IFRS for Public Accounting and its Impact on Private Accounting and Accounting Education in the Global Economy

This paper examines and reviews the dynamics of the current movements towards IFRS for Public Company Accounting and the Blue Ribbon Panel’s Private Company Accounting and its impact on accounting education. Since the Norwalk Agreement by IASB and FASB in 2002, two Boards jointly have worked to achieve such important milestones as the SEC’s removal of the requirement in 2007 for non－US companies reporting using IFRS as issued by the IASB to provide a detailed reconciliation of profit and equity back to US GAAP and a proposed “Roadmap” in 2008 to decide whether to require US issuers to use IFRS beginning 2014. In the middle of the convergence process, there was also a historic movement to improve private company financial reporting. Blue Ribbon Panel was formed in 2009 by the AICPA. The Blue Ribbon Panel submitted their final report and recommendations to the Financial Accounting Foundation (FAF) on January 25, 2011. However, the FAF rejected that recommendation in October 2011 and, instead, proposed a new Private Company Standards Improvement Council (PCSIC). The PCSIC would identify, propose, and formally vote on specific exceptions or modifications to GAAP for private companies. Along with these movements towards a single set of accounting standards for accounting professionals including auditors, analysts, government officials and management of public and private companies, educators and college administrators in accounting are facing challenges to cope with changes in the curriculum of the accounting programs. Contribution of this paper is to help understand the dynamics of such stake holders as public accounting, private accounting and major institutional forces as FASB, IASB, SEC, AICPA etc. especially the U.S. SEC’s historic leadership position that has played in fostering a global transition to IFRS. It will also help understand the impact of the IFRS convergence process on accounting education as well.