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The AICPA was a charter member of the International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC), the IASB’s predecessor organization. In the three decades since, the AICPA has worked to advance international convergence of accounting standards. Through its Accounting Standards Executive Committee (AcSEC), the AICPA provides thought leadership to the IASB on financial reporting topics. The Institute has made clear its support for giving U.S. issuers the option to prepare financial statements in accordance with IFRS as published by the IASB for purposes of complying with the rules and regulations of the SEC. The AICPA also is committed to supporting the nation’s CPAs — largely financial statement preparers, auditors and educators — through an orderly transition.

Mindful of the importance of private companies and not-for-profit organizations, AICPA Council on May 18th, 2008, voted to update Rule 203 of the Code of Professional Conduct to recognize the IASB as an international accounting standard setter.  By removing a potential barrier, private companies and not-for profit organizations will have a clear option to decide if following IFRS makes sense for their situations and financial reporting constituents.

The AICPA understands that it will need to fulfill a number of responsibilities to make the use of IFRS by public companies a success.  Ongoing efforts include:

• Continuing to educate AICPA members about IFRS.
• Working with accounting educators, textbook authors and educational institutions to prepare future professionals to use IFRS.
• Making certain the voice of U.S. CPAs is heard internationally.
• Incorporating questions about IFRS into the Uniform CPA Examination.

View International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) — An AICPA Backgrounder [PDF - 375k]