Convergence of IFRS and US GAAP

A global thought leadership series giving our points of view on the key issues that affect our clients and our Assurance profession.

ViewPoint: Convergence of IFRS and US GAAP
The convergence of accounting standards is of decisive strategic importance to the future of the global capital markets.

Current accounting and reporting practices fall short of meeting the information needs of the capital markets in the 21st century. A critically important element in the solution to this problem is the convergence of US GAAP and IFRS, a process now underway at an early stage. Will convergence rise to the challenge of meeting those needs?

All major stakeholders have the opportunity to influence this challenging process in positive ways that reflect both their business interests and their commitment to sound global capital markets. In this paper we address the five fundamental points which we believe bear close consideration.

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Previous topics in the ViewPoint series:

Issue 4: Audit committee effectiveness
Quality audit committees should take the initiative and present a full picture of their effectiveness (64kb)
In this ViewPoint we highlight a number of initiatives which audit committees can take to enhance their governance, as well as suggesting how these should be reported to the markets to ensure that the fullest possible picture of their effectiveness is being presented.

Issue 3: Fraud
Time for straight-talking and constructive action (65kb)
It is only straight-talking and concerted action that can counteract the vast and complex threat posed to business by fraud. In the third of our ViewPoint papers, we call for a full and frank debate by all stakeholders to combat the vast range of fraudulent activity suffered by companies around the world. Action needs to be taken to detect and deter.

Issue 2: Controls
Focusing on control processes is not enough (59kb)
This paper outlines our view that the increasing focus on corporate control processes is an important step in increasing confidence in the effectiveness of controls, but that investors still lack insight into a key element of the control environment. The missing piece of the controls jigsaw is the culture of the organisation.

Issue 1: Corporate reporting
No more fixes, time for a fundamental revision (60kb)
This paper outlines our view that the current corporate reporting model used by tens of thousands of companies and investors worldwide has become unwieldy and the time has come for a fundamental rethink. The paper considers where we believe the current reporting model needs to be improved, what the basic tenets of a new workable reporting model are and how stakeholders should collaborate to improve corporate reporting.

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