US companies will face many challenges in the run-up to IFRS adoption. But they can learn lessons from European experience, says James Wong.

The proposed roadmap for adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) by US-listed companies, announced by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in August, is an exciting development. If all goes to plan, mandatory adoption of IFRS in the US could begin in 2014, with some companies potentially allowed to use it a few years earlier.