Benefits and Costs to U.S. Adoption of IFRS

There are different ways in which researchers can present the findings of their research to readers or users of the research information. It is important to follow all the rules of research presentation in order for the research information to be clear to all the people who rely on it. This paper aims at analyzing the article on the costs and benefits of US adoption to the IFRS system of accounting by David Albrecht.

The aim of this paper is to analyze whether the author has followed the necessary steps and format in presenting the findings on his research, in order to evaluate whether it meets the international standards for presenting research papers. Summary. According to Albrecht (2008), the author carries out a cost benefit analysis in order to evaluate whether the decision to change from GAAP standards to IFRS, by US firms is feasible. He uses the incremental analysis model to come to a conclusion on the subject.

He finds that the costs outweigh the benefits, considering that the cost of changing the system in monetary terms is over $3 million. These costs arise from the need to train accountants and conversion costs for companies. The benefits amount to $100 billion, from reduced audit fees. He therefore concludes that the accounting system should not be changed. The paper is written for a general audience judging from the absence of corroborated arguments and evidence from secondary and primary sources, required by experts. Organization. The research paper has not been organized into clearly defined parts.

It has been written as one long essay which is not structured into different parts, and this may present problems to readers who are keen to analyze various arguments by the author. A basic research paper should include an abstract, an introduction, the background of the problem, literature review, research methodology and findings, analysis of findings and finally a conclusion and recommendation of the issues discussed (Kothari, 2005). However, in analyzing the article, the author gives a very brief introduction in the first line. He says that US corporations face dilemmas in deciding whether to adapt to the IFRS system or not.

He further explains in the second paragraph that this decision should be guided by incremental analysis. This means that the benefits of adapting to the IFRS system should outweigh the costs of the same decision. Research. The author supports his research using the incremental analysis framework. He further uses quotes from the US Securities and Exchange commission. However, he does not quote the source of this information, which makes it difficult to determine the authenticity. Since the research does not cite the references, it is difficult to know the documentation style.

It also becomes difficult to know whether the author is paraphrasing quotes from other researchers. Style. The author uses the present tense in writing the article throughout the paper. However, he uses the first person and third person when writing different parts of the paper. The first person tense is used when he gives his own opinion, for instance, in the last sentence of the article he says that “……… is the reason why I oppose switching from GAAP to IFRS”. He uses contractions in some parts of the paper, for instance in the eleventh paragraph where the last sentence says “Let’s say another trillion”.

The overall grammar used in the article is relatively poor, due to the use of slang, contractions, and short forms among other grammatical mistakes. For instance, in the seventh paragraph, he says “execs’ instead of executives Conclusion. The paper lacks some aspects of research work, most of which have been explained. The author does not also have references to sources which have been used for research. The content can also be said to be biased, since the author does not mention the connection between the GAAP standards and collapse of mortgage crisis in firms like Lehman Brothers.

GAAP standards and specifically asset valuation was one of the causal factors of its downfall. However, the article is useful as it can serve as a source of doing further research on the subject. In future, the author should ensure that his research confirms to all aspects of research work. References. Albrecht, D. (2008). Benefits and costs of adoption of IFRS. Retrieved on January 26, 2008 from <. http://profalbrecht. wordpress. com/2008/10/01/benefits-and-costs-to-us- adoption-of-ifrs/>. Kothari, C. R. (2005). Research Methodology: Techniques & Methods. New York: New Age Publishers.