Accounting standards for small and medium-sied entities

By approving Regulation 1606/2002, the European Commis- sion entrusts the local European Union regulators with the difficult decision as to whether making the International Ac - counting Standards (IAS/IFRS) extensive for their Small and Medium-sized Entities or not. International Financial Repor- ting Standard for Small and Medium-sied Entities (hereinaf- ter IFRS for SMEs) was published in 2009, and the European Commission had also decided to seek the opinion of EU stake- holders on this Standard. We understand that the European ac- counting regulators' position should be based on the analysis of the extent to which current domestic standards allow useful financial information to be provided by and to these companies. Therefore, this paper presents empirical evidence regarding Spanish SMEs' characteristics, timely facing the harmonia- tion process, in order to determine if the information provided according to the national standards accomplishes the required usefulness. Its purpose is to share facts and data about this kind of still underestimated companies, though of great economic and social significance in Spain and in Europe in general.