“several Organisations Have Been Involved in the Efforts to Harmonise Accounting Practices Either Regionally or Internationally. the Most Important Players in This Effort Were the European Union (regionally) and the International Accounting Standards Co
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“Several organisations have been involved in the efforts to harmonise accounting practices either regionally or internationally. The most important players in this effort were the European Union (regionally) and the International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC) (now IASB) (internationally). The International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) and the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) also contributed significantly to the harmonisation efforts at the international level.” (Doupnik and Perera, 2009, page 72).
Word Count:
Contents:
List of Abbreviations
Introduction
The European Union and the IASC/IASB
A History
Organisational Objectives
Motives Behind Accounting Harmonisation
Accounting Harmonisation/Convergence Efforts
Work Done to Harmonise/Converge Accounting Practices
The Challenges Faced in Efforts to Harmonise Accounting Practices
Successes and Achievements of Both the EU and the IASC/IASB
Conclusion
References
Appendix:
List of Abbreviations
European Community
European Union
Financial Accounting Standards Board
Handelsgesetzbuch
International Accounting Standard
International Accounting Standards Board
International Accounting Standards Committee
Institute of Chartered Accountants of Zimbabwe
International Federation of Accountants
IFRIC
International Financial Reporting Interpretations Committee
IPSAS
International Public-Sector Accounting Standards
IOSCO
International Organisation of Securities Commissions
International Standards on Auditing
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
US Securities and Exchange Commission
US GAAP
US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles
Zimbabwe Accounting Practices Board
Introduction
The purpose of this report is to carry out a critical evaluation of the work carried out by the EU and IASC/IASB to harmonise accounting practices. The Report considers the history of both organisations and the objectives of the organisations in terms of accounting practices regionally and internationally; motives behind accounting harmonisation; the work carried out, and the challenges faced in harmonising/converging accounting practices; and focus also on the achievements of both the EU and IASC/IASB in harmonising accounting practices. It has been widely accepted that competition in regulation is not as efficient as co-operation, provided the same similar risks are addressed by similar rules (Broby, 2013).
The European Union and the IASC/IASB
A History
The EU was originally setup after the Second World War frequent neighbouring country wars. 1950 saw the beginning of Europe’s uniting of nations through the European Coal and Steel Community by economically and politically linking European Countries. This was the true beginning of the ambition for harmonisation across Europe (European Union website, the official EU website – European Commission, 2017).
IASC was formed in 1973 via an agreement of professional accounting bodies from multiple nations (Iasplus.com, 2017). As of March 1997, the committee had issued 33 IAS’s. IASC membership has increased greatly over the years. As of September 1999 there were 143 members from 104 countries, and developing countries increased from 6% membership to 84% (Cairns, 1990; Gernon et al., 1990).
Organisational Objectives
The Goal of the EU, originally called for by Winston Churchill, was for a ‘United States of Europe’. A Europe that guaranteed peace would defeat nationalism and war-mongering. The goal of accounting harmonisation further adds to this context. Today the EU continues efforts towards harmonising international accounting practice, “The adoption of IFRS in the European Union was designed to improve the efficiency of EU capital markets by increasing the transparency and comparability of financial statements” (European Commission, 2015).
European Parliament passed on a regulation in 2002 and required all companies listed in the EU to prepare the consolidated financial statements in accordance with IFRS from 2005. The EU aims to ensure free movement of people, goods services and capital within the internal market (European Union website, the official EU website – European Commission, 2017).
The objectives of the IASC (IASB predecessor) was to develop accounting standards to be observed when presenting audited financial statements, and to promote the world-wide acceptance of standards. International Harmonisation was the end objective (Barth, Landsman and Lang, 2008). IASB is a private body that approves and develops IFRS’s. IASB has three main objectives; convergence, improvement and harmonisation. To achieve their goal, IASB have formed ‘principle based’ standards (to reduce differences between IAS judgement), and taken steps to remove alternative accounting methods