International Classification of Accounting Systems

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.

The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) was formed in an attempt to bring uniform accounting standards within international countries through its issuing of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Today, over 100 countries including Canada, India, and Japan have adopted these standards for financial reporting. The growth of multinational companies such as Coca Cola and the increasing desire of cross-border investing have made it apparent that the U.S.accounting standards known as the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) can no longer remain separate from IFRS. Under the request of the Securities and

From Willmore (2015) research, a few studies have shown IFRS convergence is a hot issue within the accounting discipline; many people in the accounting and business join in on this topic. Majority agrees that IFRS is a more principles-based approach opposed to U.S. GAAP, a more rules-based approach. A source even stated American

As stated earlier, the IASB arose from specific needs of the accounting industry and the public. As international trade has increased, the need for transnational accounting information has increased as well. This sparked the demand for development of international accounting standards to make financial data between countries more comparable. In 1973, the International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC) was formed to develop these international standards. The standards issued by the IASC, prior to 2001, were called International Accounting Standards (IASs). In 2001, the IASC made the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) the official international standard-setting body. The standards issued by the IASB are called International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) (Schroeder, Clark, & Cathey, 2011, p. 82-87).

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

A joint convergence committee created the members of (FASB) and (IASB). (IASB) is recognized as an independent accounting standard-setting body that is similar to (FASB) that joins (GAAP), and is governed by the (IFRS) foundation. Due to this convergence, (AICPA) believes U.S. adoption of a single set of high-quality, globally accepted accounting standards will benefit U.S. financial markets and public companies by enabling preparation of transparent and comparable financial reports throughout the world, (American Institute of CPAs, 2016). Secondly, (AICPA) is dedicated to supplying the whole accounting profession with information, tools and IFRS.com for instance to assimilate as well as implement a new set of standards. As the (AICPA) supports continual convergence of reliable accounting standards between (IFRS) and (GAAP) the mission of completion between (IASB) and (FASB) is prolonged. (AICPA) will always support funding mechanisms of the body-making

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

On November 18, 2002 the FASB and IASB came together at a meeting in Norwalk, Connecticut to start the wheels in motion for the purpose of establishing a new set of financial standards. The FASB and IASB are committed to create financial standards that will be accepted both domestically and internationally that are of high quality and compatible for financial reporting. At present more than a 100 countries already use the International Financial Reporting Standards. The U.S. at present has not accepted a changed in accounting procedures; therefore, this is going to be a major task for both the FASB and IASB to complete successfully this union. I do believe that the partnership between the FASB and IASB will achieve the goals of creating a common financial reporting set of standards that will be accepted by all.

The IASB and the US FASB have set a long-term strategic priority to achieve convergence of IFRS and US GAAP into a common set of high

The convergence research project: The project seeks to identify the substantive differences between US GAAP and IFRS and to catalog those differences according to the Board’s strategy for resolving them. The project scope includes differences in standards addressing

The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) are working together to eliminate a variety of difference between the United States generally accepted accounting procedures (U.S. GAAP or GAAP) and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). This convergence project grew out of an agreement reached by the two boards in 2002 (Deloitte, 2004).

In terms of comparability, there were major differences between the US GAAP and IFRS standards. This posed as an issue for evaluating financial performance internationally. IFRS 15 eliminates the inconsistencies created by the ‘industry –specific’ guidance of AASB118 by providing a single revenue recognition model.

The IASB and FASB have been working on a project together to minimize the differences in the way financial statements are presented to the public. Some of the major changes that we will notice in the statements are the adoption of the International standards. The information portrayed will be the same with some changes in the organization of the data. The changes are said to bring more understanding to the interpretability of financial statements as a whole.

GAAP has been around for many more years than IFRS has. Is this an advantage or disadvantage for a move towards IFRS? Some people would argue that it is a disadvantage because the U.S. GAAP covers almost all possible accounting issues and has also shown sustainability through its years in practice. On the other side, the advantage to having a newer set of standards is that they will not be as cluttered as the U.S. GAAP. But doesn’t the word “convergence” mean to eliminate the differences between the two standards? So we would be blending the best of both sets of standards and both of these arguments would be illogical, right? That brings us to another debate about the convergence with IFRS. If the business world would flow better with one set of accounting standards, why are we trying to blend the two accounting standards instead of just adopting IFRS? If over 100 countries and counting have switched to IFRS, why can’t the U.S. do the same so that one set of standards will really be attained?

Blanchette Michel et al. (2012) talk about the inherent difference between national GAAP and IFRSs and analyzed its impact on financial statements. Similarly, Iatridis G., (2010) also mentions the difference between IFRSs and UK GAAP and analyzed impact of IFRSs convergence on the financial statements of companies in UK.