...the investors in doing their business. International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and US generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) are two main accounting principles that is widely used in the majority of the companies. However, there will be still conflict in the interpreting and understanding each other financial statements due to these two different approaches. Therefore, to overcome this problem, International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) are working on it by taking the necessary steps as time passes to close down the gap and standardised the accounting principles globally making it easier for all parties. (157 words) 1.0 Introduction In the world of globalization, a number of countries had been experiencing the convergence of their local GAAP and IFRS in order to apply the international accounting standard to suit the growing business world. This does not left out the people of the United States who are also trying to converge the accounting standards of US GAAP and IFRS in order to close down the gap between the accounting standards. FASB and IASB are the main international bodies assisting the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to achieve this goal. 2.0 Benefits 2.1 Facilitate international business and economy growth There are a number of benefits that people can gain from the convergence of US GAAP and IFRS. For example, the convergence of these accounting standards will...
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...Devine Hamdani 10/1/11 Project 1 US GAAP Convergence with IFRS As the business world has become more global, regulators, investors, large companies and auditing firms began to realize the importance of the establishment of a single set of high quality accounting standards. With a common accounting language around the world, investors will be able to have greater comparability and greater confidence in the transparency of financial reporting worldwide. IFRS, acronym for International Financial Reporting Standards are financial reporting standards that have been adopted by International Accounting Standard Board (IASB). Increasing number of publicly held companies in many countries are now requiring or allowing the use of IFRS for the preparation of financial statement. In the United States, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have also proposed a “Roadmap” in incorporating the convergence of US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (US GAAP) to IFRS with the help of Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and IASB. The IASB and FASB, committed to improving IFRS and US GAAP and achieving their convergence, are also committed in providing public transparency and accountability by reporting their process in achieving their goals. In 2006, the IASB and FASB began to set out their plans of completing major projects in their issued Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). These priority major projects comprises of their joint projects on financial instruments...
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...Comparison between U.S. GAAP and International Financial Reporting Standards May 2013 © 2013 Grant Thornton LLP All rights reserved U.S. member firm of Grant Thornton International Ltd Comparison between U.S. GAAP and International Financial Reporting Standards 2 Contents 1. Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 6 International standards and the IASB ............................................................................................................ 6 Financial accounting and reporting in the United States ................................................................................ 6 IFRS and U.S. GAAP comparison ................................................................................................................. 6 Overall financial statement presentation ................................................................................................... 8 General .......................................................................................................................................................... 8 Statement of financial position / balance sheet .............................................................................................. 9 Statement of comprehensive income / income statement ........................................................................... 12 Statement of changes in equity...
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...One Global GAAP: IFRS vs. US GAAP Acct 522 Current Topics in Financial Reporting Zhipeng Cao CIN: 300443421 Introduction The most influential accounting reporting criteria today is the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) by and U.S Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (U.S. GAAP). These two different accounting standards have various emphases. In short, IFRS states principles and it leaves the decision-making in everyday questions for accountants, while US GAAP consists of very detailed measures. Under the globalization environment, many companies are operating under a global scale; however, each country has its own accounting standard which makes the translation more difficulty. So the demand for the convergence of the two most important standards comes out. (Accounting Reporting Criteria, 2009, March 23). In this paper, I will put more emphasis on the comparison of the detail differences between International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and U.S Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (U.S. GAAP). I will also pay attention to the convergence of the two accounting principles. Body 1 In this part, I will mainly discuss the difference between IFRS vs. US GAAP; the table below shows the brief summary of the major differences between IFRS vs. US GAAP. I would like to discuss some of them. General approach The most significant difference between IFRS and U.S. GAAP exist in the general approach. IFRS mostly provides the basic accounting...
