The Inevitable Move to IFRS?

C. Richard Baker, PhD, CPA

The question is seemingly no longer “if,” but “when” the United States will adopt International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). In a forum held this past June at Baruch College in New York City, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) addressed the question of when and how the United States would move to IFRS. Participants in the forum included top officials from the FASB, the Financial Accounting Foundation (FAF), the Financial Accounting Standards Advisory Council (FASAC), the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), the SEC, the AICPA, the Financial Executives Institute (FEI), the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA), the CFA Institute, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), and the American Accounting Association (AAA). Additional participants included individuals representing financial statement users, small and large companies, auditors, regulators, educators, and other parties that might be affected if there is a move from U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) to IFRS.