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Last modified: November 15, 2010Where in the world is IFRS? Almost everywhere! Even right here in Akron, Ohio!
IFRS stands for International Financial Reporting Standards. Historically, countries adopted their own set of accounting and reporting standards based upon many factors such as their legal system, political system, capital markets, etc. As one can imagine, this led to many differences in how transactions get reported from one country to the next.
As early as 1973, accountancy bodies in 10 countries joined together to form The International Accounting Standards Committee. The committee began looking at the idea of developing one set of international reporting standards. By 2000, over 100 countries were on board and 41 international accounting standards were in place. However, countries were still primarily using their own reporting standards.
Since 2000, this is quickly changing. The International Accounting Standards Board replaced the IASC and continues issuing international accounting standards. Today, over 100 countries have adopted the use of IFRS. Japan and the United States are the last two large countries to officially adopt these standards. However, both will adopt the use of IFRS in the next several years.
The world is shrinking because of the use of technology. Doing business globally is now the norm rather than the exception. Investors are looking more and more internationally, and to do so they need to understand the financial reporting standards of the companies they will work with. IFRS helps streamline this process globally.
There are rapid changes and developments evolving around IFRS constantly. BCG & Company has made a commitment to develop the expertise to assist our current and future clients in this area. We started the journey this past summer, and will continue training throughout the coming year, which will culminate with a certification by the Institute of Charted Accountants of England and Wales.
Our goal for this blog is to keep you informed of recent developments with IFRS. We would very much appreciate hearing any comments or questions you may have on how we could enhance it or questions or concerns surrounding IFRS.
Think big. Think global!
Jim Keeslar, Director of Assurance Services
Jeremy Michael, Manager of Assurance Services
