With the April 1, 2011, deadline for implementation of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) getting closer, efforts are being stepped up in India to meet the deadline.
"Indian accounting professionals are facing a challenging time with the deadline to IFRS transition. There is much debate and apprehension regarding issues like the benefits and challenges involved in switching over to IFRS," Association of Chartered Certified Accountants' Financial Reporting Officer Aziz Tayyebi said here today.
Tayyebi said the Indian government should adopt the IFRS and meet the deadline. He welcomed the formation of a core group by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs for deliberating upon the conversion of India's accounting standards to the IFRS.
The core group, comprising representatives from Sebi, ICAI, RBI, IRDA and banks are preparing the roadmap for the convergence of Indian accounting standards with the IFRS by April 1, 2011. "The implementation of IFRS would help Indian companies to speak the same accounting language as their foreign counterparts in countries like the UK, Canada, Singapore and Australia," Get Thought Guides' CEO Vandana Saxena Poria said.
"The use of IFRS as a universal financial reporting language is gaining momentum across the globe and India should meet the deadline," she said.
Poria said the number of countries adopting IFRS is expected to increase to 150 by 2011 and Securities Exchange Commission has issued a roamap whereby a few big US corporations would begin reporting according to IFRS by 2014.