The possible ways to IFRS (international financial reporting standards) for SME (small and medium sized entities) development

Abstract

The most business entities in Europe are small or medium-sized enterprises (SME), which have a legal obligation to prepare financial statements in accordance with a set of accounting principles accepted in their country. Those statements are available to creditors, suppliers, and national governments but they could be badly understandable to creditors, suppliers and subjects in other countries. This is a great obstacle of their activities in the EU internal market. The existence of 27 different national accounting systems in the EU can be held for the most important obstacle. There are many ways how to develop compatible accounting standards for SMEs but the most significant activity in this field is the research project of IASB (International Accounting Standards Board). IASB has developed IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards). Even though IFRS are suitable for all enterprises, their application in case of SMEs would be very expensive and could significantly increase compliance costs of taxation. This development has not been finished yet and there are still some problems which need to be solved before the introduction of accounting standards to the public. The research has shown that IFRS for SMEs should be used mainly by the entities which do not have public accountability - i.e. that its equities are not publicly traded and do not hold assets in a fiduciary capacity for a broad group of outsiders. This paper discusses those IFRS modifications, which should be done in case of SMEs.