Issues and challenges in IFRS adoption: Perceptions of the Professional Accountants in Sri Lanka

Abstract

This study mainly focused on identifying the IFRS adoption issues and challenges in the perception of Sri Lankan professional accountants. Professional Accountants face many obstacles when adopting the IFRS and identifying those issues and challenges and finding significant factors for them is mainly focused on his study. This study directly identifies what are the issues and challenges faced by Sri Lankan Professional Accountants and how the Accountants’ perception of issues and challenges are varied with the geometric characteristics. The quantitative research approach was used in the study and the questionnaire survey method was used to collect data from the Professional Accountants. The study used the convenience sampling technique to identify the sample for the study while ensuring representativeness. The sample size was 200 accountants. The Likert scale questionnaire was based on the literature and expert opinion on Sri Lankan IFRS adoption issues and challenges. To identify the major issues & challenges faced when adopting the IFRSs in the perceptions of professional accountants and identify the difference in perceptions on IFRS adoption issues and challenges of Accountants based on demographic characteristics Descriptive statistics and independent t – tests have been used. The study's findings particularly demonstrated that the accountants recognized every problem except one as having an impact on their work. A number of demographic factors were also examined, including gender, experience level, highest academic degree earned, professional certifications, and the sector. The study addresses the research gap in understanding the problems with IFRS adoption in Sri Lanka while offering useful insights for policymakers.