Your one indispensable guide to IAS compliance.
International Accounting Standards (IAS–with future pronouncements to be known as International Financial Reporting Standards, or IFRS) are receiving more attention than ever, having now been endorsed by the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) and, most recently, by the European Union. The EU will require that listed companies throughout the European Union apply IAS, instead of previously employed national accounting standards, by 2005, for consolidated financial reporting purposes (and since comparative financials are required, users will generally need to begin this exercise in 2003, as a practical matter). These two events–coupled with the growing list of nations either formally adopting IAS or basing national standards on them, and with the ever-expanding group of major international companies choosing to report on that basis of accounting–will likely provide the impetus necessary to catapult IAS into truly global use and acceptance.
New for 2003: expanded examples of financial statements prepared under IAS, with extensive informative disclosures, and a comprehensive comparison of IAS to both U.S. GAAP and U.K. GAAP requirements. Also included is a comprehensive, updated disclosure checklist.