Abstract
In the past few decades, there has been a global trend of international harmonization of accounting standards. The intended goal is to remove the barriers that hinder investors when comparing the accounting information of companies from different nations, while simultaneously reducing the transaction costs for firms. However, research has shown that countries adopt IFRS unequally, ranging from resistance, partial adoption to full adoption. If the IFRS are not adopted to the same extent around the world, the central purpose of international standards can be compromised. This chapter aims to explain some key terms essential in understanding current development in international accounting and lay out the development and progress of IFRS diffusion.