ABSTRACT: (THE SMES’ FINANCIAL REPORTING BY AN INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE). The international symposium on international accounting has been reanimated over the last few years by an interesting debate concerning the usefulness and the development of an ad hoc set of accounting standards for Small and Medium Entities (SMEs). This paper aims at analyzing the main issues arisen from the recent worldwide or regional experiences in accounting standards for non public companies. Applying the comparative method, the research examines the approach and main guidelines which have led to the publication of the IFRS for SMEs by IASB, the new accounting directive (directive 2013/34/EU) published by the European Union and the US GAAP for the non public companies enacted by the FASB. In order to adequately compare the technical approaches applied by the aforementioned bodies, the paper illustrates the existing legislation on the definition of the enterprises’ categories, determining which entities receive the requirements. Afterwards, the paper illustrates the main international and national bodies of literature which have taken into consideration the application of generally accepted accounting standards by SMEs, Furthermore, the research focuses on the applicability of international GAAP for smaller entities and the relation and significant differentiation between “big GAAP” and “little GAAP”. The conclusion attempts to theorize some future development, in the light of the current trend, and finds that generally accepted accounting standards for SMEs are not a feasible and satisfactory aim.
KEYWORDS: Financial reporting, accounting standards, small and medium entities
