IFRS CONVERGENCE

onvergence means to achieve harmony with IFRSs. In precise terms convergence can be

considered to design and maintain national accounting standards in a way that financial statements prepared in accordance with national accounting standards draw unreserved statement of compliance with IFRSs. In this context, attention has to be drawn to paragraph 14 of International Accounting Standard (IAS) 1, Presentation of Financial Statements, which states that financial statements shall not be described as complying with IFRSs unless they comply with all the requirements of IFRSs. It does not imply that financial statements prepared in accordance with national accounting standards draw unreserved statement of compliance with IFRSs only when IFRSs are adopted word by word. The IASB accepts that adding disclosure requirements or removing optional treatments does not create noncompliance with IFRSs. Thus if a country wants to add a disclosure that is considered necessary in the local environment, or removes an optional treatment, this will not amount to noncompliance with IFRSs. India being an important emerging economy in the World, is yet to adopt the IFRSs, rather than adoption we are adapting IFRS. Presently, the Accounting Standards Board of the ICAI endeavors to formulate Indian Accounting Standards on the basis of IFRSs. ICAI is expected to actively promote the International Accounting Standards Boards pronouncements in the country with a view to facilitate global harmonization of accounting standards Accordingly, while formulating the Accounting Standards, the ASB will give due consideration to International Accounting Standards(IAS) or International Financial Reporting Standards, as the case may be, and try to integrate them, to the extent possible, in the light of the conditions and practices prevailing in India. Apart from the ICAI ensuring compliance with the IFRSs to the extent possible, the National Committee on Accounting Standards (NACAS) considers the deviations in the Indian Accounting Standards, if any, from the IFRSs and recommends to the ICAI to revise the Accounting Standards wherever it considers that the deviations are not appropriate.

hy Convergence and not Adaptation?

There has been many unavoidable issues due to which India is not per se adapting IFRS. The main reasons being the following

(1) To maintain consistency with the Legal and Regulatory Requirements

In some cases, the legal and regulatory requirements in India are at variance from the IFRSs. Typical example is Accounting Standard (AS) 21,Consolidated Financial Statements. It defines control as ownership of more than one-half of the voting power of an enterprise or control over the composition of the governing body of an enterprise. This definition of control is based on the definitions of holding company and subsidiary company as per the Companies Act, 1956. However, IAS 27, Consolidated and Separate Financial Statements, defines control as the power to govern the financial and operating policies of an enterprise so as to obtain benefits from its activities

(2) Economic environment

Main instance is while various IFRSs have been based on the fair value approach, there has been reluctance in India to adopt this approach in view of the fact that various markets in the country have not been considered to possess necessary depth and breadth providing reliable fair values on measurement of various assets and liabilities. For example, Accounting Standard 13, Accounting for Investments, requires current investments to be valued at the lower of cost and fair value whereas the corresponding IAS 39, Financial Instruments: Recognition and Measurement, requires measurement of similar investments at fair value.

Level of preparedness & Conceptual differences

In a few stray cases, the Indian Accounting standards deviate from IFRSs because adoption of IFRSs verbatim may cause hardship to the industry and, to avoid the same, modifications are made in accounting Standards until the industry is prepared for the IFRSs. There are also few conceptual differences between the Indian Accounting Standards and the IFRSs.

INALLY!! The roadmap for IFRS convergence

Compiled By: Gayathri Mohan J Source: Internet