...organization is reporting under the IFRS standard while their branch in the United States is using US-GAAP. While the differences do not outweigh the similarities, GAAP and IFRS standards have caused some concerns in financial reporting. These concerns have led to the evaluation of these two reporting standards and the discussion on whether to move IFRS worldwide. This paper will outline a few of the differences between GAAP and IFRS as well as review the discussion of standardized reporting using IFRS. Introduction Historically, accounting and reporting standards in the United States have been set by the AICPA (American Institute of Certified Public Accounts) as laid out by the regulations set by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In 1973, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) was developed by the AICPA as a council for establishing standards for reporting for all United States companies. Under FASB, GAAP was reorganized into approximately 90 accounting standards offering concise methods to follow for financial reporting. This not only allowed for ease of access when reading US financials statements, but also allowed for comparison of documentation for investments, credits, and other financial decisions. On the other hand, the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) were developed by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) based in London. Currently, about 120 nations require the use of IFRS for financial reporting by public companies...
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...GAAP and IFRS Convergence Kenneth DeWitte Strayer University 1. Describe IFRS and GAAP and what convergence means. The International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) is the accounting framework used by the European Union, Japan, Canada, and other world economic leaders. The IFRS is based on the tenets of understandability, reliability, and comparability. It is based off the International Accounting Standards (IAS) and had the opportunity to be built from accounting ideas and principles used across the world. In recent years it also has had the chance to look at the United States Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and modify the rules to enhance clarity and consistency, intentionally setting itself apart from U.S. GAAP. United States GAAP is an aggregate of rules that show how to account for transactions and also present the transactions with reliability, consistency, and full disclosure. This amounts to a level of clarity that even someone not very knowledgeable about business can make a confident decision when investing. These rules were brought together by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). It is more specific than the IFRS requiring less interpretation and more consistent action taken by all businesses, leading to comparability through financial statements. The convergence of these two accounting frameworks is a must for both foreign and domestic businesses. There are some problems between the two systems coexisting. This has led to...
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...------------------------------------------------- Top of Form Grading Summary | These are the automatically computed results of your exam. Grades for essay questions, and comments from your instructor, are in the "Details" section below. | Date Taken: | 1/29/2012 | Time Spent: | 2 h , 45 min , 16 secs | Points Received: | 129 / 150 (86%) | | Question Type: | # Of Questions: | # Correct: | Essay | 7 | N/A | | | Grade Details | 1. | Question : | (TCO D) A classmate is considering dropping his accounting class because he cannot understand the rules of debits and credits. Explain the rules of debits and credits in a way that will help him understand them. Cite examples for each of the major sections of the balance sheet (assets, liabilities and stockholders' equity) and the income statement (revenues and expenses). | | | Student Answer: | | Debits and Credits are pretty simple. Everyone knows the famous saying " what goes up most come down." It's the same theory in that if you have a debit or credit, you will have the a debit or credit on the other end. Think as debit as when you use your debit card, you have money withdrawing from your personal checking; therefore you have money leaving the account. Credit is basically how the lenders give you money to use; therefore you have money coming in to your account. | | Instructor Explanation: | Accounting is based on the double-entry system. This system records the dual effect of...
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...EXAMINATION OF INVENTORY COSTING CONVERGENCE UNDER GENERALLY ACCEPTED ACCOUNTING PRINCIPLES AND INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL REPORTING STANDARDS ABSTRACT Accounting principles in the United States are converging toward international standards. If convergence continues, and there are proponents and detractors, then the U.S. system of accounting, called Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), will eventually be replaced by International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Convergence has profound implications for publicly traded companies and their many stakeholders such as investors, lenders, government agencies, and employees. A key issue facing accounting standard-setters is the treatment of inventory costing, an area in which GAAP and IFRS differ. This study addresses three research questions: What is the past and current usage of different inventory costing methods?, How important is inventory on corporate financial reports?, and What will be the impact on corporate financial reporting, specifically regarding inventory costing, if IFRS replaces GAAP? Findings show that a change from GAAP to IFRS will have a major impact on inventory costing and, as a result,...
