Assignment Description Back in 2002, the world seemed to be on the verge of an accounting revolution. An initiative was under way to create a single set of international accounting standards, with the ultimate aim of uniting the U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) those European countries were in the process of adopting. By 2005, all public companies in the European Union had, in theory, abandoned their local accounting standards in favour of IFRS. Today, at least 110 countries around the world use the system in one form or another. But in a broad sense, convergence has stalled, and further substantive changes seem unlikely in the near future. To be sure, progress has been made, but understanding the true value of a firm and comparing company accounts across countries continue to be major challenges. Consider the implications of failing to reconcile GAAP and IFRS. I The analysis of investment targets, acquisitions, or competitors will in many cases continue to require comparison of financial statements under two distinct accounting regimes: Pfizer versus GlaxoSmithKline, Exxon versus BP, Walmart versus Carrefour-in each case, and one company uses GAAP and the other uses IFRS. The impact on results is hardly trivial. Take the British confectionary company Cadbury. Just before it was acquired by the U.S. firm Kraft, in 2009, it reported IFRS-based profits of $690 million. Under GAAP those profits totalled only $594 million-almost 14% lower. Similarly, Cadbury's GAAP-based return on equity was 9%-a full five percentage points lower than it was under IFRS (14%). Such differences are large enough to change an acquisition decision. Required: Identify TWO (2) financial statements from the USA and Europe Listed Company from the same industry and answer the following questions: 1. Compare and contrast the financial statement of these two-business organization in term of accounting method and policies on the followings: a) Revenue recognition b) Fair value accounting c) Investment d) Depreciation e) Derivate 2. I Explain the qualitative characteristics of useful information. (Discuss the presentation of financial statement of both companies) You have decided to invest RM50,000 in one of the companies above. However, as the first timer, you have a limited knowledge in investment. Equipped with accounting background, you believed that Financial Statements should provide information to assist the users in making better decision for investment: - Required: (a) Discuss the information that could provide better investment decision (b) State the company you would like to invest. (c) Explain your answer in (b). Assignment Description Back in 2002, the world seemed to be on the verge of an accounting revolution. An initiative was under way to create a single set of international accounting standards, with the ultimate aim of uniting the U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) those European countries were in the process of adopting. By 2005, all public companies in the European Union had, in theory, abandoned their local accounting standards in favour of IFRS. Today, at least 110 countries around the world use the system in one form or another. But in a broad sense, convergence has stalled, and further substantive changes seem unlikely in the near future. To be sure, progress has been made, but understanding the true value of a firm and comparing company accounts across countries continue to be major challenges. Consider the implications of failing to reconcile GAAP and IFRS. I The analysis of investment targets, acquisitions, or competitors will in many cases continue to require comparison of financial statements under two distinct accounting regimes: Pfizer versus GlaxoSmithKline, Exxon versus BP, Walmart versus Carrefour-in each case, and one company uses GAAP and the other uses IFRS. The impact on results is hardly trivial. Take the British confectionary company Cadbury. Just before it was acquired by the U.S. firm Kraft, in 2009, it reported IFRS-based profits of $690 million. Under GAAP those profits totalled only $594 million-almost 14% lower. Similarly, Cadbury's GAAP-based return on equity was 9%-a full five percentage points lower than it was under IFRS (14%). Such differences are large enough to change an acquisition decision. Required: Identify TWO (2) financial statements from the USA and Europe Listed Company from the same industry and answer the following questions: 1. Compare and contrast the financial statement of these two-business organization in term of accounting method and policies on the followings: a) Revenue recognition b) Fair value accounting c) Investment d) Depreciation e) Derivate 2. I Explain the qualitative characteristics of useful information. (Discuss the presentation of financial statement of both companies) You have decided to invest RM50,000 in one of the companies above. However, as the first timer, you have a limited knowledge in investment. Equipped with accounting background, you believed that Financial Statements should provide information to assist the users in making better decision for investment: - Required: (a) Discuss the information that could provide better investment decision (b) State the company you would like to invest. (c) Explain your answer in (b)