Did you know that the U.S. uses a different accounting system (U.S. GAAP) than most of the rest of the world (IFRS)
The establishment of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) in 2001 was the first serious move in enforcing a level of quality in the accountancy profession worldwide.
Professor Sir David Tweedie CA, as Chairman of IASB from its inception until 2011, led the revitalisation of international accounting standards and can easily be considered the foremost advocate for the global adoption of transparency, accountability and efficiency in accounting.
Generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) terminology was first used in 1936 by the American Institute of Accountants (AIA). Federal endorsement of GAAP began with legislation like the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, laws enforced by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that target public companies. Today, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), an independent authority, continually monitors and updates GAAP. Today, all 50 state governments prepare their financial reports according to GAAP. While a little less than half of U.S. states officially require local governments to adhere to GAAP, the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) estimates that approximately 70% of county and local financial offices do anyway.
