Sophia Tutorial Accounting Governance,

This tutorial will cover governing principles in accounting, as well as the range of governing bodies involved in regulating accounting practices. Our discussion breaks down as follows: 1. Governing Principles 2. Governing Bodies 3. Federal Agencies 1. Governing Principles Let's begin by discussing governing principles in accounting, specifically GAAP and IFRS, exploring what they are and the differences between them. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) Who it applies to Represents the accounting standards for U.S. companies. Publicly traded U.S. companies are required to use U.S. GAAP; many privately held companies, although not required to use it, still do. Represents the accounting standards for all international companies. This means that if you are doing business in any countries outside of the U.S., you would use IFRS. Objectives Help financial statements achieve three things: *Relevance. Is the information relevant to the message we are trying to send through our financial statements? *Reliability. Can we rely on the information? *Comparability . Can we compare the financial statements of two different entities? Standardize the accounting procedures across all nations. Now, the U.S. has tried to get somewhat involved, although, as mentioned, U.S. GAAP exists in the United