Majority of CFOs do not agree with SEC on IFRS – More than three-fourths have no experience in preparing IFRS statements
CHICAGO, October 25, 2007 - In a national survey of chief financial officers and senior comptrollers conducted by Grant Thornton LLP, the U.S. member firm of Grant Thornton International, one of the six global accounting, tax and business advisory organizations, 56 percent do not agree with the SEC's proposal to permit foreign firms listed on U.S. exchanges to file financial statements prepared according to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) without reconciliation to U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). In addition, a great majority of public companies (90.57%) as well as private companies (75.16%) believe that today's accounting standards are too complex.
| Do you agree with the SEC's decision to permit foreign firms listed on U.S. exchanges to file financial statements prepared according to IFRS without reconciliation to U.S. GAAP? | |
| Yes | 41.63 % |
| No | 56.11 % |
Do you have experience preparing financial statements according to IFRS? | |
| Yes | 22.17 % |
| No | 77.38 % |
Should all U.S. firms be permitted to use IFRS in financial statements filed with the SEC instead of U.S. GAAP? | |
| Yes | 41.63 % |
| No | 55.66 % |
Should U.S. firms with extensive overseas operations be permitted to use IFRS in financial statements filed with the SEC? | |
| Yes | 46.61 % |
| No | 49.32 % |
Would it be appropriate for privately held U.S. firms to use IFRS for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) when preparing financial statements? | |
| Yes | 43.44 % |
| No | 53.39 % |
Do you believe that accounting standards today are too complex? | |
| Yes | 78.28 % |
| No | 20.36 % |
Public companies - Yes | 90.57 % |
| Public companies - No | 9.43% |
Private companies - Yes | 75.16% |
| Private companies - No | 24.84% |
Which of the following types of standards would you prefer? | |
| Principles-based standards that provide for use of professional judgment in the application of accounting standards | 67.42 % |
| Rules-based standards that provide detailed guidance for applying accounting standards | 30.32 % |
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