This session provides a 360-degree view of key differences between U.S. GAAP and IFRS reporting. Compare these 2 sets of reporting standards’ general principles, including the most significant, IFRS 1, which requires that organizations keep two comparative years of historical data according to both U.S. GAAP and IFRS before the actual IFRS compliance deadline. Understand what degree of choice and flexibility each standard offers. Examine the significant implications that will affect your balance sheets, statements of income, statements of cash flow, and other accounting reports. Gain insight into how IFRS differs from U.S. GAAP in its requirements for revenue recognition, expense recognition, financial liabilities and equity, consolidations, and more.

Understand the solutions that SAP provides to ease your organization’s conversion to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Discover the importance that people, processes, and technology play in a successful transition. Determine how SAP solutions such as the new SAP General Ledger as well as complementary SAP BusinessObjects enterprise performance management solutions such as SAP BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidation could be leveraged to ease the IFRS transition process. Find out which SAP ERP Financials functionality best supports IFRS compliance for your company. Leave this session armed with the knowledge and action plan to bring your SAP systems and reporting strategy into compliance with IFRS.

Find out how, even at the most fundamental level, IFRS changes the nature and potentially the content of your financial statements. Step through the first phase of an IFRS transition methodology, which includes a model you can use to evaluate 22 critical components of financial statements, such as revenue recognition, impairment, fixed assets, and pensions. Obtain proven advice, backed by over 1,000 initial IFRS assessments, on how to take critical steps to properly modify your financial statements, including how to prepare an opening IFRS balance sheet. Get detailed advice on how, your organization may need to rethink certain business operations, strategies, and agreements.

Transitioning to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) is a large undertaking, and with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC's) adoption timeline in flux, there is some confusion over when to begin the conversion process. Learn exactly what compliance with the International Accounting Standards Board’s Regulation 2002/3626 entails. Get the latest updates to the proposed SEC deadline for compliance (HINT: It’s not a matter of if compliance will be required, it’s just a matter of when). Find out which preparation steps must be started immediately to ensure your organization will be ready for 2 years of required parallel U.S. GAAP and IFRS reporting prior to the actual conversion deadline. Understand the amount of effort and time required for an IFRS project.

Whether your organization is ready to start, in the process of planning, or just beginning to evaluate an IFRS project, this session offers invaluable advice to get off on the right foot. Drill down into the necessary preparation and assessment activities like scoping your project, estimating the costs and resources required, and assigning the roles, responsibilities, and tasks of the project team. Find out when and how audits should be conducted both during and after the project. Prioritize where changes need to be made to your SAP system configuration in order to support new IFRS data requirements. Take home change management strategies that will enable your organization to roll out new processes and train managers, functional analysts, users, and the technical teams that support them. Walk away from this session with a sample IFRS implementation roadmap.

Take a firsthand look at how the new SAP General Ledger is able to support IFRS compliance through parallel accounting. Step through examples of how this allows you to report according to U.S. GAAP as well as IFRS requirements — which is required for 2 years prior to a full IFRS conversion. Learn how to use leading and non-leading ledgers to facilitate reporting out of multiple ledgers. Understand how data structures in the new G/L have been updated to simplify data management by including new data sources for the collection of SAP ERP data within SAP NetWeaver BW. Learn which reports and reporting capabilities are introduced for segment reporting with the latest SAP enhancement package. Determine if, when, and how to take advantage of tools and SAP General Ledger migration services to help you smoothly migrate to the new G/L.

Learn how IFRS compliance will affect your technical SAP infrastructure at the application level. Assess the impact on your SAP infrastructure if you have already implemented SAP solutions, have projects underway, or have partially completed your rollout. Understand the major implications on your management reporting systems and dashboards. Finally, learn what technology steps you can take today to prepare yourself for IFRS, like how to identify and document all internal and external data sources that must be updated and how to distinguish where there is missing data due to differences in accounting treatment. Take home undocumented best practices and lessons learned from successful implementations to support IFRS.

This session introduces you to the starter kit for IFRS that is now available for SAP Business Objects Financial Consolidation and SAP BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidation. The starter kit for IFRS provides automated yet flexible prepackaged content, as well as support for best practices to help you deploy this solution. Receive expert advice to assess your organization’s readiness to adopt such a solution. Get detailed instruction on the dynamic configuration steps required to properly implement the starter kit and adapt it to your company’s specific requirements. Drill down into the configuration features, such as input documents, rules, control reports, and financial statements, and learn how to leverage them to validate your consolidation processes and reports. Come away with tips to identify and avoid costly solution management and development challenges.

The eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) specification has become the new global standard for exchanging financial and business information. With the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) joining European banking regulators, UK tax authorities, and others in mandating its use, implementing an XBRL reporting solution is no longer an option — it’s a requirement. Get a clear understanding of XBRL — a license-free language that allows companies to more easily file, access, compare, and communicate financial information — and how it impacts your IFRS strategy. Understand how SAP BusinessObjects XBRL Publishing works together with SAP financial consolidation and reporting applications to make XBRL report submissions quicker and easier. Walk through a 5-step process for preparing an SEC filing.

Watch this candid, moderated discussion on IFRS with a panel of accounting experts from PricewaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte, SAP BusinessObjects, and an independent expert who will share both their planning strategies and lessons learned from a multitude of successful IFRS conversion projects. Find out how leading organizations are working with their management, internal audit, and external audit teams to put effective practices and processes into place, ensuring they maintain both financial integrity and transparency. Learn how to address not only the accounting challenges but those that surround your IT systems, your processes, and your people. Get answers to your most complex questions and leave with knowledge and insights to put an IFRS conversion plan in place.