Convergence from Indian Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (or IGAAP as it is commonly known) to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) has given many positive results to the organizations. The adoption of IFRS has brought about significant changes in the financial reporting process. In IFRS, every identifiable transaction is clearly disclosed and classified separately, unlike in IGAAP. Apart from that, there are differences in the treatment of items such as expenses and revenue recognition. Under IFRS, items are classified using the fair value method of accounting, unlike the traditional historical cost method followed in IGAAP. This has resulted in more transparency and reliability for the investors in the financial statements prepared as per IFRS. Infosys has been the first Indian IT company to be listed in NASDAQ and the first such company to have adopted the IFRS reporting process since the year 2009. The present study is an attempt to figure out the differences and similarities in the financial reporting process between IGAAP and IFRS in general, and to point out the changes in the financial reporting process in the case of Infosys Ltd. over the FYs 2009-10 to 2013-14 in particular.

In the past, accounting had a limited use which was restricted solely to the recording of transactions and the ascertainment of the financial performance and financial position of an enterprise at the end of the accounting period. However, with the development of the corporate form of organization, accounting has acquired an important role in the decisionmaking process of the management. Accounting information is used by many users, e.g., shareholders, financers, investors, creditors, etc. To safeguard the user’s interests, different acts and regulations have come into existence with the issuance of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), commonly known as accounting standards. Every country has their own accounting standards. These accounting standards have their own inherent differences with respect to the size of the economy. When any company is doing business in more than one country, they have to prepare the financial statements according to the country’s requirement in which they are doing business. Because of lack of uniformity of accounting standards across the countries, the companies are required to comprehend the accounting standards of different countries. This problem can be resolved by development of uniform accounting standards. To resolve this problem, International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) was issued by International Accounting Standard Board (IASB) in the year 2000. More than 100 countries are following IFRS, and many are planning to follow the same. Although the earlier deadline for adoption of IFRS by the Indian companies was April 1, 2011, very few companies have actually followed it. The next deadline has been set to April 1, 2016, as declared by the finance minister, Arun Jaitley.

Accounting Research and Audit Practices, International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), International Accounting Standard Board (IASB).