FAF to pay up to $3 million to help IASB’s convergence work

The IFRS Foundation will receive assistance for work on international convergence projects from its US counterpart, the Financial Accounting Foundation (FAF).

FAF announced Tuesday that it will make a non-recurring contribution of up to $3 million in 2014 to the IFRS Foundation to support the work by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) on the four joint projects it is completing with the US Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB).

The joint projects are underway in an attempt to achieve converged financial reporting standards for revenue recognition, leases, financial instruments and insurance. FAF will make up to three payments of $1 million each this year to support the projects.

The contributions will come from FAF’s reserve fund. FAF made one previous contribution of $500,000 to the IFRS Foundation in 2011. FASB also has contributed work by its technical staff to the convergence projects.

The FAF Board of Trustees consulted with the US Securities and Exchange Commission before deciding to make the 2014 contribution.

“Completing these joint projects clearly is in the best interests of FASB stakeholders, including all those around the world who invest in US capital markets,” FAF Chairman Jeff Diermeier said in a news release.

American Institute of CPAs President and CEO Barry Melancon, CPA, CGMA, commended FAF for a contribution that he said will advance the convergence work of FASB and the IASB.

“We hope it serves as a catalyst for a broader discussion by all parties in the financial reporting process on how IFRS should evolve in the United States,” Melancon said in a news release.

—Ken Tysiac (ktysiac@aicpa.org) is a CGMA Magazine senior editor.