The Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) as the rules that would be used by the SEC to require reporting companies to prepare financial statements by rules written by the International Accounting Standards Board. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), written by the Financial Accounting Standards Board, would be replaced by IFRS. Essentially, the 25,000 pages of GAAP rules would be replaced with 2,500 pages of IFRS guidelines.

Your assignment is to write a paper that identifies issues raised by this proposed change. You are to take a position for or against, and develop clear and convincing arguments with researched support for your opinion. There is no right or wrong position. You will base your paper on your independent judgment with all the reasons you can develop in support. In doing so, do not lose sight of arguments against your position. Any well-reasoned argument will always take into consideration the opposing side and will try to dispel the other sides reasoning and support.

The paper should be a minimum of 5 pages long, double spaced, 12 font. Start with a clear introduction and finish with a summary conclusion. The body of the paper will contain facts and argument with clearly separated points of your argument. Any exhibits will be in addition to the minimum of five pages of text. The following are some of the accounting topics for your comparison and contrast of GAAP and IFRS

Fair Value

Inventories

Tangible Long-term Assets (Depreciation, major overhauls, and impairments)

Intangible Assets (Goodwill, R&D)

Leases

Pensions

Depreciation