Accounting

There are significant considerations and discussions that for some time have been centered on objectives that are quite admirable, harmonizing standards of accounting around the world. For several decades this dream has only been an illusion initially moving on slowly and thus representing a big challenge of ever realizing a single set of standards around the world. However, more recently, the focus has mainly shifted towards convergence, in fact in the last ten years or so a lot of progress has already been made. The convergence goal basically means minimizing the disparities that exist between various accounting standards that are globally accepted, which are used simultaneously in the major capital markets of the world. The main accounting standards that should be harmonized include the GAAP and the IFRS.

Although there is need to harmonize all the accounting standards being used around the world, it will not be possible to achieve it in the next five years. This is because the convergence process will take some time before it can fully be realized globally. It is only after the convergence process is over that the focus can then be shifted towards achieving a single set of accounting standards. The disparities that exist between the two major accounting processes have to first be eliminated and this is likely to take some time. However, judging by the current pace at which the convergence process is moving, it might be possible to achieve this admirable objective in the next ten years. This will however depend on the willingness of multinationals to accept the new set of accounting standards that will be developed after the process of convergence