Introduction
This essay will critically evaluate the adoption of International Accounting Standards by UK companies. IAS (International Accounting Standards) created by IASC (International accounting standards committee) are a set of standards stating how particular types of transactions and other events should be reflected in financial statements. Since 2001 the IASB (International Accounting Standards Board) succeeded the IASC to create the IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) which are “a single set of accounting standards, developed and maintained by the International Accounting Standards Board (the Board) with the intention of those standards being capable of being applied on a globally consistent basis—by developed,
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For UK companies this makes it easier and cheaper from them to raise capital from investors across the globe. Rolls Royce PLC chief financial officer David Smith has said “At the same time, the change to aftermarket accounting, particularly in Civil Aerospace, reinforces our focus on cash flows, as we look to improve further our strong reputation for customer service by maximising engine availability while minimising cost.” (Smith, 2016).
International Compatibility
Using IFRS detaches a business from the constraints of the national-level accounting standards and automatically makes financial reports acceptable in IFRS-compliant countries. This will also reduces cost significantly for UK companies as they will not need to prepare alternative financial reports when pursuing business interests in other countries, furthermore this will help foreign subsidiaries. An example of a UK based company that uses IFRS is Marks and Spencers (M&S Financial Report 2016, 2017). This company operates a large amount of subsidiaries both in the UK and EU, with over 1,382 stores worldwide, and therefore has adopted the IFRS standards to allow easier trading within these nations. While UK GAAP is still popular for many UK companies, adopting IFRS will reduce the need for M&S to prepare separate accounts for each subsidiary it owns (M&S Financial Report 2016, 2017). Having this capability increases competition as companies with the same accounting standards have
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.
As the responsibilities of the global harmonization of accounting standards IFRS and GAAP transfer to IASB, FASB’s influence is waning. Advantages of the convergence include high quality financial reporting, which lowers cost of capital for investors and the cost of borrowing for companies. However, there are disadvantages to be noted, such as the costs of introducing IFRS to current and potential accountants and the risk of reducing the uniformity of financial reports due to the lax rulings of IFRS, which promotes earnings management amongst companies. Although arguments regarding the convergence remain prevalent, the completion of IFRS and GAAP is inevitable. Come year 2015, accountants, investors, and companies alike will discover whether or not the pros outweighed the cons; or vice versa.
UK’s IFRSs are designed to make it easier to compare the performance of organizations in different countries, rather than each country maintaining its own GAAP, which makes such comparisons difficult. All listed EU companies have been required to use IFRSs since 2005. The adoption of IFRSs by the private sector is expected to have various benefits for both companies and investors; including (1) UK’s IFRSs will remove the need for companies with foreign subsidiaries to translate the accounts for consolidation with the parent company accounts. Also (2) it will be easier for investors to make informed decisions about the performance of companies in different countries because of the increased transparency and a better understanding of financial statements.
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
Over a decade ago, it was believed that the whole world would likely adopt the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). At the point in time, the International Financial reporting Standards (IFRS) was only about ten years old. In the last decade, the IFRS has been adopted in many growing countries. Currently, it is anticipated that the U.S. will converge its GAAP with the international IFRS, leaving behind only a modified IFRS. This may occur as early as 2014.
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
Following the implementation of IFRS, UK has a significant reduction in the cost of equity capital. IFRS make it easier to compare the performance of companies in different countries, rather than each country maintaining its own GAAP, which makes such comparisons difficult.
Although, many authors write about these huge incidents in America, few are discussed about the scandals abroad. Other countries (Switzerland, Italy, Greece and others) also have their issues with frauds and scandals, just not as wide spread. Therefore, the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) seek to implement a single global accounting standard, called the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) (Street, 2012). The IASB was actually established during the 1970s to promote a worldwide acceptance of regulations, accounting standards and procedures (Schroeder et al, 2011). In 2002, the FASB and IASB agreed that there is a need for an international reporting standard. Due to the high volume of international trade and foreign operations, the two boards, decided that there should be one global approach to accounting standards (Zeff,
IFRS was created in 2001 with nearly the same objective as FASB, creating high caliber, effective, and efficient standards not just locally but globally. Their headquarters are in London, England. Within a 15 year span, almost 120 different countries have begun to follow and report under IFRS. By adopting IFRS, a business can present its financial statements on the same basis as its foreign competitors, making comparisons easier and allowing them to engage in different markets (IFRS, 2016). IFRS is seeking unity so it is easier to compare financial reports country to country. This will make companies marketable in foreign places and allow foreign competitors to easily enter different markets.
The globalization of markets over the past 50 years has led to the demand for increasingly comparable financial statements across countries. In response to this demand, the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) was formed with the purpose of developing a set of high quality global accounting standards. Although a majority of developed markets have adopted the international standards, the United States has not. One reason for the delay in adoption is that many of the standards are very similar. However, there are also several key differences between the two. Presently, the United States Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the IASB have
The country selected for this study is the United Kingdom (UK). UK Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (GAAP) has been in place for a long period of time and was harmonized in 2005 so as to comply with the international accounting standards. The UK embraced the principles of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in 2005 after the European Union (EU) mandated that all members that were publicly listed companies be subject to reporting under the International Accounting Standards (IAS). This was to help facilitate that those listed companies could easily be compared to onr other on their performance and transparency was improved since they were now subject to the same principles of reporting. Companies in the United
With complete notion and awareness of how each country has their set of rules, “the goal of IFRS is to provide a global framework for how public companies prepare and disclose their financial statements” (Rouse, 2011). This view is meant to provide general guidelines, as well as international comparisons through conventional and edifying means. To bring broader and vivid objectives, IFRS replaced IAS, the older standards, in order to bring a more comprehensive and simplified accounting procedures.
The Integrated International Reporting Framework was introduced by the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) to guide the entire integrated reporting process and also to clearly define key ideas and concepts of this framework. Given some of the confusion surrounding this framework among companies and accountants in New Zealand with respect to what precisely the Integrated <IR> Framework is and how it might affect accounting practice, this essay purports to clearly explain the framework. Further, this paper will also critically examine the framework, highlighting some of the salient opportunities, benefits, challenges and limitations of this approach. Finally, it will briefly reflect upon the implication of the framework for accounting practice.
This article introduces the International Financial Reporting System (IFRS) rules and practices, to the Czech Republic. The IFRS is a financial reporting system was established in an attempt to maintain stability throughout the financial community. Despite the conflicts with other countries’ accounting systems, the IFRS attempts to organize one financial standard system for businesses to report their financial statements. This article examines the relationship between domestic and global standards of accounting. The concept of developing a modern accounting standard in the Czech Republic, implies that most companies in that country are not willing to change their accounting standards.