An Overview of International Financial Reporting Standards

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Standards. International Accounting Standards (IASs) were issued by the IASC from 1973 to 2000. The IASB replaced the IASC in 2001. Since then, the IASB has amended some IASs, has proposed to amend other IASs, has proposed to replace some IASs with new International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs), and has adopted or proposed certain new IFRSs on topics for which there was no previous IAS. Through committees, both the IASC and the IASB also have issued Interpretations of Standards. Financial statements may not be described as complying with IFRSs unless they comply with all of the requirements of each applicable standard and each applicable interpretation.

Summaries of Standards. Click on an IAS or IFRS number below to go to an unofficial summary of the standard. Please remember that the summaries of IASs and IFRSs only cover highlights and are not a substitute for reading the entire standard. They should not be relied on for preparing financial statements.

IASB Framework. While not a standard, the IASB Framework for the Preparation and Presentation of Financial Statements serves as a guide to resolving accounting issues that are not addressed directly in a standard. Moreover, in the absence of a standard or an interpretation that specifically applies to a transaction, IAS 8 requires that an entity must use its judgement in developing and applying an accounting policy that results in information that is relevant and reliable. In making that judgement, IAS 8.11 requires management to consider the definitions, recognition criteria and measurement concepts for assets, liabilities, income, and expenses in the Framework. The IASB adopted the Framework in April 2001. It had originally been adopted by the IASC in 1989.

Preface to IFRSs. Sets out IASB's objectives, the scope of IFRSs, due process, and policies on effective dates, format, and language for IFRSs.

Effective Dates. Click here for a Table of Effective Dates of Recent Standards.

How to Obtain.
The IASB publishes individual copies of its standards, an annual "Bound Volume" of all existing standards and interpretations, and a CD ROM with standards and Interpretations. Subscribers also get access to publications via the Internet. Publications and subscriptions may be ordered on IASB's website www.iasb.org.
When IASB standards are endorsed by the Accounting Regulatory Committee of the European Commission for use in the European Union, they (minus the non-mandatory guidance and bases for conclusions) are published in the Official Journal of the European Union in all of the EU languages. They Can Be Accessed Here.

The term 'IFRSs'. The term International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) has both a narrow and a broad meaning. Narrowly, IFRSs refers to the new numbered series of pronouncements that the IASB is issuing, as distinct from the International Accounting Standards (IASs) series issued by its predecessor. More broadly, IFRSs refers to the entire body of IASB pronouncements, including standards and interpretations approved by the IASB and IASs and SIC interpretations approved by the predecessor International Accounting Standards Committee. [On this website, consistent with IASB policy, we abbreviate International Financial Reporting Standards (plural) as IFRSs and International Accounting Standards (plural) as IASs.]

Interpretations. Click here for information about the Information about Interpretations of IASB Standards.

Technical Corrections. Click here for information about the IASB's Approach to Making Minor Technical Corrections to Its Standards.