The journey toward IFRS in the United States

For the past several years, the US has been on a journey toward the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). In 2000, the SEC issued a concept release on international accounting standards and sought comments. FASB and the International Accounting Standards Board initiated a convergence process in 2002. Their stated objective has been the development of common, high-quality standards with the ultimate goal of a single set of high-quality global accounting standards. Another recent milestone in the journey was reached in the Feb 24, 2010, "SEC Statement in Support of Convergence and Global Accounting," providing an update and continued support for the convergence of US GAAP and IFRS. IFRS presents an educational challenge to practitioners and academics. KPMG collaborated with the American Accounting Association on a survey of educators in summer 2009 on the current status of IFRS education in universities.