The International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA) today released the Report, Elevating Ethics and Independence Standards for a Complex World, summarizing the Board’s accomplishments for 2020 and 2021.

“This Report includes my final message as IESBA Chairman and showcases the significant progress that the IESBA has made on behalf of the public interest during a time of great uncertainty,” said Dr. Stavros Thomadakis, former Chairman of the IESBA. “This includes the critical work that has been completed to strengthen the International Independence Standards, especially in relation to Non-Assurance Services, Fees, and the definition of a public interest entity; as well as timely and important milestones in projects related to Tax planning, Technology, and Independence in Group Audits. I am also proud of the extensive work that has been done jointly with certain National Standards Setters to highlight the applicability of the International Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants (including International Independence Standards) to the unique challenges posed by the COVID-19 Pandemic.”

The 2020-2021 Report provides an overview of the IESBA’s extensive stakeholder outreach efforts. It also provides information about the Board’s partnership with IFAC to promote awareness, adoption, and effective implementation of the Code.

“As evidenced by this report, the IESBA’s body of work during the years the world was engulfed in a global pandemic is as important as it is impressive,” said IESBA Chair Gabriela Figueiredo Dias. “The IESBA successfully pushed key strategic initiatives further – such as the work to strengthen the International Independence Standards – while skillfully pivoting to address the real-time issues affecting professional accountants brought on by innovations in technology and the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The Report also provides an overview of the IESBA’s Consultative Advisory Group (CAG) and includes a message from the IESBA CAG Chairman, Mr. Gaylen Hansen.

Click here to learn more about IESBA.

About IESBA

The International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA) is an independent global standard-setting board. The IESBA’s mission is to serve the public interest by setting ethics standards, including auditor independence requirements, which seek to raise the bar for ethical conduct and practice for all professional accountants through a robust, globally operable International Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants (including International Independence Standards) (the Code).

As the global voice of the accountancy profession, IFAC has supported a global system for delivering consistent, comparable and assurable sustainability information. Such disclosure must become a core component of the corporate reporting ecosystem that helps stakeholders assess objectives and progress towards addressing the climate crisis and other important environmental, social, and governance matters. European Sustainability Reporting Standards can play an important part in aligning global and jurisdictional-specific goals.

IFAC supports the view that sustainability disclosure requirements should be developed to capture and measure what really matters and to facilitate adoption and implementation in an internationally compatible manner. Alignment between global and jurisdiction-specific requirements, to the extent possible, is key for companies who operate across national borders, who compete for capital globally, and who are working towards a more sustainable future.  

IFAC CEO Kevin Dancey said “Collectively, we have an historic opportunity to embrace equivalency and interoperability in sustainability initiatives around the world, to leverage the work of existing high-quality sustainability frameworks, and to avoid costly regulatory fragmentation and complexity. Toward this end, IFAC strongly supports the ISSB’s recently announced working group that will establish dialogue for enhanced compatibility between the ISSB’s recent exposure drafts and ongoing jurisdictional initiatives like that of the European Union.”

The European Commission’s ambitious Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive seeks to put sustainability-related reporting on the same footing as traditional financial reporting—addressing what sustainability information must be reported and requiring its assurance, among other important elements that can enhance corporate reporting.  We hope this important work ultimately contributes to—and amplifies the impact of—an emerging global sustainability disclosure system. 

Learn more about IFAC’s support for a global approach to sustainability-related disclosure on the IFAC website.

About IFAC
IFAC is the global organization for the accountancy profession dedicated to serving the public interest by strengthening the profession and contributing to the development of strong international economies. IFAC is comprised of 180 members and associates in 135 countries and jurisdictions, representing more than 3 million accountants in public practice, education, government service, industry, and commerce.

The International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA) invites stakeholders to its global webinar on its recently released pronouncement, Revisions to the Definitions of Listed Entity and Public Interest Entity in the Code.

• The webinar is scheduled for May 25, 10am EDT. Click here to register.

The one-hour live-streamed event will be presented by Mike Ashley, IESBA Public Interest Entity (PIE) Task Force Chair, and Andrew Mintzer, IESBA PIE Rollout Working Group Chair.

The revised provisions extend the scope of application of additional independence requirements for audits of financial statements of PIEs through enlarging the universe of entities that are PIEs. The revised provisions recognize the essential role relevant local bodies play in identifying the specific entities that should be scoped in as PIEs in their jurisdictions, encouraging them to properly refine the PIE categories in the expanded IESBA definition and adding any other PIE categories relevant to their environments. The revised provisions provide guidance to the local bodies in this regard. There is also a new transparency requirement for firms to publicly disclose the application of independence requirements for PIEs where they have done so.

