IFRS For SMEs-U.S. GAAP Comparison Tool Available Online
From the Journal of Accountancy:
IFRS For SMEs-U.S. GAAP Comparison Tool Available Online While the SEC moves toward a 2011 vote on whether to require U.S. public companies to report using IFRS, a more compact version of the international standards is already an option, subject to state board approval, for U.S. private companies. Now there’s a free online tool to help preparers understand how that streamlined standard compares to U.S. GAAP.
The IFRS for SMEs-U.S. GAAP Comparison Wiki, available at wiki.ifrs.com, is a collaborative resource launched in January for understanding differences between the two sets of financial reporting standards. IFRS for SMEs is a simplified version of full IFRS aimed at meeting the needs of private company financial reporting users. It eliminates some of the requirements meant specifically for public entities.
The wiki was designed to provide a comprehensive and detailed comparison of IFRS for SMEs to U.S. GAAP. Previously, only high-level comparisons were available, according to Robert Durak, a senior technical adviser for the AICPA. When fully developed, it will include comparisons of all sections of IFRS for SMEs and will be updated as new standards emerge. It was created by the AICPA Accounting Standards team and can be updated and edited by anyone in the profession.
We’ll be watching this development with great interest. While a few companies have already made a proactive move to the IFRS standard, the vast majority are on the sidelines. Will this be another Y2K phenomenon, with companies waiting till the last minute and then rushing to implement this standard before an SEC-imposed deadline? We shall see!
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