FINANCIAL REPORTING STANDARDS: A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE AND THE SIGNIFICANCE OF IND AS IN INDIA

Abstract

Financial reporting, at its core, is about trust. It’s how businesses communicate to the outside world whether they are doing well, struggling, or somewhere in between. As global capital markets have grown increasingly interconnected, the ability of investors, analysts, and lenders to meaningfully compare companies across borders has become both more important and more complicated. This research project takes a broad look at the global landscape of financial reporting standards from the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) to regional variants like UK GAAP and Chinese Accounting Standards. It traces the long and sometimes difficult journey toward international harmonization, examines where major standards diverge, and explores what those differences mean in practice for financial statement users. A significant part of the project is dedicated to Indian Accounting Standards (Ind AS) India’s own version of IFRS, developed through a convergence process led by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI). The research explores the story behind Ind AS, what makes it different from both old Indian GAAP and full IFRS, and why it matters so much for India’s economic future. To complement the theoretical and comparative analysis, this project incorporates primary empirical data collected through a structured Google Form survey of 120 respondents a mix of finance students, chartered accountants, corporate finance professionals, investment analysts, and bankers. The survey findings provide a grounded, user-level view of how Ind AS is actually being experienced in practice.