The Harmonisation Of Accounting Standards

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.

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.

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

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

global standard allows them to operate in a single accounting environment worldwide (PricewaterhouseCoopers 2007). The globally positive attitude towards an convergence to IFRS is exemplified by an IFAC survey among

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

IFRS is a set of accounting standards promulgated by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), an international standard-setting body based in London. It was designed as a common global language for business affairs so that company accounts are comparable and understandable across international boundaries (Ghosh, 2010). In June 2002, the European Union (EU) adopted an IAS Regulation requiring European companies listed in an EU/European Economic Area (EEA) securities market to prepare their consolidated financial statements in accordance with IFRS starting in 2005 (United Kingdom).

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

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 International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) is the accounting framework used by the European Union, Japan, Canada, and other world economic leaders. The IFRS is based on the tenets of understandability, reliability, and comparability. It is based off the International Accounting Standards (IAS) and had the opportunity to be built from accounting ideas and principles used across the world. In recent years it also has had the chance to look at the United States Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and modify the rules to enhance clarity and consistency, intentionally setting itself apart from U.S.

There have been proposals that have been working on with regard to the replacement of GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) with IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) as used in the accounting and financial reporting aspects. Such convergence requires that the functions of the GAAP standards be added to the IFRS. The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) developed the IFRS which is a less-detailed financial reporting system.

International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) describes a common method or modality by which the financial reporting of different business organizations is carried out. Initially, different countries used to have their distinct and separate standards of financial reporting. Financial reports are possibly obtained from the financial statements of any business organization. A financial statement as principle mode enables a company to present its f0inalncial information to the outsiders who may have the interest of having the knowledge of a company's financial status. They give the position of a company's financial status, comprehensive income statement, cash flow statement, and equity changes statement.

With the globalization of international trades, it is necessary to design a common accounting language to compare the financial performance of companies from different countries. For this reason, International Accounting Standard Board (IASB) publish the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) which are principle-based in order to improve the quality of financial reporting and to harmonize accounting standards in 2001.