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Attention financial and IT managers: If you want to see what your future holds when the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission starts converging the U.S. GAAP with IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards), read this new white paper from the AICPA (American Institute of Certified Public Accountants). It explores the IT implications for a company converting to IFRS, including the impact on financial and business reporting, implementation considerations – such as XBRL – and lessons learned from the European experience.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission supports IFRS as the best option for a single set of high-quality global accounting standards, and if the commission decides next year to converge U.S. GAAP and IFRS for the U.S. market, public companies will have some years to prepare before the predicted 2015 or 2016 conversion begins.

The new white paper, Financial System Considerations in IFRS Conversion Projects, gives a brief background on IFRS, which is now used or permitted by more than 100 countries.

Because of its widespread use, many U.S.-based multi-national companies are already using IFRS in some areas of their business, reducing country-by-country disparities in financial reporting. But for most U.S. companies, conversion will be a complex challenge. This paper will help you prepare.