How many international accounting standards are there?

Typically, every country can have their own set of accounting standards used for private enterprises. However, the three major accounting standards recognized globally are US GAAP, Canadian GAAP (although Canada is switching to IFRS effective January 1st, 2011), and IFRS (which is used by most countries in the world now, excluding USA, which uses US GAAP).

*GAAP = Generally Accepted Accounting Principles

**IFRS = International Financial Reporting Standards