A survey of 53 countries' 60 key accounting measures, conducted by the Big Five, Grant Thornton and BDO, finds that there is a long way to go before companies' financial results can be reliably compared internationally. The findings indicate that the harmonization of local Generally Accepted Accounting Principles and IAS is going to be a long and arduous process, and the countdown has already begun for a 2005 implementation for companies to use IAS for European Union listings.

"Overall improvements in financial reporting will require cooperation among governments, the business community and the accountancy profession to develop the educational professional and regulatory infrastructures," says Mary Keegan, PricewaterhouseCoopers' head of global reporting and chairman of the United Kingdom Accounting Standards Board.

GAAP 2000 is the latest of a number of surveys on IAS and national GAAP to be published since the European Commission announced plans in July 2000 to oblige companies listed on EU exchanges to use IAS. It is a "status report" on the extent to which -- as at the end of last year -- national accounting rules align with IAS, and identifies the instances in which a country's rules would not allow or require the IAS treatment. It was commissioned to assist the International Forum for Accountancy Development, which aims to raise the standard of financial reporting and market regulation around the world.

The countries covered in the survey represent 95 percent of the world's GNP and were selected for their economic importance.

-- SmartPros News Staff

Send comments to information@smartpros.com.

Copyright 2001 AccountancyMagazine.com. Used with permission.