International Financial Reporting Standards - IFRS
A set of international accounting standards stating how particular types of transactions and other events should be reported in financial statements. IFRS are issued by the International Accounting Standards Board.
IFRS are sometimes confused with International Accounting Standards (IAS), which are the older standards that IFRS replaced. (IAS were issued from 1973 to 2000.)
Investopedia Commentary
The goal with IFRS is to make international comparisons as easy as possible. This is difficult because, to a large extent, each country has its own set of rules. For example, U.S. GAAP are different from Canadian GAAP. Synchronizing accounting standards across the globe is an ongoing process in the international accounting community.
Related Links
Advanced Financial Statement Analysis
See also: Accounting, Audit, Balance Sheet, Generally Accepted Accounting Principles - GAAP, International Accounting Standards - IAS
Also spelled: IFRS