Listen up! International standards take on new importance.

• Position: Q&A

* Q&A with IASB member Mary Barth

Two years ago, the International Accounting Standards Board was a mere benchwarmer in the standards-setting game. It was a group with a goal that in the eyes of many was little more than altruistic--to develop a single set of global accounting standards.

TIMES HAVE CHANGED

Last fall, the Financial Accounting Standards Board announced a convergence effort with the IASB and more recently that effort took on tangible meaning as FASB members unanimously agreed that stock options should be treated as an expense. The board's announcement followed the lead set by the IASB.

CalCPA member Mary Barth, an accounting professor and senior associate dean at the Stanford University School of Business, is a founding member of the IASB. Barth has been a member of the AICPA's Accounting Standards Executive Committee, as well as the Financial Accounting Standards Advisory Council and FASB's Financial Instruments Task Force.

This spring, Barth sat down with fellow CalCPA member Zaf Iqbal, an accounting professor at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, to discuss the emerging importance of the IASB.

Q: Why, in 2001, did the International Accounting Standards Committee reorganize as the IASB?

A: People were realizing how important global standards were going to be and they wanted an international accounting standards board that was structured so that people could believe in the process and have confidence in the outcome.

Our No. 1 goal is to converge to the same set of standards, which means that there won't be any differences between international standards and U.S. standards or Canadian standards. Everybody wants to make this happen.

Q: How has FASB's attitude toward the IASB shifted?

A: A lot of things have happened. There was a belief that U.S. GAAP was superior. But a new board is in place and the FASB is committed to a partnership.

One thing that people have a misconception about is that there is a competition going on. They think that the FASB and the IASB are competing with each other to be the premier standard setter. That's not what's going on. We are partner standard-setters with the FASB.

The accounting scandals of last fall and the year before pointed out that although the United States has what I believe are the most comprehensive and best set of standards, they aren't perfect. And maybe all of the US. rules and guidance are not all a good thing.

The scandals resulted in some people saying, "We aren't perfect and maybe...