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Accounting serves to ensure that financial information is accurately tracked, managed and reported acorss business as well in the personal lives of people. This was as much a necessary function in biblical times as it is today. Although scandals and fraud have farther reaching impact today, it is not a phomenon of our time. So much is this case that botht he Old and New Testament provide rules for accounting and financial actions. Jesus used parables throughout the new Testament that relate to money and it was one of the topics he spoke the most on. Hagerman (1980) states, “the Bible points out that financial accounting is necessary to avoid fraud, to monitor agents, and to reduce conflicts over resources” (p. 72).

Preventative efforts to reduce stress ulcer development include pharmacological agents such as proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) and histamine 2 receptor antagonists (H2RA) (Kersh et al, 2017). The continued use of SUP, such as PPIs, may increase the risk of ventilator-associated pneumonia and Clostridium difficile infections (CDIs) by suppressing gastric acid of bacteriostatic effect (Ro et al, 2016). Because of widespread prophylactic use of pharmacologic agents and the development of hospital-acquired infections (HAIs), healthcare costs have increased by $14,000 per patient (Barletta & Sclar, 2013). Although some evidence suggested that SUP should be implemented for those at increased risk for stress ulcers, it is unclear to whether or not

MEASURE would be an effective tool for me to use if I was a high school counselor who was aiming to improve my school’s graduation and post secondary enrollment rates. MEASURE is an acronym for a 7-step acronym program that stands for Mission, Elements, Analyze, Stakeholder-Unite, Results/Outcome, and Educate. The reason it is an effective program is because it allows a school counseling team to target critical data elements that can be game changers toward their accountability agenda (Stone, 2016). It also allows the counseling team to organize the goals that they have and the policies they have put in place to reach those goals so that they could move the critical data in a positive direction. MEASURE also grants the school

» There must be a choice - choose a base case and an alternative. (Do nothing/status quo)

The securities market regulators revealed three surprises during 2000 with varying degrees of favorability for the standards developed by the IASC. First, the SEC examined these standards carefully and questioned their forcefulness and worth (Zeff, 2012). Only a few months later a committee of the IOSCO recommended that its members should accept financial statements prepared using IASC standards for use by investors in their respective capital markets, however the committee tempered their recommendation by sanctioning reconciliations between standards, additional disclosures, or specifying the use of certain alternatives (Zeff, 2012). Finally by mid-year, the EU mandated the adoption of IASC standards for all consolidated financial statements issued in the EU by 2005 (Zeff, 2012).

Since July 2007, leading economist believe that this has been the worst financial crisis since the great depression. This essay outlines various viewpoints and influences in respect to the paradigm. Firstly it defines, Global Financial Crisis (GFC) and the impact it has had on International Accounting Standards in regards to implementation and use of their accounting regulations. It also examines The Fair Value Measurement in accordance to the effect it has on the GFC and how the interpretation of fair value is the problem not the method itself. The Positive Accounting Theory (PAT) is also discussed and analysed in terms of it being the dominant theory to justify accounting regulations and standards (Anonymous. 2008a).

Much of the world is moving toward a common set of global accounting standards. Discuss the benefits of having one set of accounting and financial reporting standards around the world, with particular reference to investors and multinational firms. What are the disadvantages of moving toward a set of global standards and what barriers need to be overcome to achieve the goal of standardization?

Abstract: Globalization has increased the need for foreign investments. It has also increased the need for reliable and comparable information. Harmonization and comparability have brought forth the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) created by International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), based in London. The IASB began in 2001, and by 2005 all publicly listed companies are required to prepare financials with IFRS (Guggiola, G, 2010). The IASB’s goal was to create a set of standards investors and other users were able to understand. IFRS is now used by most countries around the world. When companies grow, they need to raise money. To raise the money, they decide to go public. Public means sharing the risk of ownership to shareholders. This also means having stocks listed in the stock exchange.

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.

