Spanish economist-accountants’ perceptions of changes in regulation due to IFRS adoption

Abstract

The adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in Spain by companies that are not included in the mandatory scope of the European Union regulations has led to the reform of accounting standards. We ascertain the opinions of Spanish economist-accountants following this change, analyzing the time effect and the level to which they understand the new requirements. We study the results of four successive surveys to analyze how the reform of the regulation is applied in practice. We conclude that the complexity economist-accountants encounter when facing regulatory changes varies significantly over time, as does their initial understanding of it. Economist-accountants’ perceptions change during the analyzed period and with the different changes in the regulation. They prefer the reform and adaptation of the Spanish legal system to IFRS to the direct application of IFRS in Spain. The main contribution of this paper is to highlight that regulators must consider the practical point of view and recognize that practitioners need extensive training and education to implement the new standards. In addition, a long-term perspective is required. For countries with similar characteristics, the results can provide a useful example of coping with changes in accounting regulation.