Globalization And Convergence Of Us.gaap Ifrs Standard As Prescribed By The Security And Exchange Commission ( Sec )

The United States is currently going through a big decision. It is deciding on whether to fully adopt International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), or to stay with the current U.S Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). Since this is such a major decision, now would be an opportune time to take a look at what the pros and cons would be of switching to this new way of financial reporting, and in doing so, show why I believe the costs (both financial and otherwise) are too high to adopt a new set of reporting standards.

Globalization has been changing the world. It has interconnected people, nations, and even businesses. Today´s business can share information to investors around the world thanks to the intelligent software of the actual society. Being more specific, the way in which investors and users evaluate businesses performance is through the information contemplated in their financial statements. These financial statements illustrate the current assets, liabilities, and stockholder equity a company has in order to help users take economic decisions. However, not all the companies are regulated to provide the same structuralized information around the world. Each country possesses its own accounting standard that regulates the preparation of financial statements of a company. In that way, companies’ information might differ between countries making the comparability between financial statements difficult to be implemented by users in order to assess the performance of foreign businesses. In view of the need of a globally accepted accounting standard that promotes uniform standards for worldwide financial reporting, the International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC), which then becomes replaced by the International Accounting Standard Board in 2001, was created (Cathey and Schroeder 130). The IASB issues International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) that stands as the set of accounting standards that prepare and present the financial

Despite those enormous advantages, it has been argued that IFRSS adoption lead to significant costs. The main argument is that IFRSs do not consider local needs and priorities as every country has their own ‘business environment, legal systems, cultures, language and political environment’ (Henderson and Peirson, 2000 cited from Malthus, S., 2004). However, to overcome this problem, IASB can accommodate flexible reporting standards that enable companies to choose alternatives that are more suitable for their external condition. It is opinion of some opponents of IFRS adoption that IAS is ‘insufficiently detailed’ (Uddin,M.S., 2005, p.4) that require accountants’ and auditor’ professional judgment. However, overly detail might be contra productive and not flexible in anticipating every changes and differences.

Fosbre, Anne, Ellen M. Kraft, and Paul B. Fosbre. "The Globalization of Accounting Standards: IFRS Versus US GAAP." Global Journal of Business Research. 3.1 (2009): 61-70. Web. 27 Mar. 2012.

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

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

For nearly half a century, a movement has been underway to establish a high-quality, comprehensive set of international accounting standards, with the goal of facilitating international trade and investment. In the global capital market, differences in the rules of accounting for the purposes of recognition, measurement, and reporting of financial results have impaired the smooth transfer of information across borders. Given that it accounts for nearly a third of the global market, there is considerable pressure for the United States to conform to the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), as promulgated by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). While moving to a single set of accounting standards could create

A set of internationally recognized accounting standards facilitates capital flows across borders. Globally accepted standards make financial information readily comparable for its users. Foreign investors are more inclined to put money into a U.S. company if they are familiar with the company’s financial reporting. Conversely, U.S. investors will find it easier and less risky to invest in foreign companies when they know the local accounting standards (Epstein 2009). This will make U.S. companies and capital markets more competitive, since it saves costly reconcilition of different standards. Preparers, investors, auditors, and others will benefit from these cost effieciencies, since a Results of an IFAC Survey among accounting leaders around the world with respect to the importance of convergence to International Financial Reporting Standards for economic growth in their countries:

After a thorough analysis of several U.S. accounting failures such as those at ENRON, Worldcom, and others, individuals in the European Union and around the world claim that had the U.S. followed International Financial Reporting Standards, instead of U.S. GAAP, these debacles might never had happened. For many years, the accounting profession had faced several challenges developing a set of guidelines that would be generally accepted and universally practiced around the globe. In more recent years, more than 100 countries around the world, have adopted International Financial Reporting Standards in order to settle on a common worldwide accounting language. In today’s business world, the marketplace is demanding for increasing conformity. As gradually more companies start to adopt IFRS, a need for a single set of high quality standards rises and poses pressure on the United States to converge.

Across the world, many businesses and markets have adopted the use of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). People and organizations in the business world are increasingly demanding conformity and this has necessitated the shift from the U.S Generally Accepted Accounting Standards to the IFRS. However, in the United States, there is still much reluctance to adopt this change and these has caused a lot of heated debate on whether the businesses and markets should conform to the rest of the world.

There are two distinct methods of accounting for finances in the business world. These two methods are the methods both prescribed by the U.S., which is known as the generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), and that which is used by the international community known as international financial reporting standards (IFRS). GAAP is regulated by the financial accounting standards board (FASB) while IFRS is regulated by the international accounting standards board (IASB). These two methods are currently under a process which is known as convergence or harmonization so that the United States will eventually become integrated into the global community (Miller, S. E. 2009). This will cause financial statements to be more usable for more people across the globe as well as enhance citizens of the U.S.’s ability to perform business more efficiently internationally.

Similar to the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s (FASB) governance of U.S. GAAP in the United States, the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) was formed in 2001 to be the governing body responsible for International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). IFRS standards are beginning to be recognized globally as the leading accounting standards. Since 2002, the IASB and FASB have been committed to agreeing on unified international accounting standards. The ultimate goal is for IFRS to replace U.S. GAAP for the United States and be the new requirement for reporting for public companies. In the meantime, there are around 120 countries that already permit or require IFRS reporting and 90 countries that have fully adopted

The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) oversee the standards for both the US GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) and the IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards). With the proliferation of global business and ever growing markets, an attempt has been made within the last ten years to align both standards the two standards. The US GAAP has always given the guidelines and steps for American companies to follow when preparing their financial statements. Whereas the IFRS has always been more of standardized language to use in accounting practices internationally. The following is a brief analysis of changes, differences and outcomes from this transition.

Before 2001, none of the major economies in the world requires the use of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). However, since IFRS was adopted and required by the European Union (EU), IFRS is currently the most widely shared set of accounting standards with its application required or permitted by approximately 120 countries as indicated by the IFRS Resources (2015). IFRS, perceived as “a single set of high-quality, understandable and enforceable accounting standards” (IASB, 2007, p.4), shows its prevalence all around the world. Nevertheless, there are still some opponents against such harmonization. “The likelihood that any U.S. company will be forced to switch from using today’s version of U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) to using today’s version of IFRS is absolutely zero”(2010), said the specialist in corporate financial reporting, Bruce Pounder, doubting the possibility of eliminating differences between IFRS and U.S. GAAP, not to mention sharing a single set of accounting standards in all countries.

One of the most notable debate that is being going on in the business industry for over a decade is the convergence between IFRS and USGAAP. Most of the countries uses IFRS for representing their financial statement except US. US is one of the global business leader and having US follow IFRS is so necessary that a business can represent its financial statement on the same basis of foreign nations and it is also easy to benchmark. Though most of the countries follow IFRS, the