Accounting Standards Board Paper

Accounting Standards Board

Lashawna Roy

University of Phoenix

ACC 541

December 20, 2010

Mr. Meyer

Accounting Standards Board

The International Accounting Standards board and the Financial Accounting Standards board are currently working on a joint venture referred to as the convergence project. The convergence project is replacing the previous idea of harmonization which came about in the 1990s. The convergence project is meant to bridge the gap between GAAP and IFRS standards to smooth out issues and confusion that stem from the differences between national and international differences.

The following paragraphs contain a description of the IASB and FASB’s convergence project, a brief history of the relationship between the FASB and the IASB, the IASB equivalents for the FASB original pronouncements, a description of the FASB original pronouncements, as well as an explanation of how the MSA program prepares the student for a professional life within the Accounting vocation.

Brief History of the Relationship between the FASB and the IASB

The relationship between the FASB and the IASB only has a brief history. It was only in the last eight years that the two began working together. In 2002, the FASB and the IASB began working together with the goal of bringing together GAAP and IFRS (international financial reporting standards). This relationship came about after efforts of harmonization between major capital market accounting principles. The idea of convergence did not come about until the 1990s. Convergence is “the development of a single set of high-quality, international accounting standards that would be used in at least all major capital markets” (FASB.org, n.d.).

According to FASB.org the FASB and the IASB are working together on a convergence project that will ultimately produce new standards that will resolve differences between U.S. GAAP and IFRS. The convergence is excpected to be achieved in the short-term (FASB.org, n.d.). “The...