Australia has adopted International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) since 1 January 2005. The purpose of IFRS is to develop a common set of “high quality” accounting standards that can be used across countries. IFRS is now required in more than 140 jurisdictions and permitted for use by a further 12 jurisdictions. In that sense, IFRS has been successful in achieving one of its main purposes, persuading as many countries as possible to adopt a common set of accounting standards. In other words, IFRS has become the de facto global language of financial reporting, which is used extensively across countries. However, there are still concerns about the use of IFRS. 

One of the concerns is that in many countries using IFRS, market and political forces often remain local and thus, it is not clear how much convergence in financial reporting practice is occurring. Using no more than 2,000 words (including introduction and conclusion, but excluding references), you are required to write an essay to answer the following questions. Support your answer by citing creditable references such as newspapers and articles from practitioner (professional) journals and scholarly journal articles. 

Questions: 

1) What are the pros and cons of using a single set of accounting standards globally? (Suggested no. of words: 400-600) (15 marks) 

2) Discuss what “high quality” accounting standards mean and what impact such accounting standards would bring about. (Suggested no. of words: 300 - 400) (10 marks) 

3) Explain how International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) develops a new accounting standard (IFRS) and what contributions Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB) makes to the process of developing IFRS. (Suggested no. of words: 400 - 600) (15 marks) 

4) Explain about the effects of the adoption of IFRS (AASB) on financial reporting practices in Australia.

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

The improvement in comparability between businesses in various nations is the main benefit of having an unified set of international accounting standards Currently there are significant regional diffe... View the full answer