Advantages and Disadvantage of the International Financial Reporting Standard Adoption
The International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) was mandatorily implemented in Australia in January 1, 2005, comparing to the original Generally Accepted Accounting Principle, there are a lot of advantages such as better investor focus, and loss recognition timelines and reducing earning management, , but on the other hand, there are also some advantages and issues during and after the process of transition, for instance, the transitional cost and lack of detail.
Based on the research done by the Yi Lin Chua (2012) the adoption of IFRS in Australia has made and improvement to accounting quality and Australian firms engage in less earnings management by way of income smoothing, better timely loss recognition, and improvement in value relevance of accounting information. Recognising the loss immediately is one of the key features of IFRS, this feature not only benefit the investors by increasing the relevance of the financial report that give both existing and potential investors a timely information for to make a more informed decision, but also benefit the lender, supplier and other stakeholders within the company. The loss recognition of the IFRS will increase the transparency, with this enhanced transparency, the contracting between the management and the companies will become more efficient. Furthermore, the enhanced transparency will also benefit the suppliers by decreasing their financial risk and ensure they know if the company is capable to repay its debt. Also a immediate loss recognition will help the management to review its book values of the assets and liability therefore make a better business operation decision.
Another adva...
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Yi Lin (Elaine) Chua, Chee Seng Cheong, and Graeme Gould (2012). The Impact of Mandatory IFRS Adoption on Accounting Quality: Evidence from Australia. Journal of International Accounting Research, 119-146.
Kamran Ahmed, Manzurul Alam (2012). The Effect of IFRS Adoption on the Financial Reports of Local Government Entities. Australasian Accounting Business & Finance Journal.
Richard D. Morris, Sidney J. Gray, Joanne Pickering, and Sally Aisbitt (2014). Preparers’ Perceptions of the Costs and Benefits of IFRS: Evidence from Australia’s Implementation Experience. Accounting Horizons.
Switching to IFRS will help not just companies but also investors and public globally to compare financial statements. If every country has different financial standards, if would be problematic to compare how each company stands because they are not the same.
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According to the conceptual framework, the potential users of financial statements are investors, creditors, suppliers, employees, customers, governments and agencies, and the general public (Financial Accounting Standards Board, 2006). The primary users are investors, creditors, and those who advise them. It goes on to define the criteria that make up each potential user, as well as, the limitations of financial reporting. The FASB explicitly states that financial reporting is “but one source of information needed by those who make investment, credit, and similar resource allocation decisions. Users also need to consider pertinent information from other sources, and be aware of the characteristics and limitations of the information in them” (Financial Accounting Standards Board, 2006). With this in mind, it is still particularly difficult to determine whom the financials should be catered towards and what level of prudence is necessary for quality judgment.
What is IFRS, and what is its significance in the world market? In 2001 the International Accounting Standards Board, or IASB, was created to develop a set of standards by which global financial statuses could be reported. According to financialstabilityboard.org, this set of standards, known as the International Financial Reporting Standards, or IFRS, falls under the jurisdiction of the IFRS Foundation, which is a non-profit, private and independently run entity that exists for the public interest, is based on four principle objectives. The first is to develop a single set of international financial reporting standards (IFRS). This set would be high in quality, readily understandable, easily enforceable, and acceptable world-wide. The second objective is to encourage the use of this set of standards in the international business world. Thirdly, the ISAB would like to monitor the needs of different sizes and types of businesses in different settings. The fourth objective is to promote the adoption of the IFRS by converging national accounting standards wit...
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The New Zealand (NZ) Framework for Financial Reporting is in the process of changing since 2009, as a result of the review of the statutory reporting requirements in New Zealand by Ministry of Economic Development (MED) and the Accounting Standard Review Board (ASRB). The mainly recommendation was to remove small and medium sized companies from the statutory reporting framework (Ernst & Young, 2013, p.11). This New Zealand Framework for Financial Reporting 2010 (NZ Framework) was issued by the New Zealand Accounting Standards Board of the External Reporting Board (XRB) in 2011. The changes of framework pull open the NZ financial reporting standards that comprise NZ Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (GAAP) setting movement from ‘rule-based’ approach to ‘principle-based’ approach. Then comes to the question: Whether the application of NZ GAAP is supported positively by the NZ Framework with the appropriate underlying principles, or it preserved a largely ‘rule-driven’ approach? From my perspective, NZ Framework provides parts of applicable underlying principles in guidance of NZ GAAP but there are rooms for improvement.
Judgement is a notion of relevance and reliability in developing and applying accounting policies. It is a requirement of management that they exercise a high degree of professional judgement when selecting appropriate accounting policies in the preparation of financial statements that is relevant to decision-making and assessment needs of users. Management should also consider the applicability of IFRS and AASB in dealing with similar and related issues and then the definitions, recognition criteria in the Conceptual Framework when there is no IFRS standard or interpretation in certain circumstances that are specifically applicable. Management may also consider the most current pronouncements of other standard-setting bodies to the extent that do not conflict with IFRS and AASB in developing accounting standards and accepted industry practices by using a similar conceptual framework.
IFRS for SMEs was created for any company that does not have public accountability. IFRS for SMEs avoids a quantified size test but assumes a public accountability principle, so no dispute ab...
Marshall, D., McManus, W., & Viele, D. (2004). Accounting: What the numbers mean. [University of Phoenix Custom Edition e-text]. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Companies.
The globalization of business has resulted in the need for compatible accounting standards that can be used internationally for financial reporting. As a result, the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) were developed by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) to unify the various financial reporting methods and create a single accounting standard which can be applied to any financial statement worldwide (Byatt). The global standardization of financial reporting will increase the readability and enhance comparability of globally traded companies’ financial statements, without the need of conversion or translation. There are a few main differences between the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and the U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (U.S GAAP). The increasing recognition and acceptance of the International Financial Reporting Standards by accounting professionals in the United States, will affect the way in which the U.S will record financial statements in the future.