IFRS and US GAAP convergence in the area of borrowing costs

Abstract

An agreement from Norwalk was issued in September 2002 on the basis of negotiations of Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) a International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) for the elimination of restrictions in the form of two different systems of financial reporting. The aim is to ensure absolute compatibility of existing U.S. GAAP and IFRS and the coordination of work programs in the future. Document Memorandum of Understanding was issued in 2006 in the frame of ongoing process of convergence, in which the FASB and IASB confirm their intention to create high-quality and global financial reporting standards. In this document there are specified areas, which would lead to convergence of procedures.Borrowing costs have been one from the fields, which was the subject of convergence works. U.S. GAAP dictated capitalization of borrowing costs incurred in connection with the acquisition of qualifying assets, while the IAS/IFRS leaved the decision on accounting entities, how it recognize and record borrowing costs incurred in connection with the acquisition of the assets.In the beginning, the method of analysis and description is used to identify and describe the basic difference of both systems, which had existed before the initiation of convergence within the frame of “Borrowing Costs” project. The above mentioned primary analysis has served as the basis for the further comparative analysis and synthesis.The paper further presents comparative analysis of two basic methodical approaches towards the borrowing costs reporting incurred in relation to the acquisition of the qualifying assets, which was possible to apply until 31st Dec 2008 under IFRS system.The comparative analysis is based on empirical company data. The subjects are mainly the differences in the indicators, which are used for the evaluation of the company financial situation. According (Suvova, 1999), mainly the indicators of vertical analysis of property and capital structure and selected ratio indicators of return are used.Short-term project of borrowing costs, whose aim was to unify the reporting of interest on borrowing funds on the side of IASB, was completed in March 2007 by issuing of the revised IAS 23 Borrowing Costs with effect from 1.1. 2009. The paper deals with major changes to IAS 23 occurred in the context of the IASB – Borrowing costs. Elimination of a major difference in the reporting of borrowing costs in the system IAS/IFRS and U.S. GAAP was reached by the revision of IAS 23, however all the existing differences were not removed.

Keywords

• borrowing costs
• interest cost
• qualifying asset