Financial reporting standards provide principles for preparing financial reports and determine the types and amounts of information that must be provided to users of financial statements, including investors and creditors, so that they may make informed decisions. This reading focuses on the framework within which these standards are created. An understanding of the underlying framework of financial reporting standards, which is broader than knowledge of specific accounting rules, will allow an analyst to assess the valuation implications of financial statement elements and transactions—including transactions, such as those that represent new developments, which are not specifically addressed by the standards.

Section 2 of this reading discusses the objective of financial statements and the importance of financial reporting standards in security analysis and valuation. Section 3 describes the roles of financial reporting standard-setting bodies and regulatory authorities and several of the financial reporting standard-setting bodies and regulatory authorities. Section 4 describes the trend toward and barriers to convergence of global financial reporting standards. Section 5 describes the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) framework1 and general requirements for financial statements. Section 6 discusses the characteristics of an effective financial reporting framework along with some of the barriers to a single coherent framework. Section 7 illustrates some of the specific differences between IFRS and US generally accepted accounting practices (US GAAP), and Section 8 discusses the importance of monitoring developments in financial reporting standards. A summary of the key points and practice problems in the CFA Institute multiple choice format conclude the reading.