GAAP2000ASurveyofNationalAccountingRulesin53CountriesArthurAndersenBDODeloitteToucheTohmatsuErnst&YoungInternationalGrantThorntonKPMGPricewaterhouseCoopersEditorChristopherWNobesPricewaterhouseCoopersProfessorofAccountingUniversityofReading,England“WherecanIfindanoverviewofsomeofthedifferencesbetweennationalaccountingrulesandInternationalAccountingStandards?”theyaskedus.Sowetookupthechallenge...GAAP2000–ASurveyofNationalAccountingRulesin53CountriesTheinformationprovidedhereinshouldnotbeseenasacomprehensivecomparisonofnationalaccountingrulestoInternationalAccountingStandards.Readersshouldnotrelyuponthereportfortheinterpretationoffinancialstatementsofspecificcompanies,norotherwiserelyonitforanypurpose,withoutseekingprofessionaladvice.Noresponsibilityforlosstoanypersonororganizationactingorrefrainingfromactingasaresultofanymaterialinthispublicationcanbeacceptedbythepreparersofthispublicationortheaccountancyfirmsthatassistedintheunderlyingsurvey.Incompletingthissurvey,wegratefullyacknowledgethecontributionofmanyhundredsoflarge-firmpartnersandmanagersacrosstheworld.SpecialthanksalsotoNicoleWilsonforherenergyandenthusiasminco-ordinatingthewholeproject.ContentsSection1PageIntroduction........................3Section2SurveyMethodology&Limitations.....5Section3Argentina..........................7Australia..........................10Austria...........................12Belgium...........................14Brazil.............................17Canada...........................19Chile.............................21China.............................24Cyprus............................26CzechRepublic.....................27Denmark..........................29Egypt.............................31Estonia...........................33Finland...........................35France............................38Germany..........................41Greece............................44HongKong(SAR)..................47Hungary..........................49Iceland............................51India.............................53Indonesia.........................55Iran,IslamicRepublicof.............57Ireland............................59Israel.............................61Italy..............................62Japan.............................64Korea,Republicof..................66Luxembourg.......................67Malaysia..........................69Mexico...........................71Morocco..........................73Netherlands.......................75NewZealand......................77Norway...........................79Pakistan..........................81Peru..............................82Philippines........................83Poland............................85Portugal..........................87RussianFederation..................89SaudiArabia.......................92Singapore.........................94SouthAfrica.......................96Spain.............................97Sweden...........................99Switzerland.......................101Taiwan...........................103Thailand.........................105Turkey...........................106UnitedKingdom...................108UnitedStates......................110Venezuela.........................112Section4SurveyQuestionnaire...............1141GAAP2000–ASurveyofNationalAccountingRulesin53CountriesIntroductionIn1973,agroupofaccountingvisionariessetuptheInternationalAccountingStandardsCommittee(IASC).Itsobjectivesweretoformulateaccountingstandardsforthepresentationoffinancialstatementsandtopromotetheirworld-wideacceptanceandobservance;andtoworkgenerallyfortheimprovementandharmonizationofregulations,accountingstandardsandproceduresrelatingtothepresentationoffinancialstatements.Muchprogresshasbeenmadesincethen.Today,ourworldwideinternetinformationsystemsandglobalizedcapitalmarketsmaketheneedforasinglelanguageoffinancialreportingurgent.ThepotentialforInternationalAccountingStandards(IAS)toprovidethebasisforcomparablecross-borderfinancialreportingisincreasinglydiscussed.Asevidence,are:theMay2000recommendationthatsecuritiescommissionsshouldallowmulti-nationalissuerstouseIASforcross-borderofferingsandlistings,subjecttotheuseofnecessarysupplementaltreatments;andtheJune2000recommendationfromtheEuropeanCommissionthat,by2005,Europe’slistedcompaniesshouldallpreparetheirconsolidatedfinancialstatementsinaccordancewithIAS.AcrosstheworldfromAsiatoLatinAmerica,nationalgovernments,regulatorsandaccountancyprofessionalsaretakingactivestepstoconsiderhowtheirnationalaccountingrulesdifferfromInternationalAccountingStandards,andtoreducethosedifferences.Thisprocesswillinmanycountriesleadtoasignificantimprovementinfinancialreportingtransparency,butitwilltaketime.Convergenceofaccountingstandardswillnotbeachievedwithoutsubstantialco-operationbetweengovernment,thebusinesscommunityandtheaccountancyprofession.Improvementsinaccountingpracticewillalsorequirethedevelopmentofeducational,professionalandregulatoryinfrastructures.Adoptionofnewstandardswithoutadequatepreparationmaybemoredetrimentalthanbeneficial.Againstthisba