Business combinations: a comparison between IFRS 3 and ASC 805

This work aims to analyze the accounting and reporting protocols for company business combinations within the frameworks of the dominant accounting standards: IFRS and US GAAP. The analysis has revealed that, despite a substantial convergence of these standards, several distinct discrepancies continue to exist, in terms of definition of control, assets and liabilities arising from contingencies, business definition, non-controlling interests, etc. This can bring to different accounting outcomes in relation to the used standard. Given the increasing frequency of cross-border business combinations, it is critical to minimize these differences. This work wants to be a useful instrument for practitioners and academics to identify the differences that can arise in a business combination accounting according to the two different standards.