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Similarity between IFRS and GAAP
The Fundamental Accounting Principles
Similarity between IFRS and GAAP
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Financial Reporting Generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) are uniquely different for each country. Although there has been a push for International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) to be the new accounting standards for both domestic and foreign financial statements, local GAAP still remains the current standard for participating countries (CFO, 2008). Regulations regarding an organization’s regulatory environment and issues with foreign currency vary within domestic and foreign companies. The differences in GAAP also vary between the two. When U.S. companies do business overseas, they must also follow certain rules regulated by the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). According to CPE Inc. (2008), “Every company and employee directly or indirectly involved in a foreign operation should have a working knowledge of the FCPA (para. 4). The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) is the U.S. organization that creates the rules and regulations domestic companies must abide by according to GAAP. In addition, “Corporations whose stock is publicly traded must also comply with the reporting requirements of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), an agency of the U.S. government” (para. 4). Abiding by the established standards will help ensure that ethical business practices are upheld across borders. Accounting Reporting Criteria Paper United Technologies Corporation (UTC) is a global conglomerate and provider of “high technology products and services to building systems and aerospace industries” (UTC, 2008). With corporate world headquarters located in Hartford, Connecticut; UTC was the 42nd largest corporation in the United States in 2007 with more than 4000 locations in approximately 62 countries (UTC,... ... middle of paper ... ...ives UTC. (2008). Facts and Figures. Retrieved November 6, 2008, from http://www.utc.com/utc/About_ UTC/Fast_Facts.html UTC (2008) Financials. 2007 Annual Report, Retrieved November 6, 2008 from http://www.utc.com/utc/Static%20files/Company%20Reports/Annual%20Reports/2007/2007_utc_annual_report.pdf Clark, N. (2007, November 27). Airbus' Currency Exchange Troubles Could Multiply. Retrieved November 9, 2008, from International Heral Tribune: http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/11/23/business/airbus.php Financial Statements. (2004). Retrieved November 9, 2008, from EADS Annual Report 2004: http://www.reports.eads.net/2004/ar_2004/en/downloads/Book2/financial_statements_and_corporate_governance.pdf Sacho, Z. Y. (2006, Novembert). The effect of Europes transition to IFRS. Retrieved November 9, 2008, from BNET: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa5377/is_/ai_n21402335
An important part of financial planning for corporations is the annual report. Publically held companies are required to submit an annual report to the SEC and private companies, even though not required, can use an annual report to gauge the performance of the company for the past year and use the report to plan for the future. The financial statements that make up an annual report are the income statement, the balance sheet, and the statement of cash flows. (Melicher, 2014) Once all of the financial information has been compiled and the three statements that make up the annual report have been completed a corporation can then start to analyze the data. There are several different categories of financial ratios
The International Anti-Bribery and Fair Competition Act amends the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977. The Securities Exchange Act is a United States law which regulates the trading of securities in the secondary market. The secondary market involves sales that take place after a security is originally offered by an issuer which is typically a company (Sarkar). The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act is a United States law which prohibits paying bribes to foreign officials to retain or obtain business. It also requires companies to retain accurate records and books. Companies are also required to implement a system of internal controls which provides reasonable assurances that transactions are executed and assets are accessed and accounted for in accordance with management's authorization (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission). The Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public...
In the world of international finance there are two major accounting systems; GAAP, which stands for Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, and IFRS, which stands for International Financial Reporting Standards. The United States prefers GAAP while the European market, as well as many other countries, prefers IFRS. By 2015 the Securities Exchange Commission is anticipating a total transfer to IFRS in the United States. Though the differences between GAAP and IFRS are few, they could affect accuracy of financial reporting throughout the world. It is important to understand the differences and similarities between both GAAP and IFRS if one is to globalize ones market (Logue).
The cons to the argument for saying the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act is obsolete is discussed in the article With Wal-Mart Claims, Greater Attention on a Law by Charlie Savage. In this article Charlie Savage argues that the FCPA has always been a useful tool in stopping corruption but in recent years with companies becoming more globalized other countries gradually adopted similar laws, the United States has started to enforce it more strictly. The dollar amount of fines imposed by the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission has increased even more, including a record-setting $800 million paid by Siemens in 2008. Enforcement under the act has soared, from just two enforcement actions in 2004 to 48 in 2010. There are currently at least 100 open investigations, specialists estimate.
