Uk and Us Accounting Standards

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 globalization of business activity has resulted in the need for a uniform set of accounting rules in all countries. With U.S. corporations doing so much business in other countries, it is imperative that the SEC and international regulatory boards devise a set of rules and regulations that would benefit both parties. If this did not happen, international companies would be able to do whatever they wanted without repercussion because of the discrepancies in the differing sets of rules. Accomplishing this universal set of rules would allow companies to list securities in any market without having to prepare more than one set of financial statements. There have been so many

In 1973 the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) was established to set the financial accounting standards in the United States of America for nongovernmental entities. These standards are collectively called U.S. Generally accepted Accounting Principles, or U.S. GAAP. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants acknowledge the authority of these standards (FASB, n.d). A “proven, independent due process” is used to collect the viewpoints of the financial statements prepares and users for the constant improvement of these standards. An Accounting Status Update(ASU) is not an authoritative source however documents the amendments to communicate the changes in the FASB Codification for a user to understand the reason and future of those changes (FASB, n.d).

The FASB is an agency of the federal government that has the broad powers to prescribe accounting standards to be employed by companies that fall within its jurisdiction.

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.

In 1973, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) was created and their mission is “to establish and improve standards of financial accounting and reporting for the guidance and education of the public, including issuers, auditors, and users of financial information.” (FASB.org, 2009a). The FASB is a private, not-for-profit organization whose primary purpose is to develop generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) within the United States. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) designated the FASB as the organization responsible for setting accounting standards for public companies in the U.S. Therefore, the FASB plays a vital and important role in protecting the financial well being and the overall stability of our

The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) sets the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles in the United States. The FASB Accounting Standards codification implements a system for organizing non-governmental generally accepted

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).

This research project will inform the reader of the difference between the United States accounting standards and International accounting standards. The United States uses the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) to issue financial reporting procedures. The International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) are issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). There are proposals for the United States to adopt the International standards. Financial reporting procedures are debated about the United States using the Generally Accepted Accounting Procedures (GAAP) or following the global procedures. This

I. As discussed many times in ACC 310, the FASB is the current accounting standard setters in the U.S. as they are empowered by the SEC. Visit the FASB website at www.fasb.org and answer the following questions: (Do not cut and paste but answer in your own words. Any material quoted should be cited).

Research: The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) was founded in 1973 as a private and independent organization governed by the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC). The organization’s primary purpose is to establish the rules and standards of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) for the interest of the public. (“Facts about FASB”) “Since its inception in 1973, the FASB has issued 168 Statements of Financial Accounting Standards and a series of concepts statements”. (Facts about FASB, n.d.) The FASB's mission is "to establish and improve standards of financial accounting and reporting for the guidance and education of the public,

There is no universal GAAP standard and the specific vary from one geographic location or industry to another. In the United States, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) mandates that financial reports adhere to GAAP requirements. The financial accounting standards Board (FASB) stipulates GAAP overall and the Governmental accounting standards Board (GAAP) stipulates GAAP for state and local government. Publicly traded companies must comply with both SEC and GAAP requirements. 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. GAAP. The convergence of these two accounting frameworks is a must for both foreign and domestic businesses. The International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) is the accounting framework used by the European Union, Japan, Canada, and other world economic leaders. Companies need an accurate and reliable financial accounting systems not matter if globally or in the United

The accounting system in the US was strongly influenced by the SEC as opposed to a governmental influence. The SEC sells, exchanges and trades securities, protects investors while maintaining fair, orderly and efficient markets and ultimately facilitates capital formation (Pereira, 1992, p17). The US has the largest and one of the most important, stock exchanges in the world - the New York Stock Exchange located on Wall Street in New York City. This makes the US a huge market for investors world-wide. All investors would like to have access to certain facts about an investment before buying it and while holding it. In order to achieve this, the SEC requires all public firms and companies to disclose meaningful financial and other information to the public, to follow GAAP (SEC, 2007). Thus, any company that wishes to be a market in the SEC’s securities must register with the SEC. For those companies with foreign registrants, the SEC requires them to either report under US GAAP or to provide reconciliations to US GAAP (Nobes, p146, 2006). The SEC also requires public firms to follow GAAP in order to be audited. It is quite evident that most of American accounting is rule based, not government based. According to Nobes’ textbook, Comparative International Accounting, the commission since its inception has intended to limit the exercise of its accounting standard-setting authority to a supervisory role, permitting and encouraging the private sector, currently

It was made to be fair and unbiased for the accounting world. SEC fully supports the FASB and they are still operating in present. They dwell in Norwalk, Connecticut to be close to NYC where most of the big corporations are. The first major move is they released a Statement of Financial Accounting Standard in 1975. It is a framework with policies that the corporations have to follow. This framework prefers to see “the assets and liability view” than the “revenue and expense view” They were not pleased with the matching principle that was created by AAA in 1940. Also in SFAS they included marketable securities that requires to reporting in unrealized holding gains and losses. In 1979, they included reporting on capitalized on interest cost and the proper way to create FMV (revised in 1995 to prevent false information). In 1981, they solved the issue with foreign currency exchange. In 1987, they have created a cash flow method with two options; direct and indirect. In 1990, they revised the policy to include post-retirement and health care as liability. In 1995, Employee stock options are included and 1997 Comprehensive income is included. In 2002, the Goodwill and other intangibles are now reported. Also in 2002 after Enron collapse was they formed Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Now ISAB and FASB worked jointly to converge GAAP and

The mission of FASB is to “improve reporting, focus on traits that are important and reliable and on quality of comparison and consistency, to keep up to date with current trends to reflect modifications in methods used and economic changes, and to improve the common understanding of the purpose and content within financial report” (FASB, 2008). The FASB has an obligation to uphold ethical standards as well as to ensure rules and regulations are followed in the way of financial reporting. The FASB uses input from other agencies when developing or amending standards such as the SEC. Before the Great Crash of 1929, little was done to regulate the securities market (SEC, 2008). Two laws were created to help improve investor confidence: “Securities Act of 1933 and Securities Exchange Act of 1934” (SEC, 2008). According to SEC (2008) the purpose of these laws is to make sure companies display accurate data about their financial accounts, the securities that are sold and involved risks and for the brokers who sell and trade to treat investors with respect by being fair and honest. A more recent law signed in by President Bush in 2002, was the “Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002” (SEC, 2008). This act created changes in improving responsibility, disclosures and