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...| IFRS | U.S. GAAP | Marketable Investment Security (STI)(The int. inc, realized G/L when sold, and div inc are reported in the I/S) | Same as GAAPExcept for the trading sec, it is called Held-for-trading sec.Quantitative (amount)/qualitative (managing) Disclosure: credit risk, liquidity risk, and market risk. | Held-to-maturity sec (debt sec with intent to be owned)B/S: Amortized cost (FV- unamort. Discount/+ua. premium)I/S: No effect (except sold or disposed)Trading sec (debt/eq sec.—derivatives/shares) (more transparent)B/S: Fair ValueI/S: Unrealized gain/loss (before sold, changes in FMV)Available-for-sale sec (d/eq neither holding nor selling) (more likely to be misinterpreted)B/S: Fair ValueI/S: No effect (ur. G/L goes to other comprehensive inc) | Inventory | FIFO/Weighted ave costB/S: lower of the cost or NRVWrite-down to the value is allowed | FIFO/LIFO/WACB/S: lower of the cost or MVWrite-down is forbidden If LIFO is used, LIFO reserve (COGSLIFO-COGSFIFO) should be disclosed in the footnotes. | PP&E | B/S: org cost-A.dep; if it was written-up, use FMV-A.depIf the future up will be within the extent of the past down, it was NI; otherwise, the part exceeds the org cost will be Eq, and vice versa. | B/S: org cost-A.dep; written-up is forbidden | Intercorporate Investment | All the same as GAAPExcept for the Significant influence (joint venture)Proportionate Consolidation Method is preferred. Pro-rata share of the investee’s NI, Assets, and liabi are reported...
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...IFRS vs. GAAP Introduction The U.S. GAAP is accounting principles adopted by the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Over time SEC has been talking about moving these principles over to the IFRS, The International Financial Reporting Standard. “IFRS is an accounting standard that was developed by a not-for-profit group called the International Accounting Standard Board. (www.Ifrs.com)” This summary will give you a subject by subject look of some differences and similarities both the IFRS and the GAAP carry. IFRS 2-1: In what ways does the format of a statement of financial or position under IFRS often differs from a balance sheet presented under GAAP? Accounting follows the double entry standard where transactions are broken down into sections, revenue or expenses, assets or liabilities. Under IFRS, it does not dictate a particular order of accounts on the statement of financial. Usually, companies report their assets in reverse order of liquidity. For example, you would start with long term assets and work your way down to current liabilities. Under GAAP, it requires that all accounts be in order of their liquidity. Cash is usually reported first and non- current assets would be listed last. With these differences financial reporting results would be different for companies. IFRS 2-2: Do the IFRS and GAAP conceptual frameworks differ in terms of the objective of financial reporting? Explain. No, IASB and FASB conceptual frameworks are organized in similar...
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...Project In July, 2006, the Board voted to add to its agenda a project on lease accounting. The project will be conducted jointly with the US Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and is expected to result in the publication of a joint discussion paper in 2008. The project will reconsider all aspects of lease accounting and is expected to fundamentally revise the way lease contracts are recognized in the financial statements of lessees and lessors. The Board directed the staff to establish a working group of individuals with significant experience and expertise in lease accounting to assist the staff and the Board with this project. (http://www.ifrs.org/Current+Projects/IASB+Projects/Leases/Meeting+Summaries+and+Observer+Notes/IASB+July+2006.htm) To explain the reason for adding the project to the agenda, I find two paragraphs in Exposure Draft that “Leasing is an important source of finance. Therefore, it is important that lease accounting should provide users of financial statements with a complete and understandable picture of an entity’s leasing activities. The existing accounting models for leases require lessees to classify their leases as either finance leases or operating leases. However, those models have been criticized for failing to meet the needs of users of financial statements because they do not provide a faithful representation of leasing transactions. In particular they omit relevant information about rights and obligations that meet the definitions...
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...Accounting for inventory under IFRS and U.S. GAAP ABSTRACT U.S. General Accepted Accounting Standards (U.S. GAAP) and International Financial Reported Standards (IFRS) both give guidance for inventory valuation. This study will give several examples, compare cost flow assumptions and inventory valuation under U.S. GAAP and IFRS, and indicate the possible influences to reported companies and financial information users. INTRODUCTION The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) continues to move forward in its proposed plans to replace U.S. GAAP for U.S. public companies with IFRS. Inventory valuation is important, because inventory is a crucial element not only in the computation of profit, but also in the valuation of assets for balance sheet purposes. Unfortunately, inventory values sometimes are manipulated by management in order to create a more favorable impression. In the following sections, I introduced several differences between U.S. GAAP and IFRS. I also analysis the possible reasons of information manipulation and influence. In section one and section two respectively I will talk about differences in cost flow assumptions and inventory valuation under both methods. I. COST FLOW ASSUMPTIONS Companies typically purchase merchandise at several different prices. Ending inventory equals the quantity on hand multiply the unit acquisition price. If a company use historical cost to determine the cost of inventory and it purchases inventory at different unit prices...
