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Introduction to accounting standards
International Financial Reporting Standards – Harmonization & Convergence questions and answers
Accounting standards and their importance
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Recommended: Introduction to accounting standards
Overview
Accounting gives companies, investors, regulators and others with a standardized way to explain the financial performance of an entity. Accounting standards present preparers of financial statements with a set of rules that they have to follow when preparing an entity’s accounts, making sure this standardization is across the market (Robert 2008). Many Companies are required to publish their financial statements in accordance with the relevant accounting standards. To simply International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) is one set of accounting standards, which have been established and maintained by the IASB with the purpose of those standards being efficient of being useful consistently. These two bodies work together to come
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IFRS requires entities to present comparative information in respect of the prior period for all amounts reported in the current period 's financial statements. In addition comparative information will also be provided for narrative and descriptive information if it is relevant to understanding the current period 's financial statements (Ec.europa.eu). There are pros and cons about the prudence in accounting standards, one thing is certain that financial information should be authentic and trustworthy. One thing, which is certain that there are many examples of prudence in existing IFRS and that these examples are widely accepted treatments. We can look at the following examples you should always discuss when the new framework draft is being given a shape. The discussion and definition should be reconsidered as arguably the principal role for prudence in standard setting lies in robust recognition criteria for assets and liabilities, where its application is transparent (Martin). Also another factor to consider is the retention of historical cost for many items will tell a proper degree of prudence to recognition of profit and asset values. These accounting Standards provide guidance but their application often involves a degree of judgment, “which allows for a range of outcomes largely because of uncertainty. In exercising that judgment management should err on the side of caution and prudence”(Martin). IASB is the body, which developed International Financial Reporting Standards and promoting the use and application of these standards. Some of the problems, which are faced by firms, are although IFRS is the standard way of doing reports. Some firms have there own way-doing things it differs from nation to nation many countries have there own
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.
To help accounting professionals easily navigate through 50-plus years of unorganized US generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and standards the Trustees of the Financial Accounting Foundation approved the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) Accounting Standards Codification (Codification.) By codifying authoritative US GAAP, FASB will provide users with real-time and accurate information in one location. Concurrently, FASB developed the FASB Codification Research System; a web-based system allowing registered users to electronically research accounting issues. Since 2009, the codification became the single source of nongovernmental authoritative GAAP.
We would love for these impacts to always have a positive impact; however the impact can affect a company in a negative manner. “ Researchers Holger Daske, Leuz Hail, Christian Leuz and Rodrigo Verdi examined 3,100 firms in 26 countries mandated to adopt IFRS in “Mandatory IFRS Reporting around the World: Early Evidence on the Economic Consequences”. The study examines the economic effects of IFRS, both early and mandated adoption” (Bolt-Lee). They were able to conclude that a company’s adoption of IFRS creates strong economic benefits in countries with rigid regulation over financial reporting. The article also explains that these benefits include an increase in the stock’s market value, an increase in market liquidity, and a lower cost of capital. Companies with major differences between GAAP and IFRS standards show the greatest benefit when supported by a strong regulatory
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...
The Rosens charge that IFRS is a step backward and gives companies too much leeway when it comes to reporting. A company, for example, can record revenue if management believes there is a 50.001 per cent probability of collecting the cash. The situation makes it difficult for investors to truly gauge profitability-and it's made worse by the fact that companies use different estimates to calculate the value of their plants, and they're not always transparent
In the present day competitive business environment, it is vital that companies operate in a manner where they could be able to assure long term business sustainability and competitive advantage over the rivals in a particular marketplace. With the changing context of the business over the years, companies need to offer services and/or products in alignment with the needs to the market or the customers. Organisations are also identified to face with numerous challenges, which further encourage them to use effective operational approaches to avoid complexities in business. Additionally, in order to ensure continuous growth in the business, organisations also need to ensure considerable control over their activities with specific regard to the
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.
Proceeding to look at the general advantages of having nation wide standards, Bigham presented the following by identifying an issue that comes with individual states mandating their own educational standards:
International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) are a set of accounting standards developed by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) that is becoming the global standard for the preparation of public company financial statements. IFRS demand one set of common global reporting standards to be used throughout the world. IFRS also helps reduce the cost of capital and reporting costs. An accounting standard-setting body, which was located in London, created IFRS. The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) succeeded the International Accounting Standards Committee in 2001. The acceptance of IFRS is well known through at least 120 nations. IFRS helps company’s present financial documents on the same foundation as competitors overseas, making comparisons easier. Companies with branches in countries that require or permit IFRS may be able to use one accounting standard company-wide. Companies also may need to translate to IFRS if they are a division of a foreign company that must use IFRS, or if they have a foreign investor that must use IFRS. Companies may also benefit by using IFRS if they desire to increase capital overseas. A disadvantage of using IFRS comes from individuals believe the U.S. GAAP is the highest standard, and quality will be lost if the world fully accepts it. Also, certain U.S. issuers that do not have important customers or functions outside the United States may oppose IFRS because they may not have a reason within a market to prepare IFRS financial statements. They may believe that the substantial costs correlated with adopting IFRS overshadow the benefits.
IFRS stands for International Financial Reporting Standards, which is a set of accounting standards that can be used globally by public companies for financial reporting. The set of standards are governed by the International Accounting Standards Board that is based in London. The purpose of converting the U.S to these standards is to streamline all the companies that are abroad and in the United States as far as financial reporting. This process is supposed to produce cost savings for companies that operate in the U.S. and abroad; produce more efficiency and transparency. The IGAAP are and GAAP are very similar and can eliminate duplications of different principles when companies produce financial statements by adopting the IFRS standard.
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.
The International Accounting Standards Board, (IASB), began life as the International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC) in the 1973. The IASC was created in June 1973 as a result of an agreement by the accountancy bodies of Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Ireland and the United States. These countries constituted the Board of IASC at that time.
I have applied the IFRS to audit half-year income statement and statement of finical position from domestic sub-company or oversea branches. This allows me to understand the difficultly of dealing with accounting report form different nations. For example, we have to negotiate each report from the U.S. with their reporter by phone. It would take incredibly long time to explain the difference in order to adjust the figures in the reports. During the stuff training, we have been taught that to be professional at everywhere and anytime. Moreover, I realise that the most important feature to be a professional accountancy is responsibility. This is because that a unit of misallocation will cost other team number a huge amount of work to correct it. The experience of taking notes of weekly conferences between senior managers and PWC partner has indicates that how does change in financial policy influence the accounting treatment. For instant, since vice-perminster Mr Le Ke Qiang who visited China Construction Bank at earlier May. He point out that the Rate of Non-Performing Loans could not exceed 7% in the “BIG Four” Chinese bank. This has led Chinese bank to relax its accounting standard of credit rating. It allows me to understand the relationship between government and financial
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.
The third organization that helps to regulate the accounting standards is the IASB. “Our mission is to develop, in the public interest, a single set of high quality, understandable and international financial reporting standards (IFRSs) for general purpose financial statements”(IASB 2008,¶ 1). The IASB consists of a board that is made up from nine different countries with the sole purpose of expanding accounting standards. Their main hope and goal is to one day that there will be only one set of accounting standards that will be used throughout the world.