1. IFAC Board Agrees to Further Support
Developing Nations, SMPs and Professional
Accountants in Business
At
its meeting in Cape Town, South Africa on March
17-18, the IFAC Board agreed to enhance its
activities for developing nations and small and
medium accounting practices (SMPs) and
enterprises, took actions to strengthen its
international standard-setting processes, and
reconfirmed its focus on supporting professional
accountants in business in meeting their corporate
governance responsibilities. It also had the
opportunity to hear South African Finance Minister
Trevor Manuel and NEPAD (New Partnership for
Africa's Development) Chairman Reuel Khoza discuss
economic development needs of African countries
and how IFAC can help to meet those needs. More
details on the Board's deliberations can be found
in the Meeting Highlights on IFAC's
website.
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2. Public Interest Oversight Board
Formed
The
Public Interest Oversight Board
(PIOB) is a new international oversight body
established as part of the IFAC Proposals for Reform,
developed to increase confidence in the work of
professional accountants. The PIOB held its
inaugural meeting in Paris on March 1. Chaired by
Stavros Thomadakis, Professor of Finance at the
University of Athens and former Chairman of the
Hellenic Capital Market Commission, it will
oversee the International Auditing and Assurance
Standards Board, the Education and Ethics
Committees and the IFAC Member Body Compliance
Program. Members of the PIOB were appointed by the
regulatory community and international
institutions.
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3. IFAC Continues to Strengthen
Standard-Setting Processes
In
the area of standard setting, each of IFAC's
standard-setting groups - the International
Auditing and Assurance Standards Board, the Ethics
Committee, Education Committee and International
Public Sector Accounting Standards Board - has
continued to enhance the transparency of their
standard-setting processes and has provided for
more public input into those processes. Many of
these initiatives were implemented as part of
IFAC's Proposals for Reform, supported by
international regulators and unanimously approved
by the IFAC Council in November 2003. A recent Update on the Proposals for
Reform provides details on these initiatives.
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4. IFAC Posts Results of First
Compliance Questionnaire
To
date, more than 140 of IFAC's 163 member bodies
have responded to the first Member Body Compliance
Questionnaire, Assessment of the
Regulatory and Standard-Setting
Framework. Approximately 35 of these
responses have been posted on the IFAC website,
and the remainder will be posted in the coming
months after review by the IFAC Compliance team.
The results provide meaningful insight into the
roles and responsibilities of national regulators
and professional bodies as well as the mechanisms
in place to ensure quality performance by the
profession.
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5. IAASB Exposes Four Proposed
Standards
In
March, the International Auditing and Assurance
Standards Board (IAASB) released for public
comment four proposed standards designed to
enhance the quality of group financial statement
audits, independent auditors' reports, and
communications between auditors and those charged
with governance:
- Proposed
International Standard on Auditing (ISA) 600
(Revised), The Audit of Group
Financial Statements;
- Proposed
ISA 260 (Revised), The Auditor's
Communication with Those Charged with
Governance; and
- Proposed
ISA 705, Modifications to the
Opinion in the Independent Auditor's
Report and proposed ISA 706, Emphasis of Matter
Paragraphs and Other Matters Paragraphs in the
Independent Auditor's Report (derived
from ISA 701, Modifications to the
Independent Auditor's Report).
Comments
on the exposure drafts, which can be downloaded
from IFAC's website at http://www.ifac.org/EDs, should
be submitted by July 31, 2005.
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6. IPSASB Releases Exposure Draft and
Issues Research Report
In
February, the International Public Sector
Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB) exposed a
proposed cash-basis accounting International
Public Sector Accounting Standard (IPSAS) designed
to enhance the transparency and relevance of
disclosures about the receipt and use of external
financial assistance by governments and other
public sector entities. Entitled Financial Reporting
Under the Cash Basis of Accounting - Disclosure
Requirements for Recipients of External
Assistance, the proposed IPSAS will
benefit preparers of financial statements by
reducing compliance costs and will benefit users
by enabling them to better assess the impact of
development aid or other external assistance on
reporting entities. The exposure draft can be downloaded
from IFAC's website. Comments are requested by
June 15, 2005.
