IFAC SMP Committee Response to IAASB’s Discussion Paper, Supporting Credibility & Trust in Emerging Forms of External Reporting

The IFAC SMP Committee agrees that emerging forms of external reporting (EER) are still evolving and supports the initiative to better understand the developments and challenges being encountered. At this stage, it does not believe there is a need for the IAASB’s international standards to cover a broader range of engagements than what are currently addressed.

It also agrees that it is too early to develop a subject-matter specific assurance engagement standard on EER. However, there could be additional guidance developed for the use of existing standards on EER engagements.

The SMP Committee would also support greater promotion of the scope, benefits, and limitations of the IAASB international Standards other than ISAs, and monitoring of their adoption and use. In general, it strongly encourages the IAASB to be cognizant of the potential impact on any future developments on SMEs and to ensure its proposals are proportional.