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Abstract
With the rapid adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) around the world, accounting practitioners, educators, and students are in great need of IFRS instructional materials. This article provides a compilation and review of IFRS teaching resources based primarily on presentations made at a series of IFRS Teaching Workshops sponsored by the IFRS Foundation Teaching Initiative and the International Association for Accounting Education and Research (IAAER). With the purpose of helping those teaching IFRS, especially those with limited prior IFRS teaching experience, we provide detailed information so educators can easily access and use these resources. Several different IFRS teaching strategies and examples are provided to help educators consider how to use the suggested IFRS resources. In addition, while focusing on English language IFRS teaching materials, we provide some suggestions for useful materials available in other languages. While teaching, learning, and using IFRS takes effort, a large body of IFRS resources, including many available at no or minimal cost, is now available to facilitate the process.
Acknowledgements
This paper draws from a series of IFRS Teaching Workshops sponsored by the IFRS Foundation Education Initiative and IAAER. The authors are grateful to Michael J. C. Wells, Mary Barth, Katherine Schipper, Holger Erchinger, Paul Munter, Paul Pacter, and David Cairns for their valuable contributions to those workshops and to this paper. The authors also thank the editor and two anonymous reviewers for their useful comments.
Notes
While the USA has not adopted IFRS, the SEC, with its ‘Roadmap’ and current ‘Workplan’, is considering whether to allow or require U.S. domiciled registrants to use IFRS (SEC, Citation2008, Citation2010).
For a number of international Japanese companies, IFRS are permitted from 2010; a decision regarding mandatory adoption by 2016 is expected to be made around 2012. See http://www.ifrs.org/Use+around+the+world/Use+around+the+world.htm.
While the paper does not claim or intend to be an exhaustive source of useful IFRS resources, the authors spent considerable time determining what to include and exclude. In addition, we readily acknowledge that the usefulness of many recommended IFRS resources will vary depending upon the country and particular accounting course for which the resources are used.
While this paper describes current IFRS Resources, the authors acknowledge their prior work in this area. Street speaks regularly on IFRS around the world in her various capacities, including those as Past President and Director of Research and Educational Activities of IAAER and as a member of the Education Advisory Group of the IFRS Foundation Education Initiative. Recent conference locations where she has spoken on IFRS Teaching Resources include Melbourne, Australia (2010); Sao Paulo, Brazil (2009); Milan, Italy (2009); Bucharest, Romania (2009); Singapore (2010); New York, USA (2009); and San Francisco, USA (2010). Related articles by Street include ‘With the SEC Considering the Future of IFRS in the US Are Today's Accounting Students IFRS-Ready?’ in the June 2007 E&Y Faculty Connection Newsletter (p. 18), and, with A. Cheng, ‘Affordable Resources Available as IFRS Makes Its Way to the US’, in the May 2008 issue of The CPA Letter/Education, (p. F2). Larson co-authored, with T. Brady, ‘Incorporating IFRS into the Accounting Curriculum’, in the February 2009 issue of Strategic Finance (pp. 23–25), and has made presentations on Teaching International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and IFRS Resources at the 2008 and 2010 Ohio AAA and the 2010 Western AAA Meetings. The authors also acknowledge the contributions of all prior speakers at the IFRS Foundation and IAAER IFRS Teaching Workshops.
Presentation slides are archived at http://www.ifrs.org/Conferences+and+Workshops/Conferences+and+workshops.htm.
These conferences and the large accounting firms are posting IFRS resources in a variety of languages. For example, at a 2009 Conference in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Street provides a list of Brazilian IFRS resources in Portuguese (presentation slides available at http://www.ifrs.org/NR/rdonlyres/E81FB77C-D80A-4324-9EC9-4587B691FBC4/0/IFRSTeachingResearchSaoPaulo.pdf).
Some countries now call IFRS their National GAAP. When we refer to a National GAAP, we mean a non-IFRS set of accounting standards to be used by some or all organisations in a country.
The EU regularly provides updates on the use of IFRS for the annual accounts of listed companies and the consolidated and annual accounts of non-listed companies in the 27 EU and three EEA countries. The 1 July 2010 report is available at: http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/accounting/docs/ias/ias-use-of-options2010_en.pdf.
