How IFRS will impact financial statements

A good article in Livemint about how the switch over to IFRS will impact Indian firms.

IFRS is going to have significant impact on the financial statements of Indian companies following Indian GAAP standards.

IFRS mandates different accounting norms compared to Indian GAAP for recognizing Business combinations, Special Purpose Verhicles, FCCBs, ESOPs and Derivatives. Most of them will have P&L charge that is not currently required by Indian GAAP standards. This will result in lower profits for most listed entities.

However there is no material impact on the companies with the new accounting standards and so it is expected to have limited impact on the stock prices.