| page 2 and final page IRFS/US-GAAP Accounting Standards Similiarities and Differences previous page IV. Articles On Accounting Standards With Important Differences Still To Be Resolved. This section provides links to articles that discuss and analyze important differences that still exist in IFRS and US GAAP accounting standards. Three accounting standard areas covered are: research and development costs and derivatives. 1. Research and development costs. A detailed article that compares IFRS/US-GAAP accounting standards for research and development costs can be found at this website, http://www.allbusiness.com/periodicals/article/463068-1.html. 2. Derivatives. GTNEWS.com has two articles focusing on derivative-related differences in IFRS/US-GAP accounting standards. These articles are at these sites, http://www.gtnews.com/article/1887.cfm and http://www.gtnews.com/article/5351.cfm. V. Three Key Websites To Search. Three critical websites that should be used to find information on similarities and differences between IFRSs and US-GAAP are the Financial Accounting Standards Board site (www.fasb.org), the International Accounting Standards Board site (www.iasb.org), and the US Securities and Exchange Commission site (www.sec.gov). In searching these sites, I suggest that Google search technology be used rather than the search engines that these sites provide for searching the site. To use the Google search engine technology to search these sites, you can go to the Google search site (www.google.com), and click “Advanced Search”, and then insert the FASB, IASB, or SEC domain name (www.fasb.org, www.iasb.org, or www.sec.gov) in the block next to “domain”, and click “Google Search”. This will bring up the pages that Google finds at the site. Then you can search within these pages, using Google search technology (which most people consider unmatched), by clicking "Search within results” at the bottom of the page. This brings up a page at which you can add search terms, such as “gaap ifrs differences”, to find pages at the sites that deal with the terms used. Some important pages at the FASB and IASB websites that give details on FASB and IASB projects related to IFRS and US-GAAP convergence and similarities and differences are these: http://www.fasb.org/project/short-term_intl_convergence.shtml, http://www.fasb.org/intl/convergence_iasb.shtml, and www.iasb.org/Current+Projects/IASB+Projects/IASB+Work+Plan.htm. Since, ultimately, an important driving force in IFRS/US-GAAP accounting standards convergence is regulatory acceptance of a company’s accounting standards, the US Securities and Exchange Commission views and guidance on convergence is important. Two sites that provide detailed comments by the SEC on convergence are: http://www.sec.gov/divisions/corpfin/internatl/issues0501.htm and http://www.sec.gov/divisions/corpfin/internatl/cfirdissues1104.htm. Please click here to return to the Management Accounting Information Center's homepage Please click here to send an email with comments on this article or a suggestion for other article topics |