The Impact of Accounting Harmonization on Financial Statements Quality in Serbia

Abstract

The general process of the world market globalization and the great influence of international financial organizations,   especially the IMF and the World Bank, caused the need for standardization and harmonization of financial statements of the participants involved in international economics and trade. In this process, in the Republic of Serbia, the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and the IASB.S project for IAS/IFRS implementation have a crucial role. By adopting the International Financial Reporting Standards - IFRSs (including International Accounting Standards - IASs), financial statements prepared in Serbia may be comparable with financial statements in other countries. Starting from this, the main goal of the research is to indicate whether the financial statements in Serbia based on the IASB project can be comparable with financial statements in other countries, and on this basis can they satisfy the needs of external users of information (investors, creditors and others). In doing so, it points to the experience in the Republic of Serbia, the accounting practice and experiences of other countries, above all members of the European Union. The results of the research show that, in addition to the IAS/IFRS, the US generally accepted accounting principles (GAAPs) and the Directive 34 of the European Union represent the key segments of professional regulation contributing to greater accounting harmonization, and on this basis, the higher quality of financial reporting. Most countries that have national accounting regulations align the accounting rules in the most important issues with those regulations.