What kind of accounting standards should the IASB write?
Nov 02, 2015
On November 2, 2015, the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) released a paper from IASB member Mary Tokar which was initially published in the Journal of Accounting and Management Information Systems (JAMIS).
Ms. Tokar uses revenue recognition and IFRS 15 to illustrate her discussion and writes about comparability versus communication and the role of the business model, the role of judgement in financial reporting in general, mutual expectations, and the role of feedback. She states:
The objective of IFRS is to provide useful information to users of financial statements. To achieve this goal, they need to be a communication tool and not a compliance exercise. Setting standards that support this goal requires the participation of many stakeholders, as does interpreting and applying the standards after they have been issued. Good faith application of judgement, seeking to realize the objectives of the standard and questioning established practice are all part of achieving this goal.
Please click to access the paper on the JAMIS website (please note that you need to use the Download button on the far right, otherwise you cannot access the full text of the paper). Ms Tokar's article is based on a speech that she gave at Bucharest University in June. The transcript of the speech is available on the IASB website.