The International Accounting Standards Board

The IOSCO plan does not cover accounting standards.(66) These standards are important for providing financial statements in a scheme that are prepared in the similar manner as those by issuers from other countries. The development of international accounting standards is the subject of a distinct project by IOSCO, and many accounting professionals who are concomitant with that undertaking are hopeful that a satisfactory solution is within reach.(67) Supposing, however, that an agreement is possible on a core set of financial standards and that they too are embraced by securities regulators as compulsory for foreign issuers, the road to commonality has at least two other impediments.

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).

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

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

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 thought of implementing a uniformity in the accounting standards has been discussed for a long time in the world of accounting. In fact, there is a quote from Financial Times that stated “The goal of single worldwide accounting language has been a dream. Today it is fast becoming a reality, and the pace is picking up.” (Carmona and Trombetta 2008, p.456). Likewise, Ball (2006) had a great article discussing about the uniformity of the accounting standards. He had mentioned some interesting points such as the important of uniformity, as well as the disadvantages of it. Even though uniformity in accounting standards have been around for a while, it is still something that yet to be accomplished completely. In Ball (2006) stated his concern on this matter that even with the same standards it may be still some differences in the reports. Thus, in this essay there will be discussions whether uniformity of accounting standards is needed in producing the financial reports along with the obstacles some countries may occur when try to do it.

Over the last decade, the way in which financial reporting is carried out has seen some significant advancements. One of the most momentous changes has been the introduction of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), which have been adopted broadly throughout the world, with one major exception, the United States. Before accounting standards can be considered truly global, this exception has to be resolved. The prospect of such an occurrence took massive strides in 2002, when the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB); responsible for standard-setting in the US, announced their intention to work alongside the IASB in order to converge IFRS with US GAAP. For the first time, a truly global set of accounting standards seemed a

In April and October 2005, the FASB and the IASB reaffirmed their commitment to the convergence of US generally accepted accounting principles (US GAAP) and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) and agreed upon the need for the removal of the reconciliation requirement for non-US companies that use IFRSs and are registered in the United States.

The international Accounting Standards Board (IASB) is an independent, private sector that develops and approves the body of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The IASB manages and controls the IFRS foundation. The IASB has a group of 14 members who operates and manages the IFRS through daily meetings, community engagements, and speeches about the IFRS. These members are experts in accounting standards, preparing, auditing, financial reporting, and accounting education. Each member of the IASB covers each geographical area including North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. IASB has been delegated many roles and responsibilities to operate the IFRS. They

increased international compatibility of accounting standards should occur, because they are developed in the context of a conceptual framework that is similar to the conceptual frameworks used by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and major overseas national standard setters;

For decades, countries have designed their individual accounting standards principle-based, rules-based, tax-oriented, or business-oriented. Globalization has led to the greater needs with regards to harmonizing the standards (Kimmel, 2013). By late 1990’s the dominant standards were the IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) and U.S. GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles). Thus, both the standard setters namely; FASB (Financial Accounting Standards Board) and IASB (International Accounting Standards Board) launched a convergence project prior to the IFRS being essentially adopted by several countries. Measures are being taken to reduce likely impacts the frameworks would have on financial statement and reduction of last minute changes (Kimmel, 2013).

There is a clear roadmap to social globalization and convergence of US.GAAP – IFRS Standard as prescribed by the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) for users that set up financial statements in accordance with IFRS as issued by IASB. This followed would lead to a worldwide adoption of IFRS over the next few years. In his work, Barry (2009, p.26-27) states, “The advantage of a single set of financial reporting standards are manifest, particularly as internationalization of business activities became the norm. In particular, having uniform, high quality standards has been extolled as fostering international business relationships, with the goal being the facilitation of cross border capital flows and lowering the cost of capital _ the expected results of the anticipated reduction of perceived accounting risk”.

Corporations must conform by the financial reporting requirements of the stock exchange that it wishes to be listed on. Hence, if every country used the same accounting methods, worldwide stock exchanges could profit as more companies would be eligible for listing, and ultimately, the volume of securities transactions will increase as well (Diaconu 2007).

The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB, 2012) believes that convergence of US generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) with international financial reporting standards (IFRS) is necessary because business worldwide would benefit from having a single set of high quality international accounting standards. This would make it easier for cross-border financial reporting. The FASB makes the claim that it would help with domestic reporting but that seems counterintuitive and the FASB does not back up this claim with evidence. Ultimately the benefit is that companies only deal with one set of standards worldwide and that investors worldwide are able to make sound investment decisions about different companies as a result.

This paper follows the previous papers showing that there are needs for harmonization across the globe in order for accounting standards to not be affected in a negative way. The best way to make this happen is by adopting the same set of standards across the globe and stick by them. This paper will show how the adoption of these standards will benefit countries globally by using the United States alone as an example. As a matter of fact, the effects on U.S. reporting practices are likely to be limited. Nonetheless, there could be a significant impact accounting reporting processes and systems. Therefore our focus will be on the costs to implement the solution. The major out-of-pocket costs will probably occur during the transition phase,