A single set of standards and the multiplicity of interpretations - EGOS

2005 and between 2007 and 2010, and during that time the standards were translated by a
translator and reviewed by a group of accounting experts (Translations Review Committee, RC)
for each language. Thus the key people in the IASB translation process for each language are the
translator, the coordinator and the RC. When the standards are translated in EU, the key person is
the translator working for DGT or some other translator to whom EU has outsourced the
translation.
As the research addresses abstract linguistic and social phenomena from an interpretative
approach, appropriate data collection methods would be a survey questionnaire, interviews or
examining available data that has been gathered for other purposes. Because the research field is
largely unexplored, key informant interviews were conducted in order to let those involved with
the translation to tell their perceptions on and experiences from translation. As compared to a
survey questionnaire, I was able to pose follow-up questions when conducting the interviews.
Moreover, a wealth of archival data had been compiled during a decade of translation activities
and the researcher decided to use them as research data, because the detailed notes give concrete
examples on difficulties of translations and divergence of opinions amongst the RC members.
The data of this study concerns mainly the Finnish translation of IFRS.
The problems in translation of IFRS are illustrated by theorizing the empirical data from the
viewpoint of translation studies and terminology. The method of analysis is explorative,
comparative and interpretative. The paper draws upon methods from terminology (as a field of
applied linguistics) for analyzing the accounting and non-accounting concepts referring to
abstract object. The paper aims to emphasize the difficulties of translation that are specific to
translating financial accounting texts.
At the moment, I have interviewed eleven persons: The interviewees are two translators who
have translated IFRS into an EU language in co-operation with the respective translations review
committee (RC) and eight RC members and one IFRS expert who is not a RC member. One of
the interviewed translators is an accounting professional (translator A) who also possesses
academic education in translation studies whereas the other translator (translator B) works in
European Commission’s translation service DGT and does not have background in accounting.
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