Harmonization of Accounting Standards

Yet global accounting policies may soon change as key accounting rule makers worldwide work toward the goal of convergence. At the forefront is the IASC, committed to developing standards that will bring consistency to accounting policies worldwide. The SEC is willing to compromise and last year accepted three international accounting standards on cash-flow data, the effects of hyperinflation, and business combinations for cross border stock filings. Still, the general consensus seems to be that before any progress can be made toward convergence, international standard setters need more resources and participation of the major parties involved.
A number of factors have contributed to this convergence. Specifically, large supranational corporations have begun to apply their home country standards in a manner consistent with IASC standards or GAAP. In addition, while the accounting standards used must be high quality, they must be supported by an infrastructure that ensures that the standards are rigorously interpreted and applied, and that problematic practices are identified and changed in a timely fashion. Elements of this infrastructure include: effective, independent and high quality accounting and auditing standard setters; high quality auditing standards; auditing firms with effective quality controls worldwide; profession-wide quality assurance, and regulatory oversight.
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