It’s very much in your interest to know about International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). For decades, changes in the global marketplace-and particularly in international accounting standards-appeared to have little direct impact on small business. That’s no longer the case.  The growing acceptance of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) as a basis for U.S. financial reporting represents a fundamental change for accounting processes. Today, approximately 113 countries require or allow the use of IFRS for the preparation of financial statements by publicly held companies. In the United States, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued a proposed roadmap for the possible mandatory use of IFRS for U.S. public companies starting as early as 2010.  Businesses need to understand that converting to IFRS is more than an accounting issue. It is a business issue affecting many aspects of a company’s operations, including information technology systems and tax reporting requirements.

Growing interest in the global acceptance of a single set of robust accounting standards comes from all participants in the capital markets. Many multinational companies and national regulators and users support it because they believe that the use of common standards in the preparation of public company financial statements will make it easier to compare the financial results of reporting entities from different countries.

For More Information: http://www.ifrs.com/updates/aicpa/Backgrounder_pdf.html, http://www.tscpa.org/resource/publicpractice/Media/2008/Dec/IFRSneeds.asp

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