The past few years have witnessed the global convergence of national accounting
standards and International Accounting Standards [IAS, superseded by International
Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)]. Since 2005, when European Union countries first
mandated its use, more than 100 countries have adopted IFRS. Over the past few years,
the US Securities Exchange Commission has taken several steps to acknowledge IFRSs
as a high-quality set of financial reporting standards. These steps include elimination of
the reconciliation to USA Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (USA GAAP) by
foreign private issuers using IFRSs, and the issuance of a proposed “roadmap” for the
use of IFRS by US domestic registrants. Although the movement toward a worldwide
single-set of accounting standards has slowed, convergence projects between the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the International Accounting
Standards Board (IASB, 2011) in the areas of leases, revenue recognition and financial
instruments continue