Globalization: Gaap vs. Ifrs

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.

The globalization of business activity has resulted in the need for a uniform set of accounting rules in all countries. With U.S. corporations doing so much business in other countries, it is imperative that the SEC and international regulatory boards devise a set of rules and regulations that would benefit both parties. If this did not happen, international companies would be able to do whatever they wanted without repercussion because of the discrepancies in the differing sets of rules. Accomplishing this universal set of rules would allow companies to list securities in any market without having to prepare more than one set of financial statements. There have been so many

It has been argued over years that Convergence of financial reporting is possibly one of the most important and controversial topics in accounting and corporate governance across countries, of which I could not wholly agree them. The Issue of the convergence of the National Accounting Standards with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) among policy makers, standard setters, regulators, professional bodies, and companies worldwide has peaked up and widely been discussed lately. (Yu Chen & Zabihollah R 2012)

The convergence of two accounting systems, the US GAAP and International Financial Reporting Standards, is not a new concept. For many years, the primordial idea of convergence started in the late 1950’s in response to post World War II economic integration and related increases in cross-border capital flows. Initially, the term used was “Harmonization until the early 1990’s the politically correct term is “Convergence”.

During the PRE-IFRS accounting system and where worldwide accounting diversity was widespread, a number of PRE-IFRS developmental factors were found to be the cause behind international differences in ownership and financing of companies and led to differences in the financial reporting practices of multi-national corporations (MNCs). This type of environment created extensive opportunities for corruption and poor performance and made it hard to compare global companies. The following four main PRE-IFRS development factors have the biggest impact on international business accounting practices: source of finance, legal system, taxation system and political and economic ties (Meek & Saudagaran, 1990). Even though the International Financial

With the growth of international business there is a need to standardize financial statements globally. Presently there are “approximately 120 foreign private issuers currently that report to the Commission using IFRS financial statements.” By standardizing accounting practices investors will be able to make informed decisions based on comparability and accuracy of financial statements. The SEC released this statement in 2008, “We believe that IFRS has the potential to best provide the common platform on which companies can report and investors can compare financial information.” The SEC has created a “Roadmap” or plan to convert US GAAP over to IFRS. According to The Committee of

Our aim in this paper is to analyse and justify the facts that support and object the main issue of whether the mandatory adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards have in fact increased Financial Reporting Quality.

BHP Billiton and Suncor have strong accounting values, each complying with IFRS with little or no modifications . OMV and Statoil both adopt the EU endorsed version of IFRS, weakening IASB regulations, resulting in lower quality reporting. Due to high government control, there is doubt regarding the reliability of Sinopec’s financial reports.

The SEC has several aspects to consider when it comes to the adoption of IFRS in the United States. First, the SEC should consider the overall costs impact this will have on businesses. It is likely that it would cost billions of dollars in new reporting expenses for U.S corporations to implement IFRS. It would also require accounting firms to vastly change their education requirements. Second, the SEC’s main job is to protect investors from fraud on public exchanges. The commission must determine whether IFRS does a better job of protecting investors from unlawful activity.

A Comparison and Contrast Analysis of U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)

The purpose of this publication is to assist you in understanding the significant differences between International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) and U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (U.S. GAAP). This publication does not discuss every possible difference; rather, it is a summary of those differences that we have encountered most frequently in practice, resulting from either a difference in emphasis or specific

Accounting reporting criteria includes many factors and covers many elements. From Fundamental Financial Accounting Concepts, “accounting is so important that it is often called the language of business. In fact, accounting affects not only individual businesses but also society as a whole” (Edmonds, Edmonds, McNair, Olds, & Schneider, 2006, p. 4). Global business requires added consideration in the way of accounting reporting criteria. With heightened consumer protection becoming increasingly important, regulation of American reporting criteria such as The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) is common to hear or the Security Exchange Commission’s (SEC) requirement of management submitting a financial statement in

Globalization is a phenomenon that keeps increasing with a rapid pace. The effects of globalization are reflected into the world of financial reporting as well. During the last decades, the need for a single set of accounting standards around the world has risen. The idea of having mutual accounting standards has been an issue with controversial opinions. Many academics have expressed their opinion but there has been a separation between them as some of them believe that the benefits are significant and it definitely needs to happen and others believe that it is not as good as it seems. In the following essay there is going to be a discussion about the advantages and disadvantages of having a single set of accounting standards around

In recent years, technological developments have permitted the free flow of information worldwide. The financial world is challenged by disparate accounting standards between jurisdictions, preventing the free flow of capital worldwide. The mission of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) is to develop a single set of accounting standards, enabling capital to flow in international markets as easily as information spreads between people. This paper presents a brief history of international accounting standard setting and the IASB, considers arguments for and against international standards, analyzes problems to overcome before standards can be implemented worldwide, and evaluates the level of global acceptance of