Case 2
At an internet café in The Presentation Observation Station, three balance sheets each from the U.S. and Europe’s railroad companies chosen from a list on the menu are to be compared and observed (IFRS vs. GAAP). Are IFRS balance sheets classifications the same as GAAP balance sheets, and which one is better? Are the IFRS balance sheets the same with one another, and what does IAS 1 require for a presentation format of balance sheets? It should also be determined if there should be one format for balance sheets required for all companies around the world or not.

IFRS balance sheet classifications are not presented the same as US GAAP balance sheet classifications; in comparison, IFRS would be better than GAAP. For IFRS, the classifications are more broken down with many specific accounts listed, and included on the IFRS balance sheets are the notes (presented as sort of a guide number) for each corresponding account. Also because IFRS is principal-based, things are presented in a long-term perspective. As for US GAAP balance sheets, notes are not shown on the balance sheets and things under each classification are more grouped or cluttered together unlike classifications on the IFRS balance sheets.
The IFRS balance sheet classifications between each of the companies are not the same. For example: tangible, intangible, fixed assets, etc. on the balance sheets of DSB, Network Rail, and Iarnrod Eireann were not listed or formatted in the same order. Equity and liabilities on DSB’s balance sheet were in a different order from the other two companies’ balance sheets as well.
IAS 1 does not really have a particular presentation format of items on the balance sheet. Things are rather flexible and having things formatted or ordered in any way is acceptable or allowed. This agrees relating to my observations of IFRS balance sheets because there were items (such