The UK accounting standards have remained static for several years as the UK Accounting Standards Board awaited the conclusion of the International Accounting Standards Board project on producing an international standard for non-publicly accountable entities. In July 2009, the IASB issued its International Financial Reporting Standard for Small and Medium-sized Entities (IFRS for SMEs), and the ASB sought comments from UK and Irish constituents on ways to incorporate this standard into the future framework of UK GAAP. The ASB issued two extensive exposure drafts (FREDs) in October 2010 to assist in formulating its response to the ASB consultations. The survey conducted by ACCA among its members in January and March 2011 revealed that listed companies use IFRS as the basis of their consolidated accounts, while all other companies are allowed to use IFRS but few have chosen to do so. These companies use UK accounting standards, which were developed largely before the introduction of IFRS.
