The Handbook to IFRS Transition and to IFRS U.S. GAAP Dual Reporting

2.1 CHAPTER PREVIEW

This chapter provides an invaluable guide on how U.S. companies, foreign private issuers, and multinational companies that need to keep updated on U.S. requirements must apply IFRS 1, First-time Adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards. It includes an analysis of peculiar aspects of reporting standards that are not easily investigated in accounting literature.

IFRS 1 is a complex standard. This chapter first provides graphic illustrations of its requirements for easier visualization and understanding. It then focuses on grey areas, researching topics that have arisen in different jurisdictions and how the SEC and other regulators have tackled the issues. It goes on to research how a careful reading of all IFRSs can lead to resolutions of problems that are still open. It contrasts those results with solutions to similar issues offered by U.S. GAAP. It explains in depth the SEC guidance on the subject.

In parallel to the introduction of other IFRSs, with special reference to IFRS 9, the IASB amended IFRS 1 several times. Most textbooks take the view of the adoption of all the latest amendments to IFRS 1 available at the beginning of a specific year. However, this is not the perspective that companies face, as many alternative treatments are possible at a certain point in time. This chapter explains how the changes from the previous versions of IFRS 1 to the current release and the alternatives still available may affect the migration to IFRSs. This ...