The Securities and Exchange Commission recently released the details of its proposed switch to International Financial Reporting Standards on it Web site after several delays.
As reported previously, experts correctly predicted that problems on Wall Street would delay the SEC from unveiling a roadmap for the switch.
With the SEC published timeline, a better picture of how everything should take shape is now in place.
For example, the 20 largest U.S. companies per industry (according to market capitalization) will be allowed to start transitioning their financial statements after Dec. 15, 2009.
In addition: Smaller accelerated filers start adhering to IFRS guidelines on or after Dec. 15, 2015; non-accelerated filers move to IFRS on or after Dec. 15, 2016.
The SEC’s roadmap should serve as a wake-up call for those especially unprepared. For most companies, the switch will likely affect many departments, especially the IT sector.
