

Differentiate between the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles and the International Financial Reporting Standards for their impact on financial

The AICPA published the generally accepted auditing standards (GAAS). GAAS are those guidelines which auditors must follow while conducting an audit of a company's financial statements. It must also be stated in the audit report that the audit was conducted following GAAS.

The IOSCO plan does not cover accounting standards.(66) These standards are important for providing financial statements in a scheme that are prepared in the similar manner as those by issuers from other countries. The development of international accounting standards is the subject of a distinct project by IOSCO, and many accounting professionals who are concomitant with that undertaking are hopeful that a satisfactory solution is within reach.(67) Supposing, however, that an agreement is possible on a core set of financial standards and that they too are embraced by securities regulators as compulsory for foreign issuers, the road to commonality has at least two other impediments.

Accounting standards are important. For example, if accounting is considered as the language of business, accounting standards are its grammar. Properly developed and implemented, they can encourage business expansion and help regulate the economic system. High-quality accounting standards can facilitate the flow of information from businesses to a range of different users. These include investors, banks, creditors, the revenue commissioners, regulators, employees and the general public. The availability of accounts prepared in accordance with recognized accounting standards encourages trade by promoting confidence in businesses.

Although there are different areas of auditing, the standards apply in applicable situations. Auditors must be properly trained, plan accordingly, and remain objective in all situations. The standards of reporting portion of GAAS is primarily specific to a financial audit and lays down standard for how the audits should be conducted.

GAAP stands for Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. This is a key component to know in any business. GAAP is based on established concepts, objectives, standards and conventions to guide how financial statements are prepared and presented. GAAP’s objective is to provide information that is useful to investors, lenders, or others that provide resources to a company or not-for-profit organization. GAAP includes principles on a few things. One is recognition. Recognition is defined as what items are to be listed on the financial statements. This includes assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses. The next is measurement. This refers to the amounts that need to be reports of each part of the financial statement. Another is presentation. This refers to what is displayed and listed on the statement and how they are organized. And lastly there is disclosure. This includes the specific information that is the most important to the people that utilize the financial

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.

GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) determine the content and format of financial statements. SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) requires publicly traded companies to issue annual audit. Concerns are about adequacy of disclosure; and behavioral implications are secondary.

Accounting policies are the principles and rules, which have been reported by special accounting entity, which specifies how transactions have to be recorded in the financial statements. Accounting policies are specified policies used by business organisations, when financial statements are being prepared. Not every business uses the same accounting policies, so if a business is a using a certain accounting policy, they must disclosure all the accounting policies that they follow when the accountants prepare the businesses’ financial statement.

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).

Cultural differences, Diverse regulatory practices, Poor telecommunication infrastructures, Lack of skilled analysts and programmers Obstacles to Using Global Information Systems: Lack of Standardization: Lack of international standards impedes developing a cohesive system that’s capable of sharing information resources across borders Too much standardization can prevent flexibility in responding to local preferences and even time differences. Only 5%-15% of a company’s applications are truly global in nature Cultural Differences: Include differences in values, attitudes, and behaviors Views on using technology Cultural issues: best addressed with education and training Diverse Regulatory Practices: Applies to policies on business practices and technological use. Many countries restrict the type of hardware and software. Jurisdiction issues on contracts of a GIS Nature of intellectual property laws: -Software piracy Privacy and cybercrime laws Censorship and government control Poor Telecommunication Infastructures: Consider telecommunion infrastructures of the countries where subsidiaries are located Differences in telecommunication systems make consolidating them

The business environment appears to get smaller with each passing day. Therefore, accountants face troubles in remaining protected from the progressions that occur around the world (Diaconu and Coman 2006). Globalization hint at the regularly changing procedure of incorporation and connection among governments, individuals and organizations. The key three things that declare incorporate globalization venture, worldwide exchange and data innovation (Diaconu and Coman 2006). Globalization moves the world to another level and places it to more at the leading edge statures reliably. Outstandingly, globalization procedure have both negative and constructive effects on accounting (Godfrey and Chalmers 2007). This is unmistakable as in,

Effective internal controls protect a company’s assets, maintain compliance, improve operations, prevent fraud, and promote accuracy in financial reporting. In 1992 the