Article

An Accounting Wake Up Call: Switching to IFRS versus the Real Risk to Small and Medium Businesses

by Gloria Braunschweig
President, Dorian Enterprises, Computeration, Inc.

If you are an accountant at a private company in the US, then be aware that change is in the air. New accounting standards based on IFRS, or International Financial Reporting Standards, may very well become your new statutory reporting reality. What does it mean? Where is it coming from? When is it happening?  Does it mean you?

If you have not yet heard the chatter, IFRS is a specific, existing set of financial reporting standards developed and maintained by the International Accounting Standards Board. Here's a rundown on the real state of IFRS in the US:

Fact: A joint Statement issued on 29 November 2010, by the IASB (International Accounting Standards Board and FASB (US Financial Accounting Standards Board), reaffirmed their commitment "to improving International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) and US generally accepted accounting principles (US GAAP) and achieving their convergence." The target date for the priority projects underlying their commitment is June 2011.

Fact: International Accounting Standards Board Released in July, the 230-page IFRS for SMEs (small and medium enterprises) is a ready-made rule book.

Expert Opinion: Bruce Ponder, consultant at Leveraged Logic, and writer for CFO.com:

"To separate real from imagined risks, let's start by looking at some of the defining characteristics of the U.S. financial reporting environment. In the United States, as in most of the developed world, private companies outnumber public companies by a ratio of roughly 1,000 to 1. But in the United States-unlike most of the developed world-private companies have no statutory financial reporting obligations.

... IASB has no authority to compel any country to require or permit the use of IFRS. Nor does the IASB have any ...

FREE Membership Required to View Full Content:

Joining MSDynamicsWorld.com gives you free, unlimited access to news, analysis, white papers, case studies, product brochures, and more. You can also receive periodic email newsletters with the latest relevant articles and content updates.
Learn more about us here

Get full access
Accounting Auditing Dynamics GP IFRS
About Gloria Braunschweig

Gloria has experience across the full spectrum of business operations and management. Decades of experience are documented in the book Rapid Implementation, establishing Gloria as a specialists using Microsoft SQL tools for implementation, integration, and business intelligence related to Microsoft Dynamics GP.

Gloria writes and presents on lean implementation concepts and business management systems for small and mid-size businesses. 

More about Gloria Braunschweig