IFRS returns

A recent article on CFO.com, IFRS Returns to the Front Burner, shows once again the difference of opinions among finance officials on the true impact that IFRS conversion will have on organizations.

CFO.com quotes C. Bradford Richmond of Darden Restaurants as writing:  “[T]he large majority of U.S. public companies, like Darden, serve primarily domestic customer bases and are adequately capitalized without tapping overseas capital markets.  Rather than mandating IFRS for all companies, we believe it would be more appropriate to allow large multinational organizations to adopt IFRS on a voluntary basis.”

Conversely, Martyn Webster of XenoPort Inc. writes:  “If the U.S. remains outside of the IFRS framework, then we will somewhat compromise our ability to participate in, and influence, important matters related to the overall operations of global capital markets.”

These quotes taken from the above mentioned CFO.com article are examples of the varying degree of opinions that IFRS has sparked.  Although we may never come to a strict agreement of the benefits or setbacks of IFRS adoption, one thing is for certain, the debate over whether U.S. companies should be forced to use international accountaing standards continues.

Up next: How IFRS adoption and its associated implications for asset valuations may effect your organization