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. Firstly, uniformity in accounting standards simply means when companies report their financial statements by using the same accounting procedures and process (Barron’s education system, 2014). As mentioned previously, uniformity in accounting has been discussed for a long time, as can be seen from an old paper by May (1938) where he discussed about this matter as well. Back then, there were not much of harmonisation or uniformity in
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.
Discussion of the Changes Proposed by the International Accounting Standards Board and How These Changes Will Affect the United States’ General Accepted Accounting Practices
Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) is a seven member board that consists of accounting professionals who establishes and communicates financial accounting and reporting standards known as generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) in United States. The standards’ quest is to govern the preparation of the corporate financial reports and hence ensuring transparency, credibility and understandability of the financial statements. To achieve these, there is need to set guidelines that create uniformity in the preparation of the statements across the region. In this paper, we will focus on the
This difference is also tied to the movement of globalization by way of the internal customs from around the world. Based on these practices the account standards around the world are created from a different basis. In the U.S, accounting standards are based on “bright lined rules.” Whereas, in most of the world accounting standards are based off of principles, with the emphasis on principles the international rules focus on the heart of the law. Rather than in the U.S these “bright lined rules” have been created as a result of the multitude of industries located here. The rules however, do not reflect the heart of the law; rather they create a line to be maintained.
Ross L Watts & Jerold L Zimmerman have put together this article on accounting standards and on the basis of moderately relative accounting theories and interpretations- tried exploring various factors that persuade business entities in lobbying on accounting standards. The size of the companies is also researched and concluded upon their approach towards certain accounting standards. The Data used in the article is derived from FASB’s discussion memorandum to which companies submit their information and also from general price level adjustment.
Along with the responsibility of stablishing financial accounting and reporting standards for private and public companies that follow U.S Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), the Financial Accounting Standard Board (FASB) is the organization in charge of issuing Accounting Standards Update (ASU) in order to communicate changes to the FASB Codification. Accounting Standards Updates explain how and why FASB has changed U.S GAAP and include background information related to the change. One example of these updates is the Accounting Standards Update issued on July 2015, ASU 2015-11- Inventory (Topic 330): Simplifying the Measurement of Inventory, which communicates a change in the way inventory is measured in order to simplify the process. This ASU states the main provisions of the update and the reasons why the FASB issued this update. It also illustrates how the update is different from previous standards and the expected benefits of this update for financial statements preparers. Moreover, the update explains why the LIFO and retail inventory methods are excluded from the update, and it makes people think about how this update could affect earnings quality of income from continuing operations and bottom line net income.
that are inevitable among countries have been pushed down to the level of implementation, and now will be concealed by a veneer of uniformity. The notion that uniform standards alone will produce uniform financial reporting seems naïve, if only because it ignores deep-rooted political and economic factors that influence the incentives of financial statement preparers and that inevitably shape actual financial reporting practice. I envisage
The expansion of International Trade and the accessibility to foreign stock and debt market has given rise to an increase debate on whether or not there is need to be a global set of accounting standards. As companies compete globally for scarce resources, investors and creditors as well as multinational companies are required to bear the cost of reconciling financial statements that are prepared using national standards. It was argued that a common set of practices will provide a “level playing field” for all companies worldwide (Murphy, 2000).
The paper objectives is to determine the impact of differences between UK accounting standard and International accounting standards to the decisions of investors and make some recommendations, hoping to give investors a comprehensive view and a more accurate when they make investment decisions. The research only mentions differences affect to the investment decisions instead of go deep into analysis the entire differences between the two accounting standards. Nghiên cứu đưa ra
First, The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) issues The International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) on U.S securities and exchange companies listed.
The process of globalization in the financial markets has led to a growing emphasis on the standards that are to be maintained in the global market in accounting terms and has made increased efforts to acquiring the best standards which go along with all the internationally approved standards. The statements that are made in each country differ from each other according to certain laws, rules, standards, etc because the analysis and assessments about each transactions differ. Hence, this sometimes becomes very difficult to interpret because the methods of analysis are different which makes comparison, analysis and assessment quite difficult among different countries (Baker, 2008).
With the number of countries that have switched to the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) for their financial reporting, as well as the continued efforts made between the IFRS and US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (US GAAP), it is evident that international convergence is an overall appealing idea for global reporting. With that said, US GAAP has worked with IFRS to create a universal standard; and while progress has been made to diminish variances between the standards, there are still large, if not unattainable, efforts ahead of us. The hype over a proposed uniform set of global accounting standards appears to be stunted by the lost efforts in the convergence project between the US GAAP and IFRS. As the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) moves forward with its standards setting, there must be a reevaluation of the goal for reporting standards and efforts with the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB).
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
On February 26, 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued an Accounting Standards Update (ASU) which revised the standards on leasing. The intent for this revision was to improve how leases are being reported on the financial statements. The consensus is that the classification tests in current use for making this determination fail to provide a faithful and accurate representation for leasing transactions in general. In 2005, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission had also made recommendations which indicated this need for change in regard to how leases were being reported. Overall, it is believed that this change would ensure greater transparency in the financial statements concerning these type transactions.
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.