In
the last 15 years, Russia
has been transformed from a rigid centralized economy into an emerging market
economy. Of course, the transition has been and continues to be painful.
Practically all spheres were affected – the economy, politics, culture, the social
sphere, education, the army, and so on. Accounting is not an exception. It is
directly connected to the transformation taking place in the realms of finance,
taxation and entrepreneurship.
The
direction of the change in accounting and the transformation of accounting
rules toward the adoption and implementation of International Financial
Reporting Standards (IFRS) were set by legislation. The process was started
with the passage of the “Program for the Reformation of Accounting in
accordance with International Accounting Standards,” approved by the government
in 1998.
In
this paper the current stage of the reform process, how far Russian regulations
have moved the country’s accounting system toward to path to IFRS, how the new
regulations are implemented in practice, why practices are evolving in the
present direction, which portions of the reform still need to be implemented,
which problems exist now and which problems might emerge in the future are
examined.
