Editing Financial statement (section)

==Standards and regulations==
Different countries have developed their own accounting principles over time, making international comparisons of companies difficult. To ensure uniformity and comparability between financial statements prepared by different companies, a set of guidelines and rules are used. Commonly referred to as [[Generally Accepted Accounting Principles]] (GAAP), these set of guidelines provide the basis in the preparation of financial statements, although many companies [[voluntary disclosure|voluntarily disclose]] information beyond the scope of such requirements.<ref name=FASB2001>FASB, 2001. [http://www.fasb.org/brrp/brrp2.shtml Improving Business Reporting: Insights into Enhancing Voluntary Disclosures]. Retrieved on April 20, 2012.</ref>

Recently there has been a push towards standardizing accounting rules made by the [[International Accounting Standards Board]] (IASB). IASB develops [[International Financial Reporting Standards]] that have been adopted by [[Australia]], Canada and the [[European Union]] (for publicly quoted companies only), are under consideration in [[South Africa]] and [[International Financial Reporting Standards#Adaptation and convergence|other countries]]. The [[United States]] [[Financial Accounting Standards Board]] has made a commitment to converge the U.S. GAAP and IFRS over time.