IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards)
A globally adopted set of accounting standards developed by the IASB, used in over 140 countries outside the United States.
What is IFRS?
International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) are a set of accounting rules developed and maintained by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), used by publicly listed companies in over 140 countries including the European Union, UK, Canada, and Australia. IFRS is the international counterpart to US GAAP and aims to make financial statements comparable across borders. Key differences from GAAP include IFRS's principles-based approach (versus GAAP's more rules-based approach), different inventory accounting (LIFO is prohibited under IFRS), and more flexibility in asset revaluation. US public companies are still required to use GAAP, though the SEC has allowed foreign private issuers to file using IFRS without reconciliation to GAAP since 2007.
Example
When a European investor analyzes both Volkswagen (IFRS) and General Motors (US GAAP), they must understand that the two sets of financial statements follow different rules — for example, VW can revalue its property assets upward under IFRS, while GM cannot under GAAP.
Source: Investopedia — IFRS