A Comparative Study of Balance Sheets Prepared under Indian GAAP and IFRS with Special Reference to Select IT Companies

The wave of globalization has brought drastic changes in the business environment across the world. Emerging entities are not only operating in cross-borders, they are also sourcing funds globally. Need of the hour is a widely accepted, high quality financial reporting to enhance transparency and comparability of financial reports which enable users to take appropriate decisions. Effects are being made by the regulators, accounting professionals, associations and researchers for harmonising financial reporting. A remarkable achievement is being made by International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), which operates under the purview of the IFRS Foundation in this context by developing International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Basically, IFRS adoption is viewed as a commitment for better disclosure, which may have various impacts on financial reporting; the present study is an attempt to compare the balance sheets prepared under the Indian GAAP and IFRS of select IT companies The specific objective of this study is to find the quantitative differences between the Balance Sheet items (viz. total assets, total liabilities and total equity) prepared under Indian GAAP and IFRS. Gray's Comparability Index (GCI) is applied to compare the key items of balance sheets prepared under Indian GAAP and IFRS. Findings of the study reveal that there are quantitative differences in the Balance sheet items of Infosys Limited and Wipro Limited prepared under Indian GAAP and IFRS.