The International Accounting Standards Board

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).

The International Accounting Standards Board and the IFRS were created in 2001, which replaced the International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC) (IFRS ,2016). The monitoring board was created in 2009 (IFRS ,2016). ISAB and IFRS work to bring transparency, accountability and efficicenny to financial markets around the world (IFRS , 2016). The accounting standards are set as requirements to be allowed by organizations when the financial statements are prepared (IFRS, 2016). Standards are set by the IASB are the IFRS Standards (IFRS, 2016).

International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), represent the norms that were introduced by IASB. Being an independent organization that was not operational to earn profits, IASB, also known as, International Accounting Standards Board, incepted IFRS to facilitate public companies around the globe. IFRS presented a framework that served as a guide for these corporations directing them on preparation and disclosure of the financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards offered general guidance to the seekers concerning the financial statements. The standards never strived to set industry specific reporting principles or regulations.

When it comes to the rules of accounting, the Financial Accounting Standards Board, or FASB, is in charge mostly. Their main responsibilities include making changes to the rules of accounting they think is crucial for key people and businesses as well as inform them of the changes made. To make sure the rules are understandable by the people and businesses, FASB change and update them to fit what is in today’s capabilities. One of the most important recent changes happened in the first month of twenty-sixteen: many known as “Standard Update 2016-01”.

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.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) was established in 1973 in order to create and develop standards of financial accounting and reporting for the general use of the public and, in particular, users of financial information including auditors, creditors and investors. This financial information is standardized for greater clarity for the guidance and education of users (FASB org, 2009a). The primary purpose of FASB as a private and non-profit organization is to develop Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) in the United States. The FASB sets-up accounting standards for public companies in the U.S. under the mandate of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The FASB oversees the financial security; stability and

The national Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) came together and jointly issued a newer revenue recognition standards. This will change the effects of the current revenue guided under US GAAP and IFRS. It will take not much of the time to be used as the date is set to have effects from 2017. All of the firms had to work under the rules and regulations set. There is enough of the time left to understand and work on the changes. On dated 28th May, 2014 the new revenue standards were issued for contracts with customers. It has the power to give limitations and new rules are to be followed by various industries. It also includes those industries which have their own policies

On February 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued an Accounting Standards Update (Update) on Leases (Topic 842) to communicate changes to the FASB Codification. In this Update it defines the term, Leases and also explains why FASB is issuing this Update, who will be affected by the amendments, how do the main provision differ from current Generally Accepted Accounting Principal (GAAP) and why are they an improvement, as well as explaining the transition and when the amendment will be effective.

Inventory is an asset, and it has value and significance to a company since it can be sold for cash. This usually occurs in a repetitive pattern during the cycle of the business, where inventory is bought, sold, created, and acquired. The central focus of a company should be matching inventory with cost and subsequent revenue (FASB 330-10-1, 2009). Defined clearly, “the primary basis of accounting for inventories is cost,…defined generally as the price paid…to acquire as asset” (FASB, 330-30-1, 2009). The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) chose first-in, first-out (FIFO), last-in, first-out (LIFO), and average cost to be the only methods used to account for inventory dependent on which “reflects period income” the best (FASB 330-30-9, 2009). However, many question the use of historical cost to value inventory to be the best method and, under ideal conditions, these methods to value inventories may need adjustment as well.

The purpose of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) is to create and improve the standards of financial accounting and reporting for nongovernmental entities. It is a standard for not for profit financial reporting which provides useful information to investors and other users of financial reports. The Accounting Standards Update 2011-5 discusses the reporting and presentation of comprehensive income and its components in a full set of general purpose financial statements.

The IFRS on the other hand is beginning to gain traction as more and more countries adopt this practice. The IFRS has two main sources of its standards and principles which are the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and the International Accounting

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.

Earnings per share is introduced by the Financial Accounting Standards Board as the functionality used to calculate an institutions’ earnings for the year-end financial statements. The institutions can be made of up a simple or complex capital structure. It must be calculated on a constant basis in order for reports to remain consistent. FASB provides a formula of “dividing income available to common stockholders by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding during the period” (FASB 2009), to measure each share of stock earned. The net income of an institution simply comes from their income statement. The weighted average of common shares outstanding references on average how much was stock was outstanding during the entire year, since it fluctuated throughout the year. An issue that can be faced when determining earnings per share is the concept of share buybacks. This concept discusses cash that is not actually being invested but gives off the impression of good performance, when in all actuality, nothing had been generated. Investors and creditors focus a lot of attention to the findings of earnings per share as it sparks monetary interests. Ultimately, institutions strive for higher rates of earnings per share to demonstrate the institution’s performance and the likelihood of future success.

“International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) is a set of accounting standards developed by an independent, not-for-profit organization called the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB).” (IFRS 2011). IFRS establishes guidance for companies on how to prepare financial

Regulators and Accounting Standards Board have long struggled with the developing comprehensive reporting standards that will improve transparency, reliability, completeness, and comparability of the financial statements prepared by the company. The need to promote investor confidence in the market makes it important to improve the financial reporting standards so that investors are able to obtain accurate, reliable and complete information in order to make informed judgments. This paper reviews recent attempts by SEC and FASB to improve the reporting of off-balance sheet transactions, variable interest entity, and non-controlling interest.