Wiley GAAP 2008

Appendix B. International vs. US Accounting Standards

The International Accounting Standards Committee was founded in 1973 by representatives of professional bodies in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and the United States, and grew to include representatives from ninety‐one countries. From 1973—by coincidence, the birth year of the current US accounting standard setter, the FASB—until December 2000, the IASC's members had included all the professional accountancy bodies that are members of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC). As of January 2000, these comprised 143 member bodies in 104 countries, representing over two million professional accountants.

From its formation, the IASC endeavored to create a set of financial reporting standards that would receive truly worldwide recognition. It now appears to be on the verge of achieving that long‐held goal. Prior to IASC's transition into the IASB (discussed below), it had issued forty‐one international accounting standards (IAS), of which, after a series of revisions, thirty‐four remained in effect. Thirty‐three Interpretations of these standards had also been issued by the former Standing Interpretations Committee (SIC) as of that transition date.

For many years the IASC labored in relative obscurity, its pronouncements being viewed as of importance mainly to less developed nations lacking their own standard‐setting capabilities. The organization itself ...