The Process of International Accounting Harmonisation: Are the IASB’s objectives being achieved?

Abstract

International harmonisation of accounting rules has awoken an interest in international organisations, governments, professionals, academics, investors and other users of financial information. This study synthesises and presents in a structured way the basic ideas that academic journals have provided regarding different aspects of this process of convergence. The IFRS is now used in the structuring of financial reports in over 150 countries. The motivation behind convergence, the adoption strategy, institutional factors, and each country’s cultures or implementation guide have proved essential for understanding the impact of the change in accounting model, in addition to the way in which the IFRS are being applied in various jurisdictions. The analysis of the IFRS in different regions and types of firms indicates that the suitability of these guidelines could be limited to certain contexts.