The
IPSASB also recently released a research report,
International Public
Sector Accounting Standards (IPSASs) and
Statistical Bases of Financial Reporting: An
Analysis of Differences and Recommendations for
Convergence, which aims to reduce
confusion for users of public sector financial
reporting caused by the differences between
accounting and statistical models of financial
reporting. The report can be downloaded at no
charge from IFAC's online bookstore.
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7. IFAC Releases 2005 Handbooks of
IAASB, Ethics and IPSASB
Pronouncements
The
2005 edition of IFAC's Handbook of
International Auditing, Assurance, and Ethics
Pronouncements is now available for
order in print or a fully searchable electronic
eComPress version. It includes all International
Standards on Auditing issued by the IAASB as of
December 31, 2004, as well as IFAC's Code of Ethics for
Professional Accountants.
The
2005 Handbook of International
Public Sector Accounting
Pronouncements includes two new
standards - Cash Basis IPSAS, Financial Reporting
under the Cash Basis of Accounting, and
IPSAS 21, Impairment of
Non-Cash-Generating Assets – and also
the IFAC Code
of Ethics for Professional Accountants.
It is available in print and in an electronic
format.
Both
handbooks can be ordered online from IFAC's
bookstore: http://www.ifac.org/Store or
downloaded in a free PDF format.
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8. Developing Nations and SMP
Conference Papers Now
Available
Speakers
from around the world addressed more than 125
participants at the first IFAC Consultative
Conference for Small and Medium Practices (SMPs),
Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and Developing
Nations in March. Speakers focused on topics such
as standard setting, the challenges of
globalization and regulation, and IFAC priorities
for developing nations, SMPs and SMEs. Papers from the conference may
be downloaded from the IFAC
website.
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9. SMP Permanent Task Force Receives
Support for New Initiatives
At
the March SMP/SME and Developing Nations
Consultative Conference in Prague, IFAC's SMP
Permanent Task Force received support for
increased SMP representation on all IFAC boards,
committees and task forces, including IAASB
project task forces. The SMP Permanent Task Force
was encouraged to continue to provide input to
IAASB standard setting and project priorities so
that issues relevant to SMPs and SMEs are
considered.
The
task force also received support for its
initiatives to develop an online information
resource, accessible through the IFAC website,
featuring materials for SMPs and SMEs on:
- Accounting,
audit and assurance
- Business
advisory services
- Information
technology
- Practice
management
- Taxation
The
task force encourages those interested in
providing documents and links with an SMP/SME
focus to contact Paul Thompson, Technical Manager,
at paulthompson@ifac.org.
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10. IFAC Seeks Nominations for Public
Members to IAASB and IPSASB
IFAC
is requesting nominations for public members to
the International Auditing and Assurance Standards
Board (IAASB) and the International Public Sector
Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB). In addition
to IFAC member bodies and members of the Forum of
Firms, organizations and members of the general
public may submit nominations for public members
to the IAASB by April 15, 2005 and for public
members to the IPSASB by May 31, 2005. For
information about the nominations process,
including the Candidate Information Form, please
visit the Nominating Committee page on the
IFAC website.
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11. Mark Your Calendar for the 2006
World Congress of
Accountants
The
17th World Congress of Accountants will be held on
November 13-17, 2006 in Istanbul, Turkey. Workshop
and plenary sessions will be organized around the
theme "Generating Economic Growth and Stability
Worldwide." Session topics will include:
generating economic growth and stability through
the accounting profession in the developing
nations, capital markets stability worldwide and
the accounting profession, and the role of
professional accountants in business in
contributing to value creation worldwide.
Individuals who register by September 28, 2006
will be eligible for a discounted registration fee
of US$800 for delegates and US$400 for
accompanying guests. For more information, go to
http://www.wcoa2006istanbul.org.tr.
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