Several approaches have been suggested by Pacter, Schipper, Tarca, Thomas Citation(2009), Zeff, and others. Katherine Schipper's Citation2008 presentation slides are available at http://www.ifrs.org/NR/rdonlyres/4F3A44D2-F6AB-4F36-84C3-0032B08870D9/0/France_draft2.pdf. Ann Tarca and other presenters at the 2008 Deloitte/Federation of Schools of Accountancy Faculty Consortium also discussed how to teach IFRS (presentation slides available at: http://www.thefsa.org/2008_Deloitte_FSA_Faculty_Consortium.htm). Slides from a 2008 annual AAA meeting presentation by Paul Pacter and Steven Zeff are available at http://www.iasplus.com/resource/0808aaa-ifrs-is-here.pdf. Pacter mentions in several presentations his IFRS Resources for Educators, which was last updated in February 2010 (http://www.iasplus.com/resource/ifrsresources.pdf). In January 2011, Paul Pacter, now an IASB member, posted his updated list of IFRS learning resources at: http://www.ifrs.org/Use+around+the+world/Education/Learning+Resources.htm. It has a major disclaimer: ‘This list is provided for your convenience only. Neither the IASB nor the IFRS Foundation has reviewed or approved the contents of any of the information sources cited. It is the responsibility of the user to evaluate the content and usefulness of information’.
The US SEC already allows IFRS for non-US registrants. One SEC milestone for further acceptance of IFRS in the USA relates to progress being made to incorporate IFRS into the collegiate accounting curriculum (Munter and Reckers, Citation2010). The US Certified Public Accountant, Certified Management Accountant, and Certified Financial Analyst examinations all now include questions about IFRS.
For example, the SEC site includes its Work Plan for the Consideration of Incorporating International Financial Reporting Standards into the Financial Reporting System for U.S. Issuers (February 2009), available at http://sec.gov/spotlight/globalaccountingstandards/globalaccountingstandards.pdf and the Work Plan for the Consideration of Incorporating International Financial Reporting Standards into the Financial Reporting System for U.S. Issuers Progress Report (29 October 2010), available at http://sec.gov/spotlight/globalaccountingstandards/workplanprogress102910.pdf.
Students can also be referred to S. Zeff, IFRS Developments in the USA and EU, and Some Implications for Australia, The 2008 Ken Spencer Memorial Lecture, available at http://www.frc.gov.au/reports/other/Ken_Spencer_2008.asp.
For an additional perspective, see also Street Citation(2009).
See also Tweedie Citation(2007) and Street Citation(2002).
Details of the US perspective of this joint project may be found on the FASB website at: http://www.fasb.org/cs/ContentServer?c=FASBContent_C&pagename=FASB%2FFASBContent_C%2FProjectUpdatePage&cid=900000011090.
Objectives of Financial Reporting and The Qualitative Characteristics were issued jointly by the IASB and FASB in September 2010. The text of these two updated IASB Framework chapters is available at: http://eifrs.ifrs.org/eifrs/files/136/conceptual%20fw%202010_130.pdf.
Slides from the July 2010 Tokyo, Japan presentation on the IFRS Conceptual Framework by Wei-Guo Zhang and Mary Barth are at: http://www.ifrs.org/NR/rdonlyres/D8A6A70A-C289-485F-888D-DF7E31A3588D/0/Tokyoprogramme.pdf.
Available at: http://www.ifrs.org/Current+Projects/IASB+Projects/Leases/Webcast+Recordings+and+Q+and+A/Webcast+Recordings+and+Q+and+A.htm.
Available at: http://www.ifrs.org/Current+Projects/IASB+Projects/Leases/archive/Podcasts+on+leasing+model.htm.
Available at: http://www.ifrs.org/NR/rdonlyres/165478E5-02A8-4E19-A502-7B1CA48D495B/0/EDLeasesBasis0810.pdf8.
Available at: http://www.ifrs.org/Current+Projects/IASB+Projects/Leases/ed10/cl/cl.htm The IASB only guarantees that comment letters will be posted up to one year after the IASB has made a final decision on the subject.
Available at: http://www.ifrs.org/Current+Projects/IASB+Projects/Revenue+Recognition/Revenue+Recognition.htm.
Available at: http://www.iasplus.com Click the light bulb on the left side of the home page, or go directly to: http://www.deloitteifrslearning.com/.
Available at: http://www.ifrs.org/NR/rdonlyres/FA5941D2-4E04-4E62-B8FF-B692956D9808/0/IFRSTeachingSessionDocumentation.pdf.
US educators may wish to compare the IFRS solution to US GAAP. Under US GAAP the debt would be classified as long-term. FASB considered changing US GAAP to ‘converge’ with IFRS as one of five short-term convergence projects. However, on 16 June 2004, the FASB deferred issuance of an ED and removed the issue from the scope of the short-term convergence project. The tentative decisions reached by the FASB are to be further considered in the Financial Statement Presentation project. See http://www.72.3.243.42/project/short-term_intl_convergence.shtml#bsc.
Text cited from the version of IAS 1 issued in September 2007 which includes subsequent amendments resulting from IFRSs issued up to 21 November 2008. The effective date is 1 January 2009. The enforcement decision provided by ESMA cites the 2005 version of IAS 1.
Available at: http://aaapubs.aip.org/.
Available at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00207063.