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U.S. schools need to understand that it is not a matter of whether the U.S. will adopt IFRS, but at what speed it will adopt IFRS. —Philip Joos, Tilburg University control at IESE Business School of the University of Navarra in Barcelona, Spain. The school introduced IFRS into its curriculum more than 15 years ago to accommodate a high- ly international student body. "Despite claims that there are many differences between U.S. GAAP and IFRS, there are far more similarities than differences." Joos notes that both students and teachers will benefit if schools teach the IFRS conceptual framework, and not just the accounting rules that keep changing. Crediting that observation to an article in Accounting Review by Stanford professor Mary Barth, he adds, "That way, students will see and better understand the differences between U.S. GAAP and IFRS." Students also need to understand that financial reporting standards are not the only element used to compare financial reports between different firms, says Joos. "Two of the largest retailers in the world are Ahold and Carrefour. Although they both apply IFRS and operate in the same industry, it is not easy to compare their financial reports. Students need to be aware of different reporting incentives across firms—and countries." Challenges Ahead As U.S. business schools figure out how to teach interna- tional standards, many are introducing IFRS to the cur- riculum in incremental stages, first as electives, then as part of required courses. This approach makes sense, says Tidrick of Northern Illinois University, "because today's account- ing graduates don't need to be fluent in IFRS immediately, though they need to be conversant with the standards. Of course, at some point, our primary emphasis will have to shift in favor of IFRS." Some fluency was essential as early as this hiring season, says Neidermeyer. "For 2009, most of the major accounting firms expected interns to know the difference between IFRS and GAAP and how they'll be affected even if they never decide to leave the U.S.," she says. Challenges certainly still lie ahead for U.S. business schools and businesses. To ensure that accounting standards are interpreted and enforced consistently across borders, reg- ulators will have to work together, says Peñalva of IESE. But he's hopeful about the outcome. "For the first time in history, we are really close to having a common set of accounting standards used by all countries," he says. "IFRS will facilitate enormously the interpretation of financial reports, the teaching of accounting, the mobility of accounting experts, and the improvement and development of accounting standards." Europe's broad adoption of IFRS in 2005 was similar to the EU's implementation of the euro currency in 2002, Joos points out. "It took several years for people to become famil- iar with the euro, and they were constantly making conver- sions to the local currencies. By 2009, that has all stopped," he says. "It's clear that IFRS is becoming the world's account- ing standard. In the long run, all financial accounting courses will be IFRS-based." A globalized set of accounting standards, while challeng- ing to implement, will no doubt have far-reaching effects on interconnected, international business. As today's busi- ness schools give their students a proper grounding in IFRS, they're preparing their graduates to play essential roles in global companies and contribute to the turnaround of the worldwide economy. ■ z 50 BizEd JULY/AUGUST 2009 STEVE MCALISTER/GETTY IMAGES