The Globalization of Accounting Standards: IFRS vs. US GAAP

Abstract

The movement of business toward a global economy has accelerated the need to move toward global accounting standards. Two recent decisions by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, have had a major impact on the issue of converging US GAAP and international accounting standards. This paper examines the implications of the SEC decision to allow foreign companies to use IFRS in financial reporting without reconciliation to US GAAP on investors, multinational corporations, and global financial reporting. The decision of the SEC to unite world regulators on the convergence of global accounting standards is also reviewed. The European Commission, the Japan Financial Services Agency, and the International Organization of Securities Commission, IOSC are to be included in the International Accounting Standards Committee Foundation IASCF in an IASCF Monitoring Group (SEC, 2008). Differences between IFRS and US GAAP are examined. The authors’ conclusion is that it is both timely and necessary to converge and harmonize IFRS and US GAAP into a single set of Global Accounting Standards. This will lead to a more stabilized and prosperous world economy and it will help to resolve many of the world’s financial reporting problems.

JEL Classification: M40, M41