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...| | |U.S. GAAP |IFRS |Similarities | |Purpose of Framework |The FASB framework resides lower in hierarchy. |Management is explicitly required to |Both the frameworks are similar in | | |Management is not required to prioritize it if no|prioritize the IASB framework if there is |their purpose to assist in developing| | |standard is available. |no standard or interpretation available. |and assisting standards. | |Objectives of |It provides different objectives for business |It gives one objective for different |Both frameworks have a broad focus to| |financial statement |entities versus non business entities. |business entities. |provide relevant information to a | | | | |wide range of users. | |Underlying assumptions|Although it recognizes, but not given much |Give importance to accrual and going | | | |prominence is given to accrual and going concern |concern basis | | | |basis. In fact going concern assumption is not | ...
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...NINJA CPA REVIEW® NINJA Notes 2015 Financial Accounting & Reporting Table of Contents The N.I.N.J.A. Framework I. IFRS 8 II. Accounting Changes 19 III. Financial Reporting 20 IV. Bonds & Debt Restructure 38 V. Consolidations 47 VI. Deferred Taxes 50 VII. Derivatives, Hedging, & Translation 52 VIII. Fixed Assets 56 IX. Governmental Accounting 62 X. Personal Financial Statements, Segments, & Interim Reporting 73 XI. Partnership Accounting 76 XII. Inventory 79 XIII. Investments 85 XIV. Leases 87 XV. Current Assets & Liabilities 91 XVI. Not-For-Profit Accounting 93 XVII. Pensions 99 XVIII. Statement of Cash Flows 101 XIX. Stockholders’ Equity 103 2 The N.I.N.J.A. Framework NAIL THE CONCEPTS Watch your CPA Review videos first – before working any assigned homework questions. The CPA Review industry says to watch a section of CPA Review video and then work the accompanying MCQs. This perspective stems from the old-school approach to the paper and pencil exam where you had to sit in a live classroom and learn from an instructor on weekends. Today, there is a smarter way to study. You don’t have to go to a weekend live course. You can fire up the laptop on a Tuesday morning and knock out two hours of material before you even brush your teeth. If you work MCQs in week one over your week one topic, guess what? You will work them again in week 5 or 6 when you review because you will forget what you learned. If you watch a...
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...accounting profession and how I see them affecting me in the future with regards to IFRS companies submitting IFRS on US stock exchanges? Macdonald Felix Rusoto Muchemedzi Student Kaplan University As the Stock exchange affords different investors the opportunity to actively trade in the non-US companies and also provide an avenue for non-US companies to raise capital will the investment and accounting community be able to fully understand the information and make rational and informed decisions. In this discussion paper I will discuss the key requirement that participants should be financial bilingual to fully understand both sets of financial reports (IFRS and USGAAP) in order to be able to compare them, thus comparability is the main challenge facing the accounting profession and harmonization/convergence is a current and future requirement to ensure comparability, other factors will come into play as will be discussed later. My future has already started to be affected as I work in a US subsidiary in South Africa and we are required to provide USGAAP reconciliation from our IFRS financial reports and with greater convergence I strongly believe my work will be less as there will be no longer a need to be financially bilingual as there will be one set of financial reports. Literature review Both IFRS and USGAAP financial reporting standards are developed from the conceptual framework, hereafter IFRS conceptual framework referred to as CFW and the USGAAP conceptual framework...