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...exploration and production as well as activities involving natural gas and new energies such as solar power and biomass. Refining and Chemicals compromises refining, petrochemicals, base chemicals, fertilizer, specialty chemicals and oil and gas trading and shipping activities. Marketing and Services covers the supply and marketing of petroleum products as well as new energies. TOTAL’S APPROACH TOTAL’s financial statements are presented in EUROS and have been prepared on the basis of International Financial Reporting Standards. TOTAL’s financial reporting is in complete accordance with IFRS accounting standards in nearly all aspects of its financial statements. There are also a few accounting maneuvers conducted by TOTAL that have yet to be covered by IFRS. The following are a few ways they are in accordance with IFRS as well as two accounting assumptions made by TOTAL. In accordance with IFRS TOTAL’s management has to make estimates that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities and contingent liabilities at the date of preparation of the financial statements and reported income and expenses for the period. Management of TOTAL has to review these estimates continuously to form the basis of the...
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...Advantages and Disadvantages of switching from U.S.GAAP to IFRS Nara Yoon Charles Center Summer 2009 Advantages and Disadvantages of switching from U.S.GAAP to IFRS 2 In today’s business, markets are demanding increasing conformity. Many countries have converted to and implemented the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB)’s accounting standards. The United States, however, still maintains its own Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). Both IASB and FASB have created International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (U.S.GAAP) respectively. These accounting standards are rules of measurements for financial statements that companies issuing stock to the public must provide to stockholders (Libby, 21). There are various advantages and disadvantages of the U.S. companies changing their systems from U.S.GAAP to IFRS. As the markets have grown to become more complex and global, the disparities between the two standards have been a significant issue as consumers and producers call for reform. The current differences between U.S.GAAP and IFRS affect many aspects of business. There seems to be some future losses but the U.S. is continuing to move toward conversion. The primary benefits U.S. hopes to get are comparability, and thus, greater market liquidity and lower cost of capital. They also hope to see cost savings for multinational companies who keep record of several accounting standards. Most...
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...Are IFRS-based and US GAAP-based Accounting Amounts Comparable? Mary E. Barth* Stanford University Wayne R. Landsman, Mark Lang University of North Carolina Christopher Williams University of Michigan August 2011 * Corresponding author: Graduate School of Business, Stanford University, 94305-5015, mbarth@stanford.edu. We appreciate funding from the Center for Finance and Accounting Research, Kenan-Flagler Business School and the Center for Global Business and the Economy, Stanford Graduate School of Business. We appreciate comments from Elicia Cowins, Julie Erhardt, Margot Howard, Elmar Venter, an anonymous reviewer, and workshop participants at the University of Cologne, ESSEC Business School, George Washington University, Giessen Business School, University of Graz, IESE Business School, University of Leeds, University of Missouri, Oklahoma State University, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, Singapore Management University, Southern Methodist University, Stanford University, Washington University at St. Louis, and the European Accounting Association Congress. We also thank Dan Amiram and Mark Maffett for assistance with data collection. Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1585404 Are IFRS-based and US GAAP-based Accounting Amounts Comparable? Abstract This study documents whether application of IFRS by non-US firms results in accounting amounts comparable to those resulting from application of US GAAP by US firms. IFRS firms have...
