IFRS: Results & Invitations

As the SEC prepares to "speak a little later this fall about what our expectations are with respect to IFRS" (SEC Chairman Mary L. Schapiro, Sept. 18, 2009 as reported by Sarah Lynch, DJ Newswire, in Schapiro Says SEC Will Discuss Transition to IFRS This Fall), and as FASB and the IASB prepare for the next in their regularly scheduled series of joint board meetings, set to take place in Norwalk, CT next week (agenda, additional materials), we read of new survey results published by the AICPA on the state of CPA's preparedness for a potential move to IFRS in the U.S., as well as a separate IFRS survey on which your input is invited.

AICPA Survey Results Show CPAs Delay On IFRS
Earlier this week, the AICPA released the results of a survey on preparation in the U.S. for a potential move to IFRS. According to the AICPA press release, the survey showed that: “ The U.S. accounting profession delayed taking steps to prepare for adoption of international accounting standards over the last six months after the Securities and Exchange Commission set aside its review of U.S. plans for adoption during the credit crisis.” Read more in AICPA’s detailed survey results.

Although any potential action by the SEC on its IFRS Roadmap would be directed at public companies, there are indirect effects to private companies as well, including questions about whether private companies would choose to adopt IFRS for SMEs, published by the IASB earlier this year. Questions 11-14 in the AICPA's detailed survey results address issues related to private companies.

Your Input Invited On IFRS Survey Conducted by Selling & Walters
Your input is invited on a 12-question survey on IFRS, which is being conducted by two well-known academics with opposing views on potential IFRS adoption in the U.S. in the near-term.: Tom Selling, author of The Accounting Onion (of note: Selling served as an Academic Fellow at the SEC among his other teaching experience), and Pat Walters of Fordham Univ. (of note: Walters formerly served as a Senior Vice President at the CFA Institute, formerly called AIMR.) I understand from Selling that responses to the survey are requested by this week.

[NOTE: FEI is not a sponsor of the Selling-Walters IFRS survey or endorsing it, but I am personally impressed that Selling and Walters, by working together and yet holding opposing views - as described by Selling in his blog - aim to present a balanced survey instrument, rather than a survey designed to obtain a one-sided result.]

IFRS Boot Camp

FEI is holding a one-day 'IFRS Boot Camp' in NYC Nov. 18 sponsored by Deloitte, featuring a number of IFRS experts from the firm. The IFRS Boot Camp follows FEI's annual Current Financial Reporting Issues (CFRI) Conference Nov. 16-17 in NYC. For more programs, see FEI Conferences.

Print this post