IFRS and the Accounting Consensus

22 Pages Posted: 9 Aug 2008 Last revised: 3 May 2010

See all articles by Shyam Sunder

Shyam Sunder

Yale University - School of Management; Yale University - Cowles Foundation

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: December 4, 2008

Abstract

A broad consensus in accounting favors principles over rules to guide creation of a uniform high quality set of standards for use everywhere, and granting monopoly power to a single body for this purpose. If implemented into policy, this consensus will discourage discovery of and evolution toward better methods of financial reporting, make it difficult to conduct comparative studies of the consequences of using alternative methods of accounting, promote substitution of analysis and thinking by rote learning in accounting classes, help discourage talented youth from collegiate programs in accounting, and probably endanger the place of accounting discipline in university curricula. Because the presumed benefits in the form of increased comparability of financial reports internationally or stateside are unlikely to be realized, the wisdom of undertaking these burdens remains questionable. The paper calls for a reexamination of the accounting consensus.

Keywords: accounting education, accounting standards, IFRS, uniformity

JEL Classification: M41, M44, A20

Suggested Citation

Sunder, Shyam, IFRS and the Accounting Consensus (December 4, 2008). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1208502 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1208502

Shyam Sunder (Contact Author)

Yale University - School of Management ( email )

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HOME PAGE: http://www.som.yale.edu/faculty/sunder/

Yale University - Cowles Foundation ( email )

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