IFRS Ready
The globalization of business and finance has led to the successful mass adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) by over 12,000 companies in over 100 countries. Whether or not, as individuals, each of us support the concepts of ultimately attaining use of a single set of high quality accounting standards globally or the possibility of moving to use these standards in the United States, IFRS is in use in most capital markets around the world. IFRS already significantly impacts U.S. companies because it:
- Influences the direction of convergence,
- Is used by foreign subsidiaries of U.S. companies,
- Stimulates questions from investors comparing U.S. companies to foreign competitors, and
- Influences the transaction structuring by foreign counterparties (customers, vendors, and capital providers) who report under IFRS.
Beginning to prepare accounting students for this new environment will be important to their long term professional success without regard to whether the US, itself, adopts the standards. PricewaterhouseCoopers seeks to assist faculty who choose to introduce IFRS in the curriculum.
Because IFRS is new content for students, professors and business schools, PwC is providing learning opportunities for use by students and faculty. Through PwC's IFRS Ready program
- Students have direct access to IFRS learning opportunities including video content and interactive financial statements [see www.pwc.tv],
- Faculty have access to instructional materials that may be embedded in existing courses [available now on the AAA Commons or through this request link],
- Faculty will have on-going access to educational and technical resources as they implement our IFRS materials [please send any requests here].
These learning materials have been designed to be interesting, easy to use and efficient. They are flexible enough to support independent study and a variety of curricular strategies.
The PricewaterhouseCoopers Charitable Foundation, Inc. has committed $1 million to the IFRS Ready grant program. Over two years, these resources will provide competitive funding to support faculty as they build IFRS into their courses. In 2009, we will be providing over $700,000 to fund 23 proposals. Click here for a list of our 2008 grant recipients. For information on future funding, please click here for a copy of our Request for Proposals.
Each year, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP employs several thousand new campus hires and interns. Candidates for these positions are evaluated, in part, on behavioral interviews that focus on specific competencies that are essential to success in the Firm. One of these is acquiring and applying technical and professional skills and knowledge.
Recognizing that some knowledge of IFRS and its impact will help students in the future, PwC will start considering an applicant's awareness level of knowledge starting in Fall, 2009. For example:
- Sophomores interviewing for summer programs and internships and who have had at least one term of accounting should have a pre-awareness of IFRS by being able to define what IFRS stands for and why it could be important to their future careers.
- Juniors and above interviewing for internships or full time positions should be able to demonstrate an awareness of IFRS by being able to articulate which global organization establishes IFRS, what an example of a difference between US GAAP and IFRS may be, and generally where it is used in the world. These students may benefit from visiting our website and completing the brief learning tasks we have provided.