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...PwC Similarities and Differences A Comparison of IFRS, US GAAP and Indian GAAP* *connectedthinking November 2007 PricewaterhouseCoopers’ publications and tools PricewaterhouseCoopers has a range of tools and publications to help companies apply IFRS (see also the inside back cover). Illustrat ive Consolidated Fin ancial Statements • Corporate, 2007 • Banking, 2006 • Insurance, 2006 • Investment funds, 2006 • Investment property, 2006 Realistic sets of financial statements – for existing IFRS preparers in the above sectors – illustrating the required disclosure and presentation. Measurement checklist 200 6 Outlines the measurement bases required by all IFRSs published up to September 2006 Adopting IFRS – A step-by-step illu stratio n of t he transitio n t o IFRS Illustrates the steps involved in preparing the first IFRS financial statements. It takes into account the effect on IFRS 1 of the standards issued up to and including March 2004. IFRS for SMEs (proposals) – Pocket Guide 200 7 Provides a summary of the recognition and measurement requirements in the proposed ‘IFRS for Small and MediumSized Entities’ published by the International Accounting Standards Board in February 2007 IAS 39 – Achi eving hedge accounting in practice Covers in detail the practical issues in achieving hedge accounting under IAS 39. It provides answers to frequently asked questions and step-by-step illustrations of how to apply common hedging...
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...Concept Statements in routine preparation of financial statements. (8,2) The IASB and the Interpretations Committee use conceptual framework when developing new or revised International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and interpretations or when amending existing IFRSs. It is used as a point of reference to help preparers of financial statements in applying IFRSs or when no specific guidance is given. The IASB’s Conceptual Framework is not an International Financial Reporting Standard and does not override any specific IFRS. However, the Conceptual Framework is used in development of future standards and the IASB is reviewing IFRSs and the Conceptual Framework to eliminate all conflicts between them. (2,7) Basis of Accounting Both U.S. GAAP and IFRS use a modified historical cost basis with a growing emphasis on fair value when preparing financial statements. When non-U.S. entities operate in a highly inflationary environment and prepare GAAP financial statements; they have the choice to either report price-level adjusted local currency financial statements or measure its financial statements into a non-highly inflationary currency. Under IFRS, an entity is to adjust to state items in the measuring unit at the current reporting date. Entities that follow U.S. GAAP disclose critical accounting policies and estimates outside financial statements. Information that is reasonably possible of...
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...Stanley from: Christopher Michael Yelvington subject: IFRS v. US GAAP: Business COMBINATIONS and Financial Statements. date: April 21, 2015 ------------------------------------------------- Dr. Stanley, When acquiring a foreign subsidiary, there are accounting differences that one must consider. Looking at the big picture U.S. GAAP is more rule based and IFRS is more principles based. Under IFRS, more emphasis is on the substance of transactions and more judgment is used. In this memo, I have identified key differences in U.S. GAPP v. IFRS with regards to the acquisition of a foreign entity and the financial statements. The following are the assumptions regarding your aquisition I have used in my analysis: 1. 80% Single Step Equity Purchase 2. Foreign entity currently reports under IFRS 3. Parent does not meet the definition of a investment entity under IFRS 4. Foreign entity’s functional currency is the Euro You as the parent company can continue to report your financials under US GAAP. Likewise, the foreign subsidiary will continue to report their financial statements under IFRS. For the reporting periods following the date of acquisition, you are required to consolidate the foreign subsidiary’s financial statements with the parent entities financial statements under US GAAP (Gannon & Ashwal, 2004). The consolidation model under US GAAP and IFRS differs. To start, the definition of control varies. Under US GAAP, control is based on controlling financial interested...
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...IFRS and US GAAP: similarities and differences IFRS readiness series October 2012 Table of contents The heart of the matter 2 US financial reporting will change significantly within the next several years An in-depth discussion 4 Examining the implications IFRS affects US businesses in multiple ways What this means for your business 6 Anticipate and manage the change What companies can and should do now October 2012 The heart of the matter US financial reporting will continue to change over the next several years Although US companies will not when, and how IFRS might be be permitted to use International incorporated into the US financial Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) reporting system. for US public filings in the foreseeable • In May 2011, the SEC’s Office of future, IFRS has been affecting US the Chief Accountant published a companies for some time, primarily Staff Paper exploring one possible through engaging in cross-border method to incorporate IFRS merger-and-acquisition (M&A) into the US financial reporting activity, meeting the reporting needs system, involving an active of non-US stakeholders, and assisting Financial Accounting Standards with or monitoring of the IFRS Board (FASB) incorporating IFRS requirements of non-US subsidiaries. into US GAAP over an extended US companies are also becoming period of time (the “endorsement” increasingly aware of IFRS, as key method). Under this method, the aspects of US generally...
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