국제회계기준 채택이후 회계기준제정기구의 역할

This study attempts to define the roles of the national accounting standards setter after Korea adopts the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) and to identify essential prerequisite for the Korean Accounting Institute (KAI) to play those roles. As Korea announced to adopt IFRSs, some has asked whether there remains a need for an accounting standards-setting activity in Korea. This question arises from the passive view which posits that the country which adopts full IFRSs does not need any criticism and it is enough to translate simply the IFRSs into its own language. However, the role of the national accounting standards setter become more important after the adoption of IFRSs because the adopter should participate actively in the standards development processes of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), and have the abilities to reflect its opinion in the IFRSs when necessary. Korea decided to adopt full IFRSs, partially for the purpose of improving transparency. The transparency can not be improved by the change of accounting standards only. It needs the changes across the whole accounting system. Therefore, the role of the standards setter is not limited to standards development, but extended to research and policy proposals, which will aid in improving the accounting system. This study defines three roles of the national accounting standards-setter: (1) to participate actively in the standards development processes of the International Accounting Standards Board, (2) to develop Korean accounting standards for non- listed companies, non-for-profit organizations, and governments, and (3) to conduct research for an accounting systems (infra-structure) as well as accounting standards. These roles change the accounting standards setter from the private organization with emphasis on independence into the research-oriented public organization. For benchmarks, this paper introduces the EFRAG (European Financial Reporting Advisory Group) which is the research center to advise on the IFRSs on the European Union. This paper analyzes the roles and activities of the accounting standards setters in the United Kingdom, German, France, and Australia which have already adopted the IFRSs. This paper identifies essential prerequisites for the KAI to play the roles defined above as follows: (1) to increase human resources and strengthen research abilities, (2) to raise more funds and stabilize funding sources, (3) to improve the governance structure of the KAI.