Translation and its problems: an inter-professional perspective and lessons for accounting

Abstract

First paragraph: Accounting has become increasingly international, not least through the work of the IASB and IFAC, and the increasing international adoption of their standards. For example, since 2005 listed European Union (EU) companies have been required to prepare consolidated financial statements in accordance with International Accounting Standards (IAS) and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Many other jurisdictions have implemented or opted for convergence with IFRS. However, international application of IAS/IFRS may not be sufficient to ensure equivalent quality of financial reporting. Among the reasons for this are the remaining influence of local traditions and cultures, including legal and political systems, financial markets, corporate governance arrangements, auditing and enforcement of regulation (see e.g. Ball, 2006; Nobes, 2006, Zeff, 2007). An additional problem is the translation of IFRS from the original English into other languages (Wong, 2004; Nobes, 2006; Zeff, 2007).