IFRS vs GAAP

IFRS stands for International Financial Reporting Standards. IFRS are rules, protocols, and compliance standards public companies must abide by when creating their public disclosures. The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) established IFRS with the aim of harmonizing and subsequently converging financial metrics globally. IFRS standards are defined by ifrs.org as:

“a single set of accounting standards, developed and maintained by the International Accounting Standards Board with the intention of those standards being capable of being applied on a globally consistent basis - by developed, emerging and developing economies - thus providing investors and other users of financial statements with the ability to compare the financial performance of publicly listed companies on a like-for-like basis with their international peers.”

IFRS aspires to standardize accounting metrics to:

• Promote the development of an integrated financial and competitive market
• Encourage transparent financial information
• Protect investors