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...NINJA CPA REVIEW® NINJA Notes 2015 Financial Accounting & Reporting (Updated as of July 2015) Table of Contents The N.I.N.J.A. Framework I. IFRS 8 II. Accounting Changes 19 III. Financial Reporting 20 IV. Bonds & Debt Restructure 39 V. Consolidations 48 VI. Deferred Taxes 51 VII. Derivatives, Hedging, & Translation 53 VIII. Fixed Assets 57 IX. Governmental Accounting 63 X. Personal Financial Statements, Segments, & Interim Reporting 74 XI. Partnership Accounting 77 XII. Inventory 80 XIII. Investments 86 XIV. Leases 88 XV. Current Assets & Liabilities 92 XVI. Not-For-Profit Accounting 94 XVII. Pensions 100 XVIII. Statement of Cash Flows 102 XIX. Stockholders’ Equity 104 2 The N.I.N.J.A. Framework NAIL THE CONCEPTS Watch your CPA Review videos first – before working any assigned homework questions. The CPA Review industry says to watch a section of CPA Review video and then work the accompanying MCQs. This perspective stems from the old-school approach to the paper and pencil exam where you had to sit in a live classroom and learn from an instructor on weekends. Today, there is a smarter way to study. You don’t have to go to a weekend live course. You can fire up the laptop on a Tuesday morning and knock out two hours of material before you even brush your teeth. If you work MCQs in week one over your week one topic, guess what? You will work them again in week 5 or 6 when you review because you will forget what you learned. If you watch a video in week one and score...
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...US GAAP vs. IFRS The basics March 2010 Table of contents 2 5 7 8 11 13 14 16 18 20 26 28 31 33 35 38 40 42 43 44 46 47 Introduction Financial statement presentation Interim financial reporting Consolidations, joint venture accounting and equity method investees Business combinations Inventory Long-lived assets Intangible assets Impairment of long-lived assets, goodwill and intangible assets Financial instruments Foreign currency matters Leases Income taxes Provisions and contingencies Revenue recognition Share-based payments Employee benefits other than share-based payments Earnings per share Segment reporting Subsequent events Related parties Appendix — The evolution of IFRS Introduction It is not surprising that many people who follow the development of worldwide accounting standards today might be confused. Convergence is a high priority on the agendas of both the US Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) — and “convergence” is a term that suggests an elimination or coming together of differences. Yet much is still made of the many differences that exist between US GAAP as promulgated by the FASB and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) as promulgated by the IASB, suggesting that the two GAAPs continue to speak languages that are worlds apart. This apparent contradiction has prompted many to ask just how different are the two sets of standards? And where differences exist, why do they exist...
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...personally liable Owned by stockholders Ability to raise large sums of capital Larger than proprietor. And partners. Legally distinct from its owners Double Taxation – corporate income is taxed and shareholders taxed of dividends Elect board of directors Assumptions and Principles Entity assumption – a business is a separate economic unit Continutiy (going-concern) assumption – entity will continue to exist indefinitely Historical cost principle – assets recorded at purchase price Stable monetary unit assumption – stable Interntional Financial Reporting Standards(IFRS) Many countries have own versions of generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) Reports had to be restated to convert accounting data from one country to another IFRS developed and are used by most countries in the world US still follows on GAAP US GAAP overseen by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) SEC tentaviley set date for U.S adoption of IFRS in 2015 Will make it easier to compare financial statements across the world. Most common accounting practices similar under both U.S GAAP and...
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...Accounting Horizons Vol. 24, No. 3 2010 pp. 355–394 American Accounting Association DOI: 10.2308/acch.2010.24.3.355 Global Accounting Convergence and the Potential Adoption of IFRS by the U.S. (Part I): Conceptual Underpinnings and Economic Analysis Luzi Hail, Christian Leuz, and Peter Wysocki SYNOPSIS: This article is Part I of a two-part series analyzing the economic and policy factors related to the potential adoption of IFRS by the United States. In this part, we develop the conceptual framework for our analysis of potential costs and benefits from IFRS adoption in the United States. Drawing on the academic literature in accounting, finance, and economics, we assess the potential impact of IFRS adoption on the quality and comparability of U.S. reporting practices, the ensuing capital market effects, and the potential costs of switching from U.S. GAAP to IFRS. We also discuss the compatibility of IFRS with the current U.S. regulatory and legal environment, as well as the possible macroeconomic effects of IFRS adoption. Our analysis shows that the decision to adopt IFRS mainly involves a cost-benefit trade-off between ͑1͒ recurring, albeit modest, comparability benefits for investors; ͑2͒ recurring future cost savings that will largely accrue to multinational companies; and ͑3͒ one-time transition costs borne by all firms and the U.S. economy as a whole, including those from adjustments to U.S. institutions. In Part II of the series ͑see Hail et al. 2010͒, we provide an analysis...
