International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) might be delayed by the Obama administration and by the economic downturn. The SEC has extended the public comment period for the IFRS proposal to April 20, 2009 from its original February 19th deadline. Under the SEC's proposed timeline, all publicly traded companies would be required to use IFRS within five years. Some large companies would be required to use it by 2014 and smaller companies in 2016.

The SEC received two hundred and thirty nine comments on the proposal. The majority of the comments asked for a delay in the implementation due to the cost and effort that that the changes would require. Jamie S. Miller, Controller for General Electric, was supportive of IFRS but asked for more of a modular approach and a phased-in approach to implementing the complex regulation.

"Given the size and complexity of US GAAP and the highly developed regulatory mechanisms in place for U.S. issuers, this approach would be far more complex, disruptive and expensive than under otherwise comparable circumstances in Europe. We therefore encourage the SEC to take the time necessary to comprehensively analyze the potential impact of this approach and consider alternative methods of moving to IFRS that may work better in the US."

Bob Laux Senior Director of Financial Accounting and Reporting at Microsoft, wrote, "Microsoft believes it would be extremely difficult to meet the 2014 implementation date as outlined in the proposed Roadmap."

With all of the turmoil in the economic systems worldwide, it would be an appropriate time to slow down the implementation of IFRS.

John Laub is the President of the CEO-CFO Group.

1. "CFOs on IFRS: Forget About It. CFOs Urge the SEC to Drop a Proposal Mandating U.S. Companies to Use the International Accounting Rules." Sarah Johnson and Marie Leone - CFO.com. April 17, 2009.

2. "Roadmap for the Potential Use of Financial Statements Prepared in Accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards by U.S. Issuers." Release No. 33-8982; File No. s7-27-08. SEC.com Comments: Apr. 21, 2009 Jamie S. Miller, Vice President and Controller, General Electric Company. Comments: Apr. 20, 2009 Bob Laux, Senior Director, Financial Accounting and Reporting, Microsoft.