Good Governance in the Public Sector, issued as a Consultation Draft by IFAC and the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA), looks to establish a relevant benchmark at both the government and individual public sector entity levels. The Consultation Draft is designed as a reference document for those who develop and set national governance codes for the public sector when updating and reviewing their own codes. Where codes and guidance do not exist, the framework provides a shared understanding of what constitutes good governance in the public sector as well as a powerful stimulus for positive action.
Public sector representatives and other public sector stakeholders are especially encouraged to respond to the proposed framework to help improve its applicability to public sector entities at all levels internationally. The deadline for comments is Monday, September 16, 2013.
To further support the accountancy profession’s facilitation of sustainable organizations, financial markets, and economies, IFAC has released the International Good Practice Guidance, Project and Investment Appraisal for Sustainable Value Creation. The guidance helps professional accountants provide greater rigor in their appraisal and decision processes by serving as a benchmark against which to assess an organization’s current practice.
Accountants in business play a crucial role in helping organizations ensure a systematic and analytical approach to project and investment appraisal. In practice, fundamental principles of corporate finance are often breached, leading to the destruction of value for shareholders and other stakeholders. Far too frequently, decisions ignore the costs and benefits associated with wider external impacts—social (e.g., labor practices in the supply chain), economic (e.g., in communities), and environmental (e.g., pollution). By introducing greater rigor, organizations can assess all important aspects of a project or investment.
Project and Investment Appraisal for Sustainable Value Creation, and its accompanying executive summary, are available for local customization and/or translation. If your organization is interested, please visit IFAC’s Translations and Permissions page for the permission request form. Additionally, if your organization is interested in publishing an IFAC-authored article on the guidance and its implementation, please contact Stathis Gould (stathisgould@ifac.org).
IFAC has published an executive summary of the International Good Practice Guidance, Principles for Business Reporting Processes, which summarizes the key issues professional accountants in business need to address when implementing effective reporting processes in their organizations. The guidance was written for all organizations, regardless of their size, structure, or private/ public status, to address the need for effective reporting processes to produce high-quality reports.
The executive summary is available for local customization and/or translation. If your organization is interested, please visit the Translations and Permissions page for the permission request form.
The International Integrated Reporting Committee (IIRC) received 359 submissions in response to its Consultation Draft of the International Integrated Reporting Framework. The IIRC reports that the submissions were from every region of the world , as well as a wide variety of sectors, including report preparers, investors, analysts, assurance providers, non-governmental organizations, consultants, and regulators. All submissions are available on the IIRC website, as is the IFAC comment letter on the Consultation draft.
The Association of Corporate Treasurers (ACT) is hosting a free webinar, Reporting of Derivatives Trades: Are You Up to Speed?, on September 12, 2013, at 12:30 PM GMT. The webinar will help prepare participants for the upcoming changes to the European Markets Infrastructure Regulation, which will require all European companies to report derivatives trades to a recognized trade repository. Register online to participate; email events@treasurers.org with questions. When registering, please state that you heard about the webinar from IFAC.