Essay The Political Nature of Accounting Standard Setting

Before deciding to fully adopt IFRSS, in 1996, the AASB issued Policy Statement 6 International Harmonization Policy with objective to ‘pursue the

The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) was formed in an attempt to bring uniform accounting standards within international countries through its issuing of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Today, over 100 countries including Canada, India, and Japan have adopted these standards for financial reporting. The growth of multinational companies such as Coca Cola and the increasing desire of cross-border investing have made it apparent that the U.S.accounting standards known as the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) can no longer remain separate from IFRS. Under the request of the Securities and

The purpose of accounting is to record the financial information, such as transactions and performance, related to a business. The accounting profession has been in existence for as long as business transactions have occurred. It wasn’t until 1494, however, when Luca Pacioli, a Venetian merchant, wrote Summa de Arithmetica, Geometrio, Proportioni et Proportionalita. His writings described a two-entry system of debits and credits, which became the basis for modern accounting systems. Three centuries later, with the emergence of the Industrial Revolution and the development of corporations, the profession of being an accountant became a necessity to keep track of the rising costs and cash flows. As a result, the American Association of Public

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).

Fast forward to 1970, where the APB’s main contribution “Basic Concepts and Accounting Principles Underlying Financial Statement of Business Enterprises was highly critized for achieving too little too late. Ultimately, resulting in the AICPA suggesting that the standard setting role be turned over to an autonomous body known as the Financial Accounting Standards Board

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

Accounting has been playing a very important role in many places such as Australian accounting standards. Australian accounting standards is also developed by the Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB). This essay will firstly discuss what AASB is, the role and the functions of AASB. And then, following this, the other projects’ role such as Financial Reporting Council (FRC) and International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and the relationship between AASB, FRC and IASB.

Why do we study comparative accounting? Countries around the world have different aspects such as taxation, legal systems, culture and colonial influence that differ the way accounting is reported. Ultimately the need for fair presentation is the final objective to comparative accounting. Thousands of years ago when accounting was first practiced, each country practiced financial reporting according to the power and strengths in their country, regardless of how accounting was reported in neighboring countries. Nowadays, because the world is becoming more globalized and harmonized, standard-setters feel the need to report their accounting in a uniform way. The International Accounting Standards Board [IASB] was formed as a non-for-profit

The FASB-IASB convergence project sought to merge U.S. GAAP with IFRS in a way that would combine the best of both standards to make financial reporting easier in a world that grows smaller each day. To say that the project was challenging would be a gross understatement; convergence faced many setbacks that arose out of disagreements about the best way to represent information for a vast set of users. One reason why disagreements arose is because the process for accounting standard-setting is considerably political. When a diverse group of people argues for the interests of massive groups of other very different people, each with their own competing interests, complications are bound to occur. Everyone brings their own issues to the table,

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.

It is very difficult for political and social goals to not influence US accounting standard setting. According to Solomons (1978, p. 65) quoting Charles Horngren, “the setting of accounting standards is as much a product of political action as of flawless logic or empirical findings. Why? Because the setting of standards is a social decision. Standards place restrictions on behavior; therefore, they must be accepted by the affected parties…getting acceptance is an exceedingly complicated process that requires skillful marketing in a political arena.” When a person or group of people see an issue that they feel needs to be addressed, they are going to want it handled in the way most desirable to them and their position. Hand in hand with

Within a world driven by politics, many have discussed the impacts and consequences of accounting standards. The debate behind the creation of standards is a difficult topic. Should standards involve the bias of government and the people, or remain neutral from all influences? Many years ago accounting could have been considered non-political, but the ever-growing connection between public policy and business has placed pressures upon standard setters and the accounting community. The following paragraphs will debate if neutrality or politicization should be used to determine accounting standards.

Using positive approach for describing and predicting accounting practice, and consequently, developing the accounting theory, has led to sufficient support for accounting information. In fact most of empirical accounting research has shown that accounting numbers and figures can lead to changes in the capital market features. This creates a lot of sensitivity towards accounting information. In most countries, the funds necessary for the activities of the financial accounting standard board are provided by the representatives in the parliament. If accounting standards endanger the wealth of these representatives, the budget of the board will be limited and consequently the wealth of the members of the board will be at risk. Accordingly, accounting enters a realm of