Alan Rappeport, CFO Magazine
April 1, 2008

Our Future as CPA's

this is probably the subject of our profession that should have our highest priority. In the last 30 years I have seen our profession move from a State generated monopoly (issueing the CPA liscens) that was responsive to the needs of the market place and governed by consent of peers to our current semi-controled by federal law (SaOx etc.). The slop we are on as a profession is indeed steep and headed to total government control of standards and rules which by policy and methodology will cause more investor disappointments. We only have ourselves to blame. We as a group must realize that our professional audit and openion is our highest level of service to the pulbic above all others and it requires us to protect this function with high compliance standards, and aggressive enforcement of compliance.
IAF will always be the goal in the future, but Enron, sub prime, and others, both national and international, will drive each governamental unit to admend their adoption of IAF to their customes and practice. If we want our common law style to win, we have to demonstrate its superiority and so far we have not.

Posted by Milton Bulloch | Apr 9, 2008 11:54 AM ET

Clarification

Thanks to readers for noting that the IASB does charge for IFRS. We were correct to write, and quote the IASB as saying, that they waive any copyright barriers for the bare standards to countries that have adopted IFRS. FASB does not waive its copyrights. So the distinction used to show this fundamental difference between common and code law is correct. It was incorrect to say that the professor would have not had to pay anything to reprint IFRS in a textbook. Since the US hasn't adopted IFRS - they are simply permitted for non-US companies to apply - there is no copyright waiver in the US. They do, however, offer a discount

Posted by Alan Rappeport | Apr 8, 2008 12:01 PM ET

e-IFRS

Also, IASB provides an incentive to sign-up (pay) for e-IFRS online standards by offering some new proposals online to e-IFRS subscribers only (and not the general public) for a short period (e.g. a week) before the item is 'freely posted' online to the general public.
Edith Orenstein, FEI

Posted by Edith Orenstein | Apr 8, 2008 11:17 AM ET

Cost of Accessing IFRS and US GAAP

The article incorrectly implies that obtaining access to international standards is free.

On www.fasb.org, accounting standards under U.S. GAAP are available - free - to anyone.

On www.iasb.org, only the summaries are free. To read the standards under IFRS, you must pay.

Posted by Elaine Henry | Apr 8, 2008 8:58 AM ET