Explain why you disagree with their position.It is not important whether you actually disagree or not. Instead, your goal is to construct a well-supported, logical counterargument, demonstrating your understanding of an opposing perspective.

Support your counterargument with appropriate sources.

Someone position as to whether or not there is a need for a universally accepted theory of accounting. Craft a response refuting their position.

Student position:

As entities in many countries continue to embrace globalization and increasingly undertake business across multi-national borders, there has been an increased demand for more compatible financial accounting standards. In October 2004, a combined effort by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) was undertaken with the goal of developing a more harmonized and improved conceptual framework to build upon their existing frameworks (Schroeder et al., 2019). But is a globally accepted accounting theory adoption something impractical and places companies at a disadvantage, or will it place all the world economies on a level playing field?

It is my opinion that a universally accepted accounting theory would be a disadvantage; my reasoning for this is as noted below:-

Conflicts with Cultural/Ethical Diversity - Each country has varying cultural and ethical differences; what may be culturally and ethically acceptable practice in one culture may not be culturally acceptable in another. It would be hard, if not impossible, to insist on usingone generalized system for all cultures, much less ask each country to enforce its standards. Especially in countries where corruption and political influences are common standard practices.

Costs of Implementation - To implement something such as a globally accepted accounting theory would be highly costly to many businesses and could ultimately damage the economies of countries that are not very well established. The costs incurred by entities to train personnel in the new practices and ensure compliance with the standards would be devastating to many small or developing businesses, and the costs would also be passed onto the shareholders or investors; this would deter future investment and ultimately affect the country's economy and the welfare of its citizens.

Complex business practices - It would be difficult to mandate a specific accounting standard to follow because of the inherent nature of the business environment to evolve and become more complex; complex business transactions require complex accounting methods if a specific standard was set and say not updated regularly to adapt to this inherent nature, companies could find themselves not in compliance with the standard or worse not able to find a measure that would fit their transaction leaving them in a void. Rules-based accounting methods such as the GAAP account for these transactions by providing rules to account for them, whereas IFRs use a more judgment-based approach, leaving it up to the auditor or accountant to decide. GAAP standards are more rigid and, therefore, much more effective when dealing with complex transactions.