Survey Says...64% Have Not Budgeted for IFRS

Deloitte published the results of a survey on the SEC's proposed IFRS roadmap, which was last November. The comment period for the roadmap ends on April 20, 2009 .

The point of the survey was to gather data and information about how companies perceive the SEC's proposed IFRS roadmap. and how companies are approaching IFRS, given current economic and regulatory uncertainty.

The survey was conducted in March 2009 on over 150 finance professionals.

Survey highlights:

• 75% supported or strongly supported a movement toward a single set of high quality accounting standards, such as IFRS.


• 62% agreed or strongly agreed that the SEC should establish a date (the so-called "date certain") for requiring U.S. companies to use IFRS.


• 56% of respondents surveyed indicated t hat the SEC should extend the option for early use of IFRS to a broader group of U.S. companies than outlined in t he current SEC roadmap. (Proposed to be limited to those among the top 10 in their industry globally as measured by market capitalization and operate in an industry where IFRS is the predominant accounting standard used among the top 10 largest listed companies worldwide in their industry.)


• 61% responded that the SEC' proposed requirement that would entail having companies maintain U.S. GAAP books on an ongoing basis until 2011, would decrease the likelihood of companies electing the option of early conversion.


• 56% of financial executives described the proposed SEC timeline to be "about right" or could be accelerated further.


• 64% of respondents stated that no budget has yet been allocated for IFRS conversion, in contrast to 25% who have budgeted for assessment and readiness, or all aspects of conversion.


• 54% of responden ts indicated some or sufficient in-house knowledge of IFRS, while 40% acknowledged no IFRS in-house knowledge or experience.