International Classification of Financial Reporting : Third Edition

With the growing integration of the international economy, the need for established systems of classification in financial reporting becomes ever more important. Chris Nobes asks whether classification is possible, or even useful, and offers a critical analysis of the current attempts to discern an order in the variety of accounting practices. Revised and updated to reflect the post-IFRS era, this book will be of interest to academics, postgraduates and undergraduates in international accounting, accounting theory and to international accounting professionals.

Financial reporting practices differ widely between countries and this has far-reaching implications for multinational businesses. Over more than a century, there have been attempts to classify countries into groups by similarities of practices. With the recent spread of International Financial Reporting Standards, it might appear that classification is largely of historical interest, but this is not the case, for several reasons explained in this book.

Christopher Nobes offers a critical analysis of the many previous accounting classifications, having drawn lessons from other fields of science and social science. Revised and updated to reflect the IFRS era, the book discusses how old classifications are reflected in today’s international differences in practice under IFRS. It concludes with a discussion on the most useful classifications, and how classifications can still be relevant in the era of international standards.

This book will be essential for academics, postgraduates and undergraduates in international accounting, accounting theory and to international accounting professionals.