On June 2, 2010, the U.S. Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) (the “Boards”) issued a joint statement outlining their updated workplan for the convergence and improvement of U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The workplan targets the end of 2011 for finalizing a host of new accounting standards. Separately, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is expected to decide next year whether it will require mandatory adoption of IFRS for publicly traded companies domiciled in the United States (mandatory adoption is expected to be in 2015 or 2016 at the earliest).

The Boards' convergence workplan represents a large shift in the accounting and financial reporting landscape, the likes of which U.S. companies have probably never before experienced. Virtually all U.S. companies will be affected by the changes, irrespective of the SEC's timeline for transition to IFRS.

This paper from Deloitte looks at some of the key projects on the Boards' agenda and addresses some of the issues that companies should consider now to ease the burden of transition.

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