International Convergence of Accounting Practices: Choosing Between IAS and US GAAP

Author(s):  
Ann Tarca
Organizacija ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 41 (6) ◽  
pp. 218-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mateja Jerman ◽  
Massimo Manzin

Accounting Treatment of Goodwill in IFRS and US GAAPThe article presents an overview of the new accounting treatment of goodwill regarding International Financial Reporting Standards and American Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. Goodwill acquired through a business combination is no longer amortized but tested for impairment. Despite the fact that the objective of the new International Financial Accounting Standard has been to move towards international convergence; significant differences between standards still exist. The article presents the main changes of the regulation in the last years and the key differences between the two accounting treatments. In spite of the new accounting approach there are still lots of discussions, which indicate that the field is still not properly regulated. Finally, the article offers possible directions for future research and reporting practice.


2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Harris ◽  
Liz Washington Arnold ◽  
Katherine Kinkela ◽  
William Stahlin
Keyword(s):  

Author(s):  
Charles Shaaba Saba

AbstractThis study re-examines the international convergence in defence spending for 125 countries spanning 1985–2018. We employ the approach of Phillips and Sul, which tests for the existence of convergence clubs and the modelling of different transition paths to convergence. Our findings suggest no overall defence spending convergence at the world, income groups (except the low-income countries) and regional levels. However, we identify two convergence clubs using an iterative testing procedure and eventually (i) at world level, these two clubs exhibit convergence, and (ii) while taking into account Gross national income, geography and defence alliances/economic cooperation it is possible to make different number of convergence/divergence clubs. Contrary to previous findings, this study finds that the process of convergence in defence spending does not reflect the desirable emanations of defence policies sharing similar characteristics, at least in terms of the allocation of scarce public resources across the globe.


Author(s):  
Jan Friedrich

AbstractThis paper focuses on the interplay between accounting standards and tax laws in the context of regulatory arbitrage by examining the development of synthetic leases especially in the USA. In a synthetic lease, the lease remains off balance sheet for financial reporting by the lessee, while depreciations and interest expenses can be deducted for tax purposes. Exploring the evolving structures of synthetic leases over the last 30 years, the paper demonstrates how financial engineers have been able to perpetually re-structure this sophisticated instrument to keep it off-balance sheet instrument notwithstanding regulatory changes. Specifically, it shows that the most recent revision of lease accounting standards in 2016 – that intended to mark the end of off-balance sheet leases under IFRS and US-GAAP – resulted in reviving the demand for synthetic leases as the tax benefits outweigh the structuring costs. Contributing to the debate on the shift towards international accounting convergence (including US-GAAP and IFRS), the paper argues that attempts to limit regulatory arbitrage may also consider the reciprocal linkages between accounting standards and tax laws. For instance, tax laws should be considered as a means to limit regulatory arbitrage in financial reporting.


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