Many of our readers in the professional accounting, reporting, tax and corporate finance fields are already familiar

with the impending adoption of IFRS rules in the US and many countries all over the world. We thought we would write a it a out the current situation and how it is eing handled at the !ig Four accounting firms, given that it is going to e a critical issue for them in terms of pu lic auditing, financial statement reporting as pu lic company clients either converge "##$ to IFRS or convert fully to IFRS in the next few years and re%uire hand&holding, guidance and advice from the !ig Four firms.'et(s review what(s een happening currently, al eit from a predominantly US perspective. )n *ovem er +,, -../, the US S01 released its proposed roadmap for the adoption of IFRS in the Unites States. 1oncurrently, the "-. country leaders issued a statement confirming their support for developing a single set of high&%uality glo al accounting standards. While other high&priority issues 2financial crisis and regulatory oversight etc.3 have overta4en accounting standards change in the US, the move to IFRS in the US seems inevita le.In the *ovem er -..5 Roadmap, the S01 did not set a definitive adoption date, ut several milestones. If these were to e reali6ed, it could mean the re%uired use of IFRS y US issuers starting -.+,. 7he S01 proposed a 8staged9 adoption schedule: large accelerated filers eing as4ed to change in -.+,, accelerated filers in -.+;, and all other pu lic companies in -.+<. 7he S01 will reconvene in -.++ to see progress toward these milestones to determine whether to set mandatory adoption dates, demonstrating the S01(s continuing commitment to common glo al accounting standards.In light of these developments, there are two parallel trac4s on which the IFRS train is proceeding, one eing the convergence of US "##$ to IFRS in the US and the other eing the total wholesale conversion of local accounting standards to IFRS in other countries. +. Short&term convergence in the USRegardless of when US companies have to adopt IFRS, in the short&term there is continued convergence etween US "##$ and IFRS accounting standards, followed y ultimate conversion to IFRS. #n agreement etween the Financial #ccounting Standards !oard and the International #ccounting Standards !oard called the Memorandum of Understanding pledges to improve oth US "##$ and IFRS in ++ ma=or topical areas. #nd progress continues on each of these pro=ects.#ccording to $ricewaterhouse1oopers, 8#s such, US companies will face an unprecedented wave of US "##$ accounting changes over the next several years, most of which will e heavily influenced y IFRS. 7he complexity and significance of these sweeping changes greatly exceeds that of most prior US "##$ changes. For example, significant changes are expected in how to account for ma=or accounting areas such as revenue recognition, leasing, consolidation, financial instruments, de t and e%uity. 7he effects of these accounting changes reach far eyond =ust financial reporting.9 -. 1ontinued glo al conversion to IFRS)n the other hand, many countries around the world, examples eing 1anada, India, and Mexico are planning to convert fully to IFRS from their local standards in the next few years for use in capital mar4ets and>or statutory financial reporting. 7he recent release of IFRS for small and medium&si6ed entities may accelerate this glo al adoption.1ompanies in the US, while not directly on IFRS, will e impacted y IFRS adoption in

other countries, especially when they have foreign su sidiaries, have non&US =oint venture partners, are engaging in M?# outside the US. In addition, IFRS will drive the ehavior of non&US su sidiaries, vendors, and counterparties, impacting financial reporting, tax policy, and merger and ac%uisition activity.$ricewaterhouse1oopers elieves that US companies should actively participate in the adoption process of their non&US su sidiaries. Failure to do so ris4s costly inefficiencies or incompati ilities when IFRS adoption ta4es place in the US.!ig Four Firms IFRS ResourcesWe have also gathered elow a list of UR' resources from the !ig Four firm we sites, which are %uite a undant, current and informative. 7he resources which we have listed elow cover a lot of ground, from a ;.,... feet overview of IFRS to deep detailed discussions on specific accounting issues. #lso, there are a num er of guides 2@$M"(s #ugust -..5 +</ page pdf eing a great example3 which layout exactly the differences etween "##$ and IFRS. 7here is also a lot of honest opinion, criti%ue, overview of current events and long&term outloo4s which provide a rich perspective. 7hese resources and UR's are eing continually updated 2Aeloitte(s "#* and 0rnst(s )utloo43. We must also point out that there are a good num er of podcasts, newscasts, audios and video forums which provide multi&media richness to dry documents.!y educating and alerting their clients, the !ig, firms, %uite smartly, are ensuring that the clients come to them first for advice as needed, as also su consciously pushing the need to start preparing for eventual convergence or conversion right away 2with conse%uent advisory fees accruing to the firms from client preparatory engagements3. We(ll continue to monitor this, meanwhile love to have comments from our readers on what they are seeing in their professional circles on IFRS convergence or conversion.