International Accounting Standards. The Baltimore Business Journal describes how playing by the same rules in accounting is important because most big companies operate globally as exemplified by the fact that in the U.S., internationally based companies may use U.S. GAAP, their home country's GAAP or international GAAP.

...a new set of accounting standards being crafted by U.S. and international standards boards would force companies throughout the world to follow the same set of rules when it comes to reporting a company's financials.

The proposed set of standards are expected to land on the desks of accountants and businesses by 2005. They'll address a wide range of accounting issues, such as how stock options are reported. At least 91 countries have committed to adopting the new set of standards.

The new set of principles has been proposed by the Financial Accounting Standards Board, the Norwalk, Conn.-based organization launched in 1973 for establishing standards of financial accounting and reporting that businesses could follow, and the International Accounting Standards Board, the London-based organization that was launched in 2001 to create a set of global accounting guidelines.