Companies from overseas that are listed in the US are still facing considerable differences between international and US accounting standards, Ernst & Young has stated.
The accounts of 130 foreign private issuers filed with SEC had more than 200 differences between the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and the US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), Accountancy Magazine reports.
Areas with the most substantial differences were pensions, business contributions and financial instruments.
Alan Millings, US capital markets partner at Ernst & Young, said: "While companies have tried to minimise reported differences, convergence is still some way off."
Currently, the SEC is reportedly considering a move away from current reconciliation guidelines, after the first filings of many companies under IFRS showed a lack of convergence.
Of late, more companies have migrated towards IFRS.
The much-maligned US Sarbanes Oxley Act, instituted after the Enron fiasco, has put into place what are seen by many as draconian requirements for companies' financial reporting.
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