How widely used are the international accounting standards?
A. Over 100 countries have adopted them, and Canada will in 2011. ____ Q. Would there be any drawbacks to adopting the international standards? A. Some people think that with principles-based standards, you could be in more trouble because you don’t have those detailed rules to go by, so you have more flexibility. Because we’re a pretty litigious society, there are also concerns that, without the rules, there’s going to be the potential for lawsuits. ____ Q. Would the quality of financial reporting be any better with the international standards? A. We don’t know. Those who have argued against moving to international standards argue that we don’t know and that it’s questionable as to which is the best set of standards. One benefit is that the comparability of financial statements would be better. Also, multinational companies would no longer have to prepare statements under two sets of standards. ____ Q. Is it possible that the United States won’t adopt the international standards? A. T
