Title: The adoption of IFRS in South Eastern Europe: the case of Greece

Authors: Charalambos Spathis, Eleftheria Georgakopoulou

Addresses: Department of Economics, Division of Business Administration, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece. ' Hellenic Open University, Riga Feraiou 169 and Tsamadou, 26222 Patra, Greece

Abstract: Over the past few decades the globalisation of business investments and capital markets has led to a demand for high-quality information. It is widely accepted by numerous organisations that adherence to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in the presentation of financial statements has steadily increased and introduced their compatibility worldwide. This paper presents a study of the adoption of IFRS in South Eastern Europe by examining the case of Greece. It outlines the underlying factors and constraints affecting the compliance of firms with IFRS and most importantly highlights some key differences between IFRS and the Greek accounting system, which have had a major impact on the conversion to IFRS. Furthermore, it deals with specific issues related to local accounting practices and IFRS, the issue of enforcing compliance with IFRS and how this relates to current accounting and audit services.

Keywords: IFRS; international financial reporting standards; IAS; international accounting standards; accounting; auditing; south-eastern Europe; Greece; financial services.

DOI: 10.1504/IJFSM.2007.011671

International Journal of Financial Services Management, 2007 Vol.2 No.1/2, pp.50 - 63

Published online: 14 Dec 2006 *

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