Date of Completion

Spring 5-2-2014

Thesis Advisor(s)

Gim Seow

Honors Major

Accounting

Disciplines

Accounting

Abstract

The convergence of US GAAP and IFRS has been significant for the US Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) over the decade. Due to major differences such as with the consolidation model and the special entities (i.e. Research and Development), there are concerns of how the convergence will affect the accounting practice. The US GAAP is known to have more industry-based details than the IFRS, and so it is essential to know what kind of issues lie from industry to industry. Here, our focus is within the life sciences. More specifically, this paper examines the financial statements of the top 10 firms in the pharmaceutical industry for both the United States and Europe. By analyzing and comparing the documentation, we can see the similarities and differences of using either the GAAP or IFRS. With these results, the impact of the convergence of the US GAAP and IFRS on the industry and as a whole will be concluded.

Included in

Accounting Commons

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