International Financial Reporting Standards Dissertation

International Financial Reporting Standards - Dissertation Example Due to the globalization process, organizations have become truly global in nature with their presence in different countries of the world. However, due to different accounting standards prevailing in each country, international organizations have to report their financial performance according to different standards. This, therefore, created the issue of uniformity of the accounting reporting and disclosure requirements. The rapid internationalization of the business activities necessitated the creation of a uniform set of accounting standards to improve the disclosure requirements. It is critical to note that not all countries have adopted the IFRS and the overall process is still considered as challenging for most of the countries. One of the most notable omissions is US which has not yet adapted the standards for different reasons. This literature review will discuss the issues and concerns which are preventing US from adapting the IFRS. International Financial Reporting Standard s It is argued that financial accounting standards are necessary because they allow investors and other stakeholders to have access to the information which is consistent as well as understandable. Following a uniform set of accounting standards is considered as important from the view point of consistency (Cangemi, 2008). Globalization should be considered as one of the beginning points towards the development of IFRS. It was the increase in the overall complexity of businesses at the international level that has resulted in the development of IFRS at the global level. The process of globalization is considered so strong that it requires revamping of existing regulatory frameworks in order to help globalization to take its roots. The unrestricted movement and flow of capital across the borders have resulted in the movement of goods, services and investments across the markets. This has also triggered further expansion of international businesses as organizations shifted their headq uarters to places where accounting standards were different. Due to the relocation of business operations, organizations had to prepare accounting statements according to the prevailing local accounting standards. The internationalization of the accounting standards and introduction of IFRS, therefore, are considered as part of the same process to allow the development of a uniform set of standards (Daske & Gibhardt, 2006). Various research studies have actually highlighted the importance of adapting IFRS as it is believed that a uniform set of accounting standards can improve the quality of reporting. Having same reporting standards would allow investors to better understand and evaluate the performance of the global firms and develop a unique insight. Though it has been suggested that estimating the overall importance and how a uniform set of standards can actually improve the quality of reporting may be too early (Jacob & Madu, 2009). It has also been argued that fair value accou nting practices under the IFRS have also created much fear at the organizational level. It has been argued that fair accounting revaluation of assets under the IFRS has resulted in a drastic reduction in the values of the assets. This reduction in the value of assets, therefore, has diluted the balanced sheets of the firms and further resulted in worsening of financial crisis in developed countries. Accounting standards made under the historical cost concepts may have been more suitable in order to allow organizations to report their assets and liabilities at the right values (Smith, Boje, & Melendrez, 2010). At the global level, there are two sets of accounting sta