From the Back Cover
Your one indispensable guide to IFRS compliance
International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), under development originally as International Accounting Standards (IAS) since the mid-1970s, have received increased attention since such signal events as endorsements by the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) in 2000, by the European Union (2002, mandating universal adoption by publicly held companies in 2005), and by the SEC (waiving reconciliation requirements for foreign private issuers using IFRS beginning in 2007, and establishing a "road map" for adoption by US public companies by 2016).
With further refinements to IFRS continuing to be made by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB)—aided by work being performed pursuant to the "convergence" commitment made by the US standard-setter, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB)—and given the now virtually unstoppable momentum worldwide to adopt (or, in some cases, adapt) IFRS, mastery of this knowledge is becoming a necessity for all preparers of financial statements. Although only publicly held US companies are facing an impending near-term mandate to convert to IFRS, many private companies already are encountering requests or demands from their major customers, suppliers, joint venture partners, and affiliates to provide financial reports prepared under IFRS. In all likelihood, replacement of US GAAP by IFRS will become a reality for even privately held enterprises within the foreseeable term.
Experience from EU-based companies that implemented IFRS financial reporting by 2005 suggests that such an undertaking may require a multiyear effort. Wiley IFRS 2009 provides a complete explanation of all IFRS requirements, coupled with copious illustrations of how to apply the rules in complex, real-world fact situations, and can be used both in training accounting staff and serving as a reference guide during actual implementation of IFRS and preparation of IFRS-based financial statements. Wiley IFRS 2009 is equally valuable for preparers, auditors, and users of financial reports.
To optimize the reader's understanding, both examples created to explain particular IFRS requirements and selections from actual published financial statements are provided throughout the book, illustrating all key concepts. Also included in this edition are a revised, comprehensive disclosure checklist; an updated, detailed comparison between US GAAP and IFRS, keyed to chapter topics; and integrated discussions of major ongoing IASB projects that may have significant impact on readers' responsibilities over the coming year, including IASB's controversial attempt to define IFRS for privately held companies.
The revised 2009 edition addresses important and complex requirements such as those pertaining to the accounting for:
Financial instruments, derivatives, and hedging transactions
Revised requirements for form and content of financial statements (IAS 1)
Business combinations under the substantially revised standard IFRS 3
Employee benefits plan accounting under revised IAS 19
Accounting for assets held for sale under revised IFRS 5
The 2009 edition continues detailed coverage of all previously issued IAS and IFRS standards and Standing Interpretations Committee (SIC) and International Financial Reporting Interpretations Committee (IFRIC). New examples have been added to every chapter. Other complex areas of financial reporting receiving expansive coverage include:
Leases
Revenue recognition
Loss contingencies
Impairment of assets
About the Author
Barry J. Epstein, PhD, CPA, a partner in the firm Russell Novak & Company, LLP, has forty-two years’ experience in the public accounting profession, as auditor, technical director/partner for several national and local firms, and as a consulting and testifying financial reporting and auditing expert on over one-hundred and twenty litigation matters to date. His current practice is concentrated on providing technical consultations to CPA firms and corporations on US GAAP and IFRS accounting and financial reporting matters; on US and international auditing standards; matters involving financial analysis; forensic accounting investigations; and on corporate governance matters. He regularly serves as an accounting, auditing, financial reporting, and financial analysis expert in litigation matters, including assignments for both the private sector entities and governmental agencies.
Dr. Epstein is a widely published authority on accounting and auditing. His current publications include Wiley GAAP, now in its 25th edition, for which he is the lead coauthor. He has also appeared on over a dozen national radio and television programs discussing the crises in corporate financial reporting and corporate governance, has presented hundreds of educational programs to professional and corporate groups in the US and internationally, and has had dozens of articles published in professional journals. He previously chaired the Audit Committee of the AICPA’s Board of Examiners, responsible for the Uniform CPA Examination, and has served on other professional panels at state and national levels.
Dr Epstein holds degrees from DePaul University (Chicago—BSC, accounting and finance, 1967) University of Chicago (MBA, economics and industrial relations, 1969), and University of Pittsburgh (PhD, information systems and finance, 1979). He is a member of American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Illinois CPA Society, and American Accounting Association
Eva K. Jermakowicz, PhD, CPA, has taught accounting for over twenty-five years and has served as a consultant to international organizations and businesses. She is currently a Professor of Accounting and Chair of the Accounting and Business Law Department at Tennessee State University. Her previous positions were on the faculties of the University of Southern Indiana and Warsaw Tech University in Poland, and she has taught accounting courses in several additional countries. Dr. Jermakowicz was a Fulbright scholar under the European Union Affairs Research Program in Brussels, Belgium, for the academic year 2003-2004, where her project was “Convergence of National Accounting Standards with International Financial Reporting Standards.” She was also a Fulbright scholar in Poland in 1997. Dr. Jermakowicz has consulted on international projects under the auspices of the World Bank, the United Nations, and Nicom Consulting, Ltd. Her primary areas of interest are international accounting and finance. Dr. Jermakowicz has had numerous articles published in academic journals and proceedings, including Abacus, Journal of International Accounting, Auditing & Taxation, Journal of International Financial Management & Accounting, Multinational Finance Journal, Journal of Accounting and Finance Research, Bank Accounting & Finance, Financial Executive, Strategic Finance, CPA Journal, and Butterworths Journal of International Banking and Financial Law. She is a member of many professional organizations, including the American Accounting Association, European Accounting Association, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Tennessee Society of CPAs, and the Institute of Management Accountants.
