It may be the home of the world’s largest capital markets, but the US needs more time to make sense of IFRS, its leading accounting figures have warned.

Bob Herz, the head of the US Financial Accounting Services Board, has suggested that the Securities and Exchange Commission should back off from the standard-setters’ convergence plan.

Appearing before a US senate hearing, Herz conceded that pressure to complete the convergence project has increased, but warned that rushing convergence could compromise its aim.

In a bid to push things along, the SEC put out a proposal, discussing the possibility of allowing foreign companies listed in the US to file their accounts using IFRS. The watchdog has also proposed giving US companies the option of choosing US GAAP or IFRS.

But this could result in a dual accounting system, which could hinder the ultimate goal of convergence. Others have also raised concerns about moving too quickly.

Lynn Turner, a former SEC chief accountant, said US investors’ ‘ability to analyse the financial statements of companies preparing IFRS in a meaningful fashion will be limited’.

Former IASC secretary-general David Cairns also warned that US accounting professors ‘are generally not teaching IFRS’.

‘It [the US] should set itself a deadline of using IFRS as we did in Europe and get everyone to change: companies auditors and teachers,’ said Cairns.

The IASB and FASB are under increasing pressure from multinationals to forge ahead with convergence as quickly as possible, but opposition to moving too fast seems to be building with equal fervour.