Writing Resources
Harmonization takes place over time and works to reduce alternatives while still retaining a high degree of flexibility in accounting practices Harmonization allows different countries to have different standards as long as those standards do not conflict Convergence refers to a diminishing differences in accounting standards and works towards having a single set of accepted standards by regulatory bodies Doupnik 66 67 2 Going back to chapter 1 where it was discussed the benefits of having a universal accounting standard this would also benefit a multinational company A universal standard would save money on translating a foreign entities financials into GAAP for example and would allow for accountants to spend more time on the company and less time on creating multiple financial statements Also this would save the US locations time for accountants in having to learn a new accounting standard if they were to send them overseas Having a universal standard would allow for accountants to travel interchangeably and have only a language barrier to work with instead of also a barrier in accounting standards 4 The first phase of the IASC was the Lowest Common Denominator approach that was from 1973 2001 which focused on 26 generic International Accounting Standards
