Educating yourself About International Financial Reporting Standards
Educating Yourself about International Financial Reporting Standards
The Security and Exchange Commission has declared that all U.S. companies must convert from Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) starting in 2014. While some companies are opting to put IFRS in place by 2009, all companies should be prepared for the transition as early as 2011. While all of these dates may seem well in the future, it is never too early to plan, or in the case of an individual, it is never too early to start learning. All of the Big 4 accounting firms, and even some other large firms, are taking great steps to educate their employees and clients about IFRS, and individuals can greatly benefit from this information.
Often regarded as #1 among the Big 4, PriceWaterhouseCoopers is definitely a leader when it comes to IFRS education. Their US homepage has a prominent heading with a link that directs web surfers to the portion of their website that is completely comprised of information regarding IFRS. What I found to be most interesting on their website was the interactive IFRS financial statements demonstration. When you access the demonstration you being by choosing what kind of statement you wish to look at. They offer balance sheets, income statements, and cash flow statements just to name a few. Once you click on one of them it brings up the statement you selected and by highlighting different sections of the statement bring up an explanation of how the statement differs from GAAP to IFRS. This is a great way for people to SEE how statements will differ, rather than just reading about it. PWC also offers a vast amount of information about IFRS under the Publications section of their website, all of which is available for anyone to download.
KPMG is another Big 4 firm that is right up there with their efforts in easing the transition from GAAP to IFRS. I found their report called "The Effects of IFRS on Financial Systems" to be incredibly informative. This is an incredibly important topic and it should be noted that IT costs are expected to be half the monetary burden of IFRS conversion. KPMG offers some great free information, however, the publications that they offer seem to be more geared towards professionals rather than every day people looking to learn about IFRS, and there is a fee required for some of their publications.
As I stated earlier, IFRS education isn't strictly limited to the Big 4. RSM McGladrey is a firm that is working very diligently to make IFRS a reality while limiting problems. They look at IFRS simply as a tradeoff to globalization and expanding markets. An interesting thing that McGladrey offers is a video of Bob Dohrer, Managing Partner and Practice Leader of the International Assurance Services division that highlights 4 steps he believes an organization should take to prepare for IFRS. I highly recommend viewing this video.
If you are in the accounting field, you most likely have already heard something about IFRS and have possibly even received some training for it. Regardless, there is an incredible amount of information on IFRS out there, and all you have to do is look for it. The sources that I have discussed are just the beginning to what is really out there. You shouldn't leave it up to someone else to worry about IFRS because it is going to affect everyone.
Sources:
10 Minutes on Transitioning to IFRS. PriceWaterhouseCoopers, September 2008
The Effects of IFRS on Financial Systems. KPMG, 2008.
KPMG IFRS Website.
The New GAAP: Internationally Accepted Accounting Principles. RSM McGladrey.
Preparing for IFRS Video. RSM McGladrey.
PriceWaterhouseCoopers' Interactive IFRS Financial Statements Demo
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