Ethics within any industry and organization is vital for its success. When those ethics have been compromised, it can be detrimental to the organization. Within the health care industry, it is vital they adhere to the ethical standards that have been established by the federal and state governments. For ethical standards to be followed, the health care executives are responsible to establishing policies and procedures. Understanding the financial aspects of the health care organization such as, where exactly does health care spending goes and how to reduce the inefficiencies and financial waste within the system is also important. This paper will address the financial reporting practices and ethics within
This essay will discuss the influence NZ Framework brings to financial reporting standards that included NZ GAAP based on the debate between principles-based and rule-based. In particular, it will portray: (1) the nature and orientation of financial reporting framework and GAAP; (2) the main improvement of NZ Framework and the applications framework guided in NZ GAAP.
Bribes are not legal fees. Potential bribes were not disclosed in the books as well. This violation not only involves the accountants of Wal-Mart de Mexico, but the CEO, CFO, and auditors that were supposed to make sure records are transparent, accurate, and reliable. Sarbanes Oxley also requires CEO’s and CFO’s to certify that the financial reports are correct. The United States Department of Justice encourages companies to conduct internal investigations and to disclose the relevant facts to the authorities. Any suspicion that the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act is being violated should be reported to the US DOJ, which it was not reported by Wal-Mart. According to The New York Times, Wal-Mart did approach the Justice Department, but after learning about the Times’
Expanding sales to foreign countries can offer a Multinational Company (MNC) higher profit margins, unique products, and technological advantages. One of the major issues that an MNC will face is analyzing foreign financial statements, due to the diversity of accounting guidelines across the world. It’s imperative that companies that decide to go international learn and understand the tax laws and guidelines of other countries, in order to minimize the accounting issues involved in business activities. One of the top coffee producing companies in the world, Starbucks Corp has grown to be a powerful MNC. Their investment in foreign operations and foreign trade requires them to understand international accounting concepts and international financial reporting standards (IFRS). In this report, GAAP concepts used by Starbuck’s will be compared to IFRS.
Private and public accounting has long been discussed and disputed in regards to financial reporting. Since the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) was created in 1973, accountants have called for different accounting regulations for private and public accounting sectors, as private companies do not have the resources to meet the complex requirements of public companies. Private companies currently are not required by law to issue annual or quarterly financial statements (James, 2012). Private companies do, however, have the option to apply the U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), cash basis, or accrual accounting to their financial statements (James, 2012).
A consolidated financial statement can be defined as the financial statements of a parent and its subsidiaries combined to form a single economic entity (AASB 10, 2011). The entity, which acquires the other entity, is known as the parent and the entity, which has been acquired, is known as the subsidiary. Consolidation financial reports arise when one entity purchases another entity, to then form a group.
The Purpose of Financial Statements The financial statements of a business are used to provide information about the status of the business, set performance targets and impose restrictions on the managers of the firm as well as provide an easier method for financial planning. The financial statements consist of the Profit and Loss Account, Balance Sheet and the Cash Flow Statement. There are four areas of information, which we can collect from a company's financial statements. They are: Ÿ Profitability - This information comes from the Profit and Loss account. Were we can compare this year's profit with the previous years.
The globalization of business has resulted in the need for compatible accounting standards that can be used internationally for financial reporting. As a result, the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) were developed by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) to unify the various financial reporting methods and create a single accounting standard which can be applied to any financial statement worldwide (Byatt). The global standardization of financial reporting will increase the readability and enhance comparability of globally traded companies’ financial statements, without the need of conversion or translation. There are a few main differences between the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and the U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (U.S GAAP). The increasing recognition and acceptance of the International Financial Reporting Standards by accounting professionals in the United States, will affect the way in which the U.S will record financial statements in the future.
There are a number of issues that affect international business ethics. They include employment practices, human rights, environmental regulations, corruption, and moral obligation of multinational companies. Employment practice refers to the working conditions an employee must work under. This can be very difficult to gauge, because many times the working conditions of a host nation are inferior to those in an organizations home nation. Many organizations have had to fight with these regulations. A good example of this in the trouble Nike found themselves in during the 1990s. There were a number of news reports released about the working conditions of most of its subcontractors were very poor . The Nike Company was not breaking any laws but it did bring into question the ethics of using a sweatshop. After this incident it left a number of questions for the international marketplace. In recent years many companies have cut ties with organizations that use unsafe and unfair labor practice.
GAAP is exceptionally useful because it attempts to regulate and normalize accounting definitions, assumptions, and methods. Because of generally accepted accounting principles one is able to presuppose that there is uniformity from year to year in the methods that are used to prepare a company's financial statements. And even though variations might exist, one can make realistically confident conclusions when comparing one company to another, or when comparing one company's financial statistics to the statistics for the industry as a whole. Over the years the generally accepted accounting principles have become more multifaceted because financial transactions have become more intricate (Accounting Principles, 2011).
The revenue/cost period-: Revenue and the cost period in accounting that the company get income from normal business activities. It’s referred to normal business income that the company got by selling their product and service.