The “successful” convergence IFRS-US GAAP after the adoption of IAS 1 revised: comparative evidence on the performance reporting choices from Europe and the USA

The objectives of the research are: 1)to investigate the reporting choices for the Comprehensive Income of 60 listed companies from Europe and the USA, through the analysis of data collected from the 2008, 2009 and 2012 consolidated financial statements; 2)to verify the impact of the requirements issued by the IAS 1 revised in improving performance disclosure. Our empirical research definitely belongs to the descriptive surveys, despite using some statistical methods, such as Cramer’s V index, R square and the point-biserial correlation coefficient, in order to test the correlation between the choice of the Income Statement format and the size of companies, the sign of Other Comprehensive Income, the leverage and the status of a US listing. Then we also evaluated the impact of the Comprehensive Income on the measure of financial performance by calculating the ROE. Results obtained underline that the format of the Income Statement and the “location” of the Comprehensive Income can be interpreted both as factors which can influence the choices of investors and as an instrument available to managers in order to alter the communication of the firm’s performance. The change in presentation options made by ASU 2011-05 is a relatively small step toward convergence because differences remain in how comprehensive income is calculated and reported under the two sets of standards. The real problem remains the continuing lack for a conceptual framework for the Comprehensive Income.