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...US GAAP versus IFRS The basics December 2011 !@# Table of contents Introduction .....................................................................2 Financial statement presentation......................................4 Interim financial reporting ................................................6 Consolidation, joint venture accounting and equity method investees .............................................................7 Business combinations ...................................................11 Inventory .......................................................................13 Long-lived assets ...........................................................14 Intangible assets ............................................................16 Impairment of long-lived assets, goodwill and intangible assets ............................................................18 Financial instruments .....................................................20 Foreign currency matters ...............................................28 Leases ...........................................................................30 Income taxes..................................................................33 Provisions and contingencies ..........................................35 Revenue recognition.......................................................37 Share-based payments ...................................................39 Employee benefits other than share-based payments ......41 Earnings...
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...Standards (SFAS) R25: Understanding the I/S R26:Understanding the B/S R27: Understanding the C/F R28: Financial Analysis Techniques R29: Inventories R30: Long-Lived Assets R31: Income Taxes R32: Long-Term Liabilities and Leases U.S. GAAP SS9 SS8 Generally Accepted Accounting Principle The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) The International Accounting Standards (IAS) The International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) SS10 Recognition R33: Financial Reporting Quality R34: Financial Statement Analysis: Applications Measurement IFRS Disclosure Financial analysis 3-375 4-375 Framework Financial reporting & analysis 1. The role of financial reporting and financial statement analysis The role of financial reporting The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) definition: 2. The resources used for financial statement analysis Financial reporting refers to the way companies show their financial performance to investors, creditors, and other interested parties by preparing and presenting financial statements. Key financial statements Other relevant information The objective of financial statements is to provide information about the 3. Auditing 4. Financial statement analysis framework Financial position Financial performance Changes in financial position of an entity that is useful to a wide range of users in making economic decisions. The role of financial reporting...
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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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...ACCOUNT CLASSIFICATION AND PRESENTATION Account Title Accounts Payable Accounts Receivable Accumulated Depreciation—Buildings Accumulated Depreciation—Equipment Advertising Expense Allowance for Doubtful Accounts Amortization Expense Bad Debt Expense Bonds Payable Buildings Cash Common Stock Copyrights Cost of Goods Sold Debt Investments Depreciation Expense Discount on Bonds Payable Dividend Revenue Dividends Dividends Payable Equipment Freight-Out Gain on Disposal of Plant Assets Goodwill Income Summary Income Tax Expense Income Taxes Payable Insurance Expense Interest Expense Interest Payable Interest Receivable Interest Revenue Inventory Classification A Current Liability Current Asset Plant Asset—Contra Plant Asset—Contra Operating Expense Current Asset—Contra Operating Expense Financial Statement Balance Sheet Balance Sheet Balance Sheet Balance Sheet Income Statement Balance Sheet Income Statement Income Statement Balance Sheet Balance Sheet Normal Balance Credit Debit Credit Credit Debit Credit Debit Debit Credit Debit Debit Credit Debit Debit Debit Debit Debit Credit Debit Credit Debit Debit Credit Debit (1) Debit Credit Debit Debit Credit Debit Credit Debit B Operating Expense Long-Term Liability Plant Asset C Current Asset Stockholders' Equity Intangible Asset Cost of Goods Sold Balance Sheet Balance Sheet Balance Sheet Income Statement Balance Sheet Income Statement Balance Sheet Income Statement Retained Earnings Statement Balance Sheet Balance...
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