Accounting Regulatory Bodies Paper IntroductionThe success of a company depends to a large extent on its financial accounting. In accounting, there are numerous regulatory bodies that govern the accounting world. These companies are extremely important to a company because they set the standards in terms of a company's language and decision-making process. These regulatory bodies can be structured as agencies, associations, commissions and councils. Without companies like the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB), the Internal Accounting Standards Board (IASB), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and others regulatory bodies, an the company could not make well-informed decisions. In this article the author will examine only four of them. Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) The first of the organizations responsible for assisting and supervising companies is the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC). “The mission of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is to protect investors, maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and facilitate capital formation” (SEC 2008, ¶ 1). It is basically the SEC's job to interpret laws passed by congress and assist companies in implementing those laws. As Congress makes changes to the laws, it is this company's job to also make all businesses aware of these changes and help them make a smooth transition to using the newly changed law. The Financial Accounting Standards Boards (FASB) The second organization was designed by the SEC in 1973. The FASB was designed with the purpose of creating accounting and financial reporting standards for the public. “The mission of the FASB is to establish and improve accounting and financial reporting standards for the guidance and education of the public, including issuers, auditors, and users of financial information” (FASB n.d. ¶ 3). The FASB is designed much like the FASB in which they must protect the public from the company's fraud and misleading information. Internal Accounting Standards Board (IASB) The third organization that helps regulate accounting standards is the IASB. “Our mission is to develop, in the public interest, a single set of high-quality, understandable, international accounting standards (IFRS) for general purpose financial statements” (IASB 2008,¶ 1). The IASB is made up of a board made up of nine different countries with the sole purpose of expanding accounting standards. Their main hope and goal is that one day there will be only one set of accounting standards to be used throughout the world.