The impact of these changes will be far-reaching. Those engaged in the financial sector will feel that greatest impact. However, the impact of these changes will be felt by everyone, including the American public. They will feel the changes by greater transparency and the ability to compare financial statements with greater equitability. It is expected that the IFRS will increase public trust in the financial statements of companies. Much of the literature that is currently available on the IFRS conversion is limited to publications to help companies understand and implement the changes. At the present time, the results and affects of the conversion have not been addressed by the academic world. The changes are currently in process and the results of them are yet to be seen. Therefore, this is an area of research that will have to be addressed in the future. At the present time, any opinions regarding the affects of the IFRS conversion are speculative. It can be expected that once companies begin to start using the IFRS, academic studies regarding the results of the change will be forthcoming. At this point, it is still too early to tell what the real affects of the IFRS change will be for U.S. companies.

Many of the authors found in this study, agree that the convergence of IFRS and GAAP will have positive results. However, as we found, for some companies, this will mean greater tax liability simply due to changes in accounting methods. When taken as a whole, the opinions found in this study indicate that results will vary for different companies and industries. Some will benefit, while others will not. However, overall, it is expected that the changes will be positive for the economy as a whole. Although the final verdict is still many years in the future, it is not expected that these changes will result in differences in the economic indicators or other key factors in the U.S. economy.

There are still many challenges to be faced, both from a policy perspective and in the individual companies as they make this transition. The final convergence is not expected to be completed until 2014. Accountants face the greatest challenges...

However, other professions will also be affected by these changes as well. Adoption of IFRS will mean many challenges that will be spread across every industry and sector in the United States.
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