Financial Accounting Theory: Investment Property Entities
Introduction
Leases have become a highly debated financial accounting theory in the accounting and business world throughout the integration of U.S Generally Accepted Accounting Principle (GAAP) and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The purpose of the following research is to evaluate the project being conducted on financial accounting theory: Investment Property Entities. The FASB project serves as the mediator and as an attempt to resolve the differences being presented between U.S. GAAP and IFRS as it relates to operating leases.
Historical Development
The Federal Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and International Standards Board (IASB) issued a memorandum of understanding on October 29, 2002 confirming and formalizing their prior discussion to commit to achieving global convergence of accounting standards. Identifying the differences between the United States and other countries, and arriving at a solution that was dually beneficial would simplify the comparison of financial statements nationally. Robert H. Herz, Chairman of the FASB, and Sir David Tweedie, Chairman of the IASB both agreed that although this would be quite a challenge, the objective of integrating the accounting standards would “support healthy global capital markets (FASB Brought U.S. GAAP CLoser to the Approach FASB and the IASB have Outlined their Preliminary Views Document, 2009). Since this announcement during a two day meeting in London, the FASB and the IASB have rolled out several joint projects to include the Leases Project which further resulted in the FASB project: Investment Property Entities.
FASB Statement No. 13, Accounting for Leases, was originally released November of 1976 to “provide standards of financial accounting and reporting to leases by lessees and lessors” (Project Update, 2012). This statement provides clarification of classification
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