Xuelian Li
Week 2 Assignment
ACCT 525
Professor Bender
March 13, 2015
United Kingdom Adopted IFRS
IFRS is a set of accounting standards promulgated by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), an international standard-setting body based in London. It was designed as a common global language for business affairs so that company accounts are comparable and understandable across international boundaries (Ghosh, 2010). In June 2002, the European Union (EU) adopted an IAS Regulation requiring European companies listed in an EU/European Economic Area (EEA) securities market to prepare their consolidated financial statements in accordance with IFRS starting in 2005 (United Kingdom).
EU countries have four options: require or permit
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The UK has other public securities markets that are not regulated markets, such as The Alternative Investment Market (AIM). Companies with securities admitted to trading on the AIM of the London stock exchange are not subject to the EU IAS Regulation. However, AIM rules require an AIM company incorporated in an EEA country to prepare its consolidated financial statements in accordance with IFRS on or after January 1, 2007 (United Kingdom).
Following the implementation of IFRS, UK has a significant reduction in the cost of equity capital. IFRS make it easier to compare the performance of companies in different countries, rather than each country maintaining its own GAAP, which makes such comparisons difficult.
International comparability of financial statements attracts capital from foreign investors and reduces the barriers to cross-border capital flows. When international accounting standard replace domestic accounting standard, corporate discourse is reduced. This enables investors to monitor managerial performance better because information asymmetry is reduced. IFRS adoption made it easier for companies in U.K to access the capital markets (Lee, 2008).
Based on my research regarding the United Kingdom, U.S. SEC should mandate adopt IFRS. U.S. and U.K are two largest stock markets. The world’s capital markets know no borders. The participants in these markets need high-quality, transparent, and comparable financial information to enable them to make sound
Access to capital markets in United Kingdom is easy after the adoption of IFRs. Public capital markets play an important role in financing the activities of non-financial companies in the United Kingdom, providing them with the main option to bank loans and private sources of finance. These set of international accounting standards helped reduce the information processing and auditing costs to the UK’s market participants. With the help of adoption of IFRS it is expected to lower information costs to capital markets, and the UK
Epstein, Barry Jay. "The Economic Effects of IFRS Adoption." CPA Journal. (2009): 26-31. Web. 27 Mar. 2012.
International Reporting Standards (IFRS) are standards that are aimed as a global language that is common for affairs of business, to make sure that the accounts of the company can be understood and are of a certain standard that applies worldwide. IFRS are
The issue of adoption of international financial reporting standards (IFRSS) in Australia has been controversial issue since the first time Australian Financial Reporting council (FRC) announced the policy in 2002. Many believe that IFRSS adoption will lead to great advantages such as enhance financial report comparability, improve quality of financial reporting, attract more foreign investor, and other significant advantages. However, some also believe that the adoption merely result in disadvantages and cost for Australian business, accounting profession and even Australian government.
International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) are an international set of accounting standards. Early in the 21st century, the Australian Accounting Standards board, with guidance from the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), decided to implement IFRS’s throughout Australia. This decision was made so that Australia could participate and contribute to the development of a distinct set of accounting standards that could be used all around the world.
With complete notion and awareness of how each country has their set of rules, “the goal of IFRS is to provide a global framework for how public companies prepare and disclose their financial statements” (Rouse, 2011). This view is meant to provide general guidelines, as well as international comparisons through conventional and edifying means. To bring broader and vivid objectives, IFRS replaced IAS, the older standards, in order to bring a more comprehensive and simplified accounting procedures.
In most of the countries accepting IFRS, include Continental Europe, IFRS pledge more comprehensive, accurate and timely financial statement information. Compared to unknown financial statement information from other sources, IFRS lower risk to investors. Investment professionals can forestall financial statement information from other sources, but most small investors couldn’t anticipate these information, in this case, IFRS enhancing financial reporting quality make small investors to compete better and decreases the risk. IFRS can lower the cost that investors spend on processing financial information by standardising reporting formats and eliminating international differences in accounting standards. Investors are more likely to gain from enhanced market efficiency, which can be done by decreasing the cost of processing financial information. Barriers of cross-border divestitures and acquisitions can be removed by decreasing international differences in accounting standards, this would benefit investors with enhancive takeover
IFRS was created in 2001 with nearly the same objective as FASB, creating high caliber, effective, and efficient standards not just locally but globally. Their headquarters are in London, England. Within a 15 year span, almost 120 different countries have begun to follow and report under IFRS. By adopting IFRS, a business can present its financial statements on the same basis as its foreign competitors, making comparisons easier and allowing them to engage in different markets (IFRS, 2016). IFRS is seeking unity so it is easier to compare financial reports country to country. This will make companies marketable in foreign places and allow foreign competitors to easily enter different markets.
(Horton et al., 2013) stated that the adoption of IFRS (IFRS) requires changes in the financial and accounting area, in most systems and processes, as well as in the area of human resources companies. The accounting policies in accordance with international standards are definite principles, techniques, sources, agreements and practices implemented by an enterprise in preparing and presenting financial statements IFRS IFRS-audited according to IAS and ISA-COSO internal control, putting in operation and economic good accounting for disclosure of general purpose accounting information
The International Financial Reporting Standards, otherwise widely known as the IFRS, are a set of high quality financial reporting standards that are designed to be used globally by profit making enterprises. The continuous development of such international standards is an example of the international harmonization witnessed in the global financial sector over
According to current literature, the global movement to adopt International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) is the paramount financial reporting issue of the 21st century. More Than 100 countries in the world use IFRS as the basis of financial reporting.
The International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) - the bookkeeping standard employed by organizations in more than 110 countries has some key contrasts from the U.S. sound accounting guidelines (GAAP). At the reasonably level, IFRS is viewed as all the more of an accounting standard which is based on principles as opposed to U.S. GAAP which is viewed as a standard based on rules. IFRS, ostensibly, incorporates and displays the financial aspects of a transaction better than U.S. GAAP.
By adopting IFRS it is expected that the investors and other users of financial statements will be beneficial, by lowering the costs of comparing alternative investments and increasing the quality of information. Investors are ready to invest in the company so company are also getting benefit from IFRS. The company who is involved more in foreign activities will be more beneficial by switching to IFRS. However, Ray j Ball has criticised about overall cost of the international standard. He argues that the implemented of the standards could be careless, and the regional difference in accounting could become hidden behind a label. He is also concerns that fair value important of IFRS and the impact of accountants from non-common law regions, where damages have been recognized in a less timely manner.
United States supports IFRS standards, but does not emphasize on its full enforcement. This issue has been in debate for years. SEC has shown its immense support to meet the growing challenges of IFRS acceptance in the United States. SEC has allowed many foreign firms to form their financial statements pertaining to IFRS. Few companies have attempted towards the use of IFRS standards. SEC plays a vital role in the International Organization of Securities Commission, where companies that are operating in foreign market were recommended to implement “Thirty core” standards formed by an international accounting standard committee. In addition, SEC also supports the Norwalk agreement where both FASB and IASB commit to form a “harmonized” global standards and willingness to establish a plan to align important U.S GAAP and IFRS standards for financial reporting. (FASB website)
The whole idea of the IAS and IFRS standards is that, since companies want to expand in a global financial market they have to have some principles and international standards to follow which confirms that there is actual regulation of financial markets. Through these standards capital markets that are placed in various authorities can make the most proficient capital streams that are valuable to controllers, associations, and the market in general. IAS 16