International Accounting Paper

International Accounting Paper

This paper will first discuss the role of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). Next, the paper will examine the IASB’s history and evolution. Finally, this paper will discuss the IASB’s stance on ethics issues.

The role of the IASB consists of three parts. The first is to develop a single set of global accounting standards in order to help various users of financial statements from various capital markets of the world make economic decisions based on comparable financial data. The second is to promote the use and applications of the standards set. The third part is to “Work actively with national standards-setters to bring convergence of national accounting standards and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) to high quality solution” (Malawi College, n.d.).

The IASB evolved from its predecessor, the Board of the International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC), which was formed in June 1973. The IASC was founded by the accountancy bodies of the following countries: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Ireland and the United States. (IASB, n.d.) When the IASC was started, delegates from each of the founding countries made up the board although many more countries joined between 1974 and 2001. In 1981, the board started visiting national standards setters. In the same year, a consultative group was formed. “In 1981, IASC and IFAC agreed that IASC would have full and complete autonomy in setting international accounting standards and in publishing discussion documents on international accounting issues” (International Accounting Standards Board, n.d.). In 1985, the board responded to a SEC multinational prospectus proposal. In 1986, financial analysts joined the board. In 1987, the IASC published its first bound volume of international accounting standards. In 1988, FASB joined the Consultative Group. In 1990, the European