IFAC and the World Bank Centre for Financial Reporting Reform hosted a joint Regional Small- and Medium-sized Practices (SMP) Forum for Europe and Central Asia on May 31 in Vienna, Austria.
The Forum provided the opportunity to discuss addressing the challenges and opportunities SMPs and medium-sized entities (SMEs) face. More than 20 representatives from regional and national professional accountancy organizations (PAOs) in Central Asia and Southeast and Eastern Europe attended, as well as practitioners, SMPs, and other stakeholders.
International and regional subject-matter experts shared important insights on professional ethics, efficiently implementing international standards, and practice management, among other topics.
Speakers and moderators included:
- Rachel Grimes, IFAC President
- Edward Olowo-Okere, Director, Governance, The World Bank
- Gunter Schall, Head of Private Sector & Development, Austrian Development Agency
- Monica Foerster, Chair, IFAC SMP Committee
- Mats Olsson, Deputy Chair, IFAC SMP Committee
- Hilde Blomme, Deputy Chief Executive, Accountancy Europe
- Carl Peterson, Vice President, Small Firm Interests – Public Accounting, Association of International Certified Professional Accountants
- John Hodge, Senior Financial Management Specialist, CFRR, The World Bank
- Ken Siong, Technical Director, International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants
- Paul Thompson, Director, European Federation of Accountants and Auditors for SMEs
- Ardiana Bunjaku, Executive Director, Society of Certified Accountants and Auditors of Kosovo
- Robyn Erskine, Member, IFAC SMP Committee
- Kalina Sukarova, Senior Financial Management Specialist, CFRR, The World Bank
- Beverley Bahlmann, Deputy Director, International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board
- Dawn McGeachy, Member, IFAC SMP Committee
- Hysen Cela, President, Institute of Authorized Chartered Auditors of Albania
- Manoj Fadnis, Member, IFAC SMP Committee
- Bonnie Ann Sirois, Senior Financial Management Specialist, CFRR, The World Bank
- Aliaksey Yeudachimovich, Belarus Association of Auditors
- George Williw, Member, IFAC SMP Committee
- Antoni Gomez, Member, IFAC SMP Committee
- Wassim Khrouf, Member, IFAC SMP Committee
- Alfred Borgonovo, Senior Financial Management Specialist, CFRR, The World Bank
The Forum agenda is available online; presentations are available below.