ABSTRACT
The implementation of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), particularly in the European Union, has led to frequent comments that IFRS are ‘fair value-based standards’ and that the IASB is moving inexorably towards full fair value accounting. There appears to be a widespread belief that IFRS require all assets and liabilities to be measured at fair value and all the resulting changes in fair value to be included as gains and losses in the income statement. As this chapter 1 will show, these views suggest a lack of understanding of, and confusion about, IFRS. They also bring into question the understanding and application of existing national GAAP and historical cost accounting.
