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Accounting Reporting Criteria

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Accounting Reporting Criteria The world of accounting can look quite universal to any outsider. Most people assume that when you are dealing with money and business that everyone follows the same standards regardless of where the company is located. This is not the case when dealing with companies in different companies that do not utilize the US GAAP. While there are some aspects that may be similar there are many differences between these types of companies and how they perform different accounting transactions.
Regulatory Environment The regulatory environments in the United States and the International business community have some very distinct differences that make them very unique. In the United States due to major corporate scandals that have occurred in the past, such as Enron, have brought about some major changes with regard to corporate governance. “The US Government passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 which, among other things, set out specific guidelines for the behavior of directors of boards and senior management” (2008,p.2). The Sarbanes-Oxley Act was created to set specific standards that all companies would have to abide by. This act also created an “oversight board titled the Public Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) was established to serve as a regulator of the accounting firms that audit public companies” (2008, p.2). The Security and Exchange Commission monitors the PCAOB and maintains changes and updates to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. These boards and commissions in the United States set forth all the regulations for accounting practices in the United States, and leave very little to interpretation. This is where the International Environment seems to differ. The same principles are used to create standards; however there are groups that actually interpret the standards for companies. “International Financial Reporting Standards

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