Any accountants out there

IFRS is principles based, while GAAP is rules-based. This allows managers to report some transactions in the way they feel best represents the underlying economics of the transaction, but that discretion also leads to less comparability and consistency amongst various entities, and can lead to management bias seeping through into the financial statements, rendering them less effective as purely factual reporting statements. As a result, IFRS also makes audits less effective as independent verifications of management reporting. IFRS just introduces more openness to "creative" accounting, and that's not usually a positive thing.

Hope that helps.

thanks kfizzle, that's what I was kind of getting to. it sounds like IFRS is more lenient? if that's the right word.

I would say something about LIFO but mine is specifically on PP&E and IAS 16.

I'm a senior majoring in business and the last time I took accounting was my freshman year and I realize now why I waited to take it again, i freakin hate it.

It's called intermediate accounting, basically the next class up from principles. Getting an A but I just can't stand accounting, to damn tedious.

LINK

The two main differences that jumped out to me are the allowance for revaluation of PP&E at fair value, as opposed to historical cost under GAAP and the requirement for componentizing depreciation, which is optional under GAAP. Hope that helps.

ETA: I can try to explain componentization for you if needed... not exactly an everyday term

I worked on an IFRS implementation at CITGO (before the market went to shite and they canned the entire project).

The main difference if I can recall is component depreciation which would require a company to divide the PPE into smaller identifiable parts with smaller useful lives.

This similar to what you have found? I haven't even thought about IFRS since leaving the big 4.

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I would say something about LIFO but mine is specifically on PP&E and IAS 16.

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Sorry, I didn't read the question very well.

Accounting sucks, but it's the most useful thing you will learn in college. It's in that 5% of things you remember from school.

As a complete accounting dork, I appreciate your pdf. I'll probably read it tomorrow.

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The two main differences that jumped out to me are the allowance for revaluation of PP&E at fair value, as opposed to historical cost under GAAP and the requirement for componentizing depreciation, which is optional under GAAP

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The revaluation of PPE is allowed in US GAAP only on the downside (i.e. lesser of cost or market value). If I am reading this correctly companies can revaluate PPE on the upside using IFRS which can be a huge advantage for buildings and land?

Depreciation differences are not that big of a deal because you come to the same expense conclusion. Compartmentalizing is done many times in the tax code now.