IASB was founded in April 2001, as a replacement for the IASC. It consists of 15 board members from different countries, with a diverse financial reporting background appointed by a board of Trustees (Members of the IASB, 2007). It is the main standard-setter for the countries that use IASs for their financial reporting. USA on the other hand has its own set of standards (GAAP) issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board. But IASB and FASB since 2002 have been working together focusing on making a converged set of high quality global standards. This will have a huge impact on a number of elements, such as investors, stock markets, accountants,

Accounting standard has been introduced after the World War II where every country has its own proper accounting practices such as the United States Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (the US GAAP). As time flies, international trade and foreign direct investment has experience a period of rapid growth where the companies begin to expand their business in a larger scale. Frequent international mergers and acquisitions especially by American corporations to the European companies has created the diverse accounting practices where comparing financial statements between country to another become very difficult to do. To lessen the difference and promote international harmonization in accounting practices, Sir Henry Benson, senior partner in the United Kingdom (UK) firm of Cooper Brothers & Co. led the founding of International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC) and issued the International Accounting Standard (IAS). Since 2001, the new IAS is known as International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and has been issued by International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). Ball (2006) stated in his article that “the notion that uniform standards alone will produce uniform financial reporting seem naïve”. I strongly agreed with this for several reasons which I will discuss further below with real world examples.

Second, the use of familiar accounting standards can increase foreign investors’ confidence in their ability to assess the foreign market and thus can lead them to invest more in the market (Amiram, 58-59). Business is now also much more complex than it was in earlier times. Contractual relationships are more complicated, and the financial instruments that companies issue to raise capital and hedge risks are far more sophisticated than the comparatively simple loans and stock shares that were issued and traded in preceding decades (IFRS). In its website the documents titled “Global Capital Markets and the Global Economy” IFRS mentions that these changes in economic and business activity are having and will continue to have major implications for the kinds of information investors will need from corporate reports in the future:

The framework serves as a guide for the standard-setting bodies to develop International Accounting Standards and how to effectively enforce the use of each standard (IAS, 2010). These IASs were first issued by the International Accounting Standards council (IASC) and later on approved and amended by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). These standards are crucial for sustaining high level of financial reporting and also assure that the financial statements are comparable to prior years for the same entity and various other entities around the world. The financial statements must be presented in accordance with the standards and among these standards is the essential IAS 1, that lays down the basis for presenting the financial statements.

The International Financial Reporting Standards, or IFRS, are a set of standards designed to keep accounts comparable internationally. They are increasingly important as we move towards a global economy and with the increasing number of international companies. The United States, however, typically uses a different set of accounting standards. These are called the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, or GAAP. The SEC has displayed interest in switching to the international standards recently, however. “In November 2008, the SEC proposed a road map that, if several milestones are achieved, could lead to a mandated use of IFRS for domestic listed companies in 2014. These actions of the SEC highlight the dedication of the U.S. to

The development of global financial reporting is significant because of the recent false, fraudulent and insufficient financial statement information presented by various companies locally and abroad. In the past years, business and accounting practices have failed to inhibit assurance and trust to their investors Thus, governments have questioned if the implementation of increased regulation would be the answer in helping to eliminate fraudulent behavior. Unfortunately, companies such as Enron and WorldCom are getting get caught for fraudulent behavior. Thus, increasing new regulations will not help eliminate fraudulent and criminal activities because it will just would result in more conflicts. The best possible way to help eliminate white collar crimes in the United States is to persuade companies to change their financial accounting practices. This is because increasing more regulations such as The Securities Acts of 1933 and 1934, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, and the Sarbanes Oxley Act has helped detect fraudulent activities and punishing criminals with in a company. However, it will never eliminate Fraud and scandalous activity with in a company. It will only bring more mistakes and disorder with in the business community. The best possible solution in detecting fraudulent activities is to have company use to simpler accounting standards. The IFRS accounting standard is the best solution. The SEC needs to consider using IFRS alongside with the GAAP as