The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) is an independent standard-setting board, appointed and overseen by a geographically and professionally diverse group of trustees of the International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC) Foundation. They are accountable to the public interest.

It is supported by an external advisory council, the Standards Advisory Council (SAC), and an interpretations committee, the International Financial Reporting Interpretations Committee (IFRIC), which offer guidance where divergence in practice occurs.

The IASB co-operates with national accounting standard-setters to achieve convergence in accounting standards around the world. Its mission is to develop in the public interest a single set of high-quality, understandable and international financial reporting standards (IFRSs) for general purpose financial statements.

IFRSs are developed following an international consultation process, involving interested individuals and organisations from around the world and with the support of SAC.

IFRIC develops guidance to promote consistent practice.

Since 1973 the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has been the designated organisation in the private sector in the US for establishing standards of financial accounting. Those standards govern the preparation of financial statements. They are officially recognised as authoritative by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. The standards are important to the efficient functioning of the economy because investors, creditors, auditors and others rely on credible, transparent and comparable financial information, says the FASB.

The SEC has statutory authority to establish financial accounting and reporting standards for publicly held companies under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. However, the SEC’s policy has been to rely on the private sector for this function as long as the private sector demonstrates its ability to fulfil its responsibility in the public interest.