The webinar will be held in English and available on YouTube.

For more on how the IESBA is strengthening international independence standards, visit www.ethicsboard.org/strengtheingIIS

Overview

Connecting financial and sustainability reports
This colloquium will focus on the approaches taken by the various global standard setters to link financial reports with “non-financial” / sustainability reports.

Intended Audience

This event is important for roles in every industry, including: 

Auditors following global standards will want to review new guidance released by the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants that broadens the definition of a public interest entity and complements other recently revised provisions to the International Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants.

Read the full article on the Compliance Week website (Compliance Week subscription requried).

IMA^® (Institute of Management Accountants), CalCPA (California Society of Certified Public Accountants), and IFAC (International Federation of Accountants) today released its “Diversifying Global Accounting Talent: Actionable Solutions for Progress” report. As a joint effort, the report assesses the deeply rooted issues inhibiting progress in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) within the accounting profession and offers actionable solutions to close the gap in DE&I.

The capstone in a series of regional DE&I research studies, the report exposes key factors contributing to the underrepresentation of diverse people in the profession, and particularly at leadership levels, in focus regions (Asia-Pacific, Europe and the Mediterranean, Middle East and North Africa, and North America – the U.S.). Three key catalysts for action toward DE&I progress are presented: the current state of DE&I in accountancy, the responsibility to protect the public interest, and demands for sustainable business information around DE&I.

“The voices of more than 8,000 study participants across the globe issued a call-to-action to the profession’s leaders: a call for recommended solutions and intentional, collective action to affect greater change,” said Jeff Thomson, CMA, CSCA, CAE, IMA president and CEO.

The report generated an inventory of more than 70 actionable DE&I practices, each mapped to relevant United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, and reflects input from dozens of leaders representing millions of accountants who can implement those practices. It offers recommended steps needed to remedy the lack of equity and inclusion as a path to improving diversity. While expanded efforts have energized DE&I, there is often a disconnect between perceived progress among leaders and progress truly felt and realized by the staff or profession at large.

“By collaborating through shared resources and efforts, leaders can learn from one another and yield long-lasting solutions,” said Denise LeDuc Froemming, CPA, CAE, president and CEO at CalCPA. “So, we are humbled and honored to be accompanied by more than 60 professional accountancy organizations who join us as DE&I advocates for progress and commit to collective action.”

The authors classified their actionable practices into two main categories: attract diverse talent and retain and promote the diverse talent. Leaders must welcome and value diverse employees to sustain the accounting workforce in the years to come.

Kevin Dancey, CEO at IFAC, said: “Professional accountants are bound by ethical commitments, which should extend into DE&I efforts. The solutions recommended in this report can and should be leveraged by professional accountants and leaders across the profession, to move our workplaces around the world toward a culture of belonging and fulfill our obligation to protect the public interest.”

View the full report here.

About IFAC
IFAC is the global organization for the accountancy profession dedicated to serving the public interest by strengthening the profession and contributing to the development of strong international economies. IFAC is comprised of 180 members and associates in 135 countries and jurisdictions, representing more than 3 million accountants in public practice, education, government service, industry, and commerce.

About IMA^® (Institute of Management Accountants)
IMA^® is one of the largest and most respected associations focused exclusively on advancing the management accounting profession. Globally, IMA supports the profession through research, the CMA^® (Certified Management Accountant) and CSCA^® (Certified in Strategy and Competitive Analysis) programs, continuing education, networking, and advocacy of the highest ethical business practices. Twice named Professional Body of the Year by The Accountant/International Accounting Bulletin, IMA has a global network of about 140,000 members in 150 countries and 350 professional and student chapters. Headquartered in Montvale, N.J., USA, IMA provides localized services through its four global regions: The Americas, Asia/Pacific, Europe and Middle East/India. For more information about IMA, please visit www.imanet.org.

About CalCPA
CalCPA traces its heritage to 1903 when the California State Society of Certified Public Accountants was organized. In 1909, it merged with two other state CPA associations to form CalCPA. CalCPA serves more than 43,000 members in public practice, private industry, students, academia and government, and has 14 chapters across California. CalCPA also offers more than 1,400 live courses, conferences, webcasts and on-demand self-study courses annually.

This event focuses on the skills needed for accountants to maintain and enhance their trusted leadership position working with or for companies in industry or practice. Target audience is anyone aspiring to become a qualified accountant; those who are already studying to be accountants and those who have already qualified as accountants and want to assess what skills they need to consider acquiring or improving.