Does the Achievement of International Accounting Harmonization Have a Long Way to Go.Doc

1 Introduction
With the expansion of globalization, the economic connection among countries is tighter and tighter. The existence of different local accounting standards becomes an obstacle in international financial area. Incompatible financial data, unacceptable game rules to regulate the behavior of multinational companies and indefinite financial performance in the eye of international investors are strong evidences. As a result of these problems, harmonization of the international accounting standards will not be a dream any more. In 1973, Canada, Japan, Australia, France, Germany, UK, Mexico, Ireland, the Netherlands and the US created the International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC) for the purpose of developing international accounting standards (Payne & Ranagan, 2008, p.15). International Accounting Standard Board was established by the IASC in 2001, in order to create the best accounting standards to be implemented by all countries in the world (Fajardo, 2007, p.59). Every country is trying to make as much effort as they can in this global issue. However whether this global economic bridge can be built up smoothly and quickly is an issue which should be considered, because of the adoption of International Accounting Standards is not compulsory. Different interests and different purpose of different countries will influence the harmonization process of International Accounting Standards.
In this essay, I am going to prove that the International Accounting Standards will be adopted globally one day. Moreover, I will analyze the bad effects that the accounting standards harmonization incurs, the inherent disadvantages of this movement, the difficulty in practice and even the thoughts of different countries behind this global issue. Is every game player ready for this radical change that will govern their financial world? Does every game player push the achievement of the course on one hand and set the obstacles to slow down the process on the other

References: Callao, S., Jarne, J. I., and Lainez, J. A. (2007). Adoption of IFRS in Spain: Effect on the comparability and relevance of financial reporting. Journal of International Accounting, Auditing & Taxation, 16. 148-178 Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Fajardo, C. L. (2007). The Move towards Convergence of Accounting Standards World Wide. Journal of American Academy of Business, Cambridge, 12(1). 57-62 Godfrey, J Jacob, R. A., and Madu, C. N. (2004). Are We Approaching a Universal Accounting Language in Five Years?. The Journal of Futures Studies, Strategic Thinking and Policy, 6(6). 356-363 Lew, J Misawa, M. (2005). The Japanese Issues and Perspective on the Convergence of International Accounting Standards. Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business, 25. 711-745 Nino, S Payne, W. M. and Ranagan, J. E. (2008). To Converge or Not to Converge? A Question for Modern-day Standards-setters. Journal of Government Financial Management, 57(1). 14-20 Pennar, K Spiceland, J., Sepe, J. and L. Tomassini. (2007). Intermediate Accounting. 4th Ed. McGraw-Hill, Irwin Williams, K