Accounting Standards Board Paper
ACC/541
August 21, 2012
Accounting Standards Board Paper
As the globalization becomes more commonplace and the plant begins to “shrink”, there becomes a need for standardization. As companies increase is size, they begin to standardize to become more efficient and better serve their customers; this is also the case for the accounting world. The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) are the two main bodies that establish and communicate standards of financial accounting in their respected parts of the world. The FASB has this responsibility in the United States and the IASB has this responsibility internationally. The current IASB structure is that of 16 members. There are four from Asia/Oceania, four representing Europe, four from North America, one from Africa and South America, and two appointed from other areas ensuring geographical balance (IASPlus, 2012).
The FASB and the IASB began working on the convergence project in 2002. The two bodies have outlined what convergence means and the strategy to they will be employing to accomplish these goals in the Norwalk Agreement that was issued in 2002, and the Memorandum of Understanding that was issued in 2006. The Memorandum of Understanding was subsequently updated in 2008. It is the goal of the FASB to establish accounting standards that organizations can utilize internationally and domestically. Additionally, the path towards accomplishing this goal if for the IASB and the FASB to improve the United States generally accepted accounting principles (U.S. GAAP) and the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and brings these standards together as one (Financial Accounting Standards Board, n.d.).
The International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC) was formed in 1973 and the first international standards-setting body. In 2001, the IASC become the
References: Financial Accounting Standards Board. (n.d.). International Convergence of Accounting Standards—Overview. Retrieved from http://www.fasb.org/jsp/FASB/Page/SectionPage&cid=1176156245663 Financial Accounting Standards Board. (n.d.). International Convergence of Accounting Standards—A Brief History. Retrieved from http://www.fasb.org/jsp/FASB/Page/SectionPage&cid=1176156304264&pid=1176156245663 IASPlus. (2012). IASB Board membership. Retrieved from http://www.iasplus.com/en/resources/resource20 Schroeder, R. G., Clark, M. W., & Cathey, J. M. (2011). Financial Accounting Theory and Analysis: Text and Cases (10th ed.). Retrieved from The University of Phoenix eBook Collection database.