Introduction:
This report will address the main features of the International Accounting Standards Board’s (IASB) Conceptual Framework (CF) by explaining the purpose and intent of these standards together with the structure of the framework. The important features of these standards will be highlighted, analysing of the significance of these and ultimately whether the CF has impacted on accounting practice.
Elliot and Elliot (2012, p.238) highlight the increasing need for a consistent framework due to ‘the growth of the global economy there has been a corresponding growth in the need for global standards so that investors around the world receive the same fair view of a company’s results’. Emphasising the need for the basic concepts,
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If preparers of financial statements follow the CF, it is hoped the ease of comparability between different entities will result in individual users being able to make well-informed economic decisions.
There are numerous purposes stated in the CF. The main purpose being to give guidance for accounting standard-setters, the IFRS, to review existing standards and to develop new ones. The CF gives a coherent and consistent foundation to underpin the development of new accounting standards (ACCA, 2014).
A further purpose and also one of high importance, is to align the accounting standards to promote harmonisation of regulations. The aim is to reduce the alternative accounting treatments whilst preparing financial statements (IASB, 2010).
Further purposes of the CF are to assist both the preparers of financial statements in applying the IFRS and assisting auditors on providing an opinion on an entity after evaluating whether the financial statements comply with the IFRS.
The structure of the CF and the significance of its important features:
The structure of the CF is outlined in the diagram below. The significance of the important features within this will then be discussed.
Source: (Kieso, Weygandt and Warfield, 2011, p.8)
The CF is divided up into an introduction and a further 4 chapters. Each chapter covers a different underlying concept to financial statement reporting, all of which have been outlined below. Following the main
Furthermore, according to ASC 810-10-10-1, it explains the objectives of the consolidated financial statements, as
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.
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.
The Financial Accounting Standards Board goes through an elaborate information gathering process before issuing their standards. Firstly, an issue is identified and placed on the Board 's agenda by the Emerging Issues Task Force. Secondly, a task force of knowledgeable persons is appointed to advise the Board on the issue. Thirdly, the Board 's technical staff investigates the issue. Fourthly, a discussion memorandum on the issue is then written and distributed to interested parties. Fifthly, the
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 objective of general purpose financial reporting is to provide financial information about the reporting entity that is useful to existing and potential investors, lenders and other creditors in making decisions about providing resources to the entity.”
The IFRS are the standards, interpretations and the framework adopted and developed by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) (Freeman, 2014). These set of ac-counting standards would improve comparability of financial information as well as the flow and pricing of capital (Epstein at al 2009). IFRS is becoming the global standard for the prep-aration of company financial statements (Freeman, 2014). International compatible financial statements assist in lending decisions, loan monitoring, and establish international vendor credit and development of other international business relationship (Evans, et al.., 2005).
The international financial accounting standards is a non for profit private sector. Their aim is to serve the public interests. With the growing globalisation of business and finance, it has stimulated a standardisation of accounting standards among countries. This measure aims to
The paper then evaluates International Accounting Standards Board’s (IASB) attempts to develop a conceptual framework and the current state. In the final section I will discuss and reflect upon the evidence presented to support the topic of this essay along with a conclusion of facts and ideas presented.
In 2001, International Accounting Standard Board (IASB) replaced International Accounting Standard Committee (IASC) in order to develop a high quality standard of accounting for use in the capital markets area and by other numbers of users. (Mary E. et.al, 2007). There were so many issues presented and discussed since then to achieve their main goal. However, without any guidance and framework, to create a new standard that is acceptable and relevant for all users of accounting are difficult. So, conceptual framework is basically was set up to assist the IASB by
With the development of the globalization, the business connection between diverse countries is becoming stronger and closer. Thus finding a uniform business language among different enterprises is an increasingly important issue, which could help company owner to understand better and evaluate various investment opportunities in foreigner countries. Accounting is widely recognized as one of the most efficient and useful tools to communicate in the business word. However, there are a large number of accounting standards in diverse financial markets, such as Japan Generally Accepted Accounting Principle (JGAAP), Australian Accounting Standard (ASS) and the US Generally Accepted Accounting Principle (US GAAP). To fill the gap between discrepant accounting standard, the International Accounting Standard Board (IASB) attempt to set up universal accounting standard and make it universally accepted and applied. IASB has established in 2001 April, which was reorganized by the International Accounting Standard Committee (IASC), and its work is quickly approved by its target group. During this process, a common conceptual framework was initially developed by a joint IASB-FASB Project, which was used as a basis for accounting standards. In 2012, this project was suspended and replaced by an IASB-only comprehensive project (reference).
The existing Conceptual Framework of IASB’s was developed by its predecessor body IASC (International Accounting Standards Committee) in 1989. The material on the objective of financial reporting was first revised by the IASB in 2010 with the US national standard-setter, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). This ED sets out the proposal for a revised Conceptual framework. It has been developed on the behalf of responses received on (‘the Discussion Paper) which was published in July 2013. (IFRS, May 2015)
In September 2005, the IFRS and GAAP committed to standardizing the Fair Value Measurement in both the IFRS and GAAP. A committee was created that to evaluate all techniques being used across the board of both standards. In May of 2011 the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued new guidance on fair value measurement and the disclosure requirements for both the IFRS and the GAAP. (FASB, May) The new guidelines defined the same in both the IFRS and GAAP closes a gap that has been a problem with more companies operating globally in today’s market. Having the new guidance process helps companies know when to use fair value measurement and
When preparing financial statements there are issues that need to be taken into account. The Framework was designed to provide resolutions to these issues.
As the globalization of markets has become more prominent in recent years, many are wondering why a single set of accounting standards are not followed. After all, English may be the business language, but accounting is the language of business. Accounting standards are essentially just rules that must be followed when reporting any accounting data on any of the company’s financial statements. The objective is to provide the user (creditor or investor) with relevant information of the company’s financial position so that users then can compare it with another company’s financial statements and proceed to make an informed decision. With only that objective in mind, it can be seen why a common set of accounting standards would be beneficial.