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The road to international reporting
The Convergence of GAAP and IFRS | Leroy Meadows
Advanced Accounting |

The road to international reporting
The Convergence of GAAP and IFRS | Leroy Meadows
Advanced Accounting |

The Road to International Reporting
The convergence of a rules-based approach and a principles-based approach in relation to accounting and the dissemination of financial information is not something to be taken lightly. With the need for convergence increasing due to globalization, there are sure to be some contentious issues that must be addressed if convergence is to succeed. While the main issue for those who use a rules-based approach is the issue of comparability, there are other issues that must be taken into account as well. This paper will provide a brief history of globalization as well as the response of the United States in the wake of massive corporate fraud between 2000-2002. The differences between a rules-based approach and a principles-based approach and some difficulties that arise when trying to merge two different systems of accounting will also be examined. Lastly, this paper will address why convergence is not only probable, but necessary.
The Need to Be One
The modern push for globalization has occurred in two stages. The World Trade Organization, in its 2008 report, provides a chronology of this push which shows the first stage of globalization starting in the mid-19th century and continuing until the start of WWI. The second stage started soon after WWII and continues until today (Bachetta, Bown, Finger, Jansen, Keck, Piermartini, Ruta & Teh, 2008). This recent stage has occurred in two periods of time: 1950-1973 and the 1990’s until 2007. The extent of trade beyond borders has grown at an astonishing rate of about 6.2% between 1950 and 2007. This type of growth clearly shows that the push for

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