The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) today issued a survey on its Work Plan for 2022–2023. Guided by its strategic objectives for 2020-2023, the IAASB’s current—and future—work is tailored to serve the public interest. The survey is designed to help the IAASB develop its Work Plan for 2022–2023 through understanding what is important to its stakeholders.
The survey asks respondents for their views on the IAASB’s ongoing projects and possible future topic priorities. It will be open until Thursday, August 5, 2021. Respondents must submit their views using our survey online tool.
To help stakeholders thoughtfully consider and respond, and conduct any appropriate outreach to consolidate feedback, a Word version of the survey is available on the IAASB website to share questions and prepare responses. The IAASB and this work plan survey will benefit from the new Framework for Activities, developed to provide clearer criteria and increased transparency for project selection and prioritization.
Today, the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) published a revised building blocks approach to reporting sustainability information—enhancing its previously issued roadmap, The Way Forward. IFAC hopes to foster discussion on how this approach can deliver a global system for consistent, comparable, and assurable sustainability-related information that best meets the needs of investors and other stakeholders.
IFAC CEO Kevin Dancey said, “As the IFRS Foundation continues to consider establishing a new International Sustainability Standards Board and as jurisdiction-specific initiatives progress, IFAC is lending its voice to clarify how components can best fit together to meet the needs of all stakeholders. The IFRS initiative—as well as jurisdiction-specific initiatives—should build on what already exists, help create or contribute to a global system, and accommodate different views of what information stakeholders require. The building blocks approach makes this possible.”
IFAC supports a new standard-setting board under the IFRS Foundation that can lead to the coordination and harmonization of reporting and provide a baseline of requirements addressing sustainability information that is material to enterprise value. The IFRS Foundation has proposed amendments to the Constitution of the Foundation as it continues to consider establishing a new board. IFAC encourages its member organizations to submit comments to this IFRS Foundation consultation.
IFAC welcomes feedback on the building blocks approach and plans to engage with stakeholders at future IFAC events addressing the broader journey to an enhanced corporate reporting world.
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.
How Global and Jurisdiction-Level Initiatives Can Work Together
After consultations with the Public Interest Oversight Board, the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) has published a revised detailed work plan that supersedes the work plan published on February 1, 2021.
The IAASB revised the work plan to account for the continued impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on both board operations and stakeholders’ capacity to implement new standards and participate in the IAASB’s due process. Facing the reality of reduced plenary time resulting from remote plenary meetings throughout the remainder of the calendar year, the IAASB is prioritizing the on-time completion of two significant public interest documents—the finalization of ISA 600 (Revised) on Group Audits(expected after the December 2021 IAASB meeting) and a proposed standard for Audits of Financial Statements of Less Complex Entities for public consultation (expected after the June 2021 IAASB meeting).
Other updates include that the IAASB will now discuss project proposals for Fraud and Going Concern in September 2021 and March 2022, respectively. The shift in the dates of the project proposals should not materially impact the work timelines for those two projects. The revised work plan also includes an exposure draft for ISA 500 (Audit Evidence) in September 2022.
The detailed quarterly forward work plan sets out the expected progression of the IAASB’s projects for the IAASB’s proposed Work Plan for 2022‒2023 to be approved at the IAASB’s December 2021 meeting, and is subject to approval by the Public Interest Oversight Board (PIOB) in the first quarter of 2022. If necessary, an updated version of the work plan table will be published on the IAASB website, subsequent to these meetings.
IFAC's new building blocks approach to reporting sustainability information enhances the previously issued roadmap, The Way Forward. With this new step, IFAC hopes to foster discussion on how this approach can deliver a global system for consistent, comparable, and assurable sustainability-related information that best meets the needs of investors and other stakeholders.
The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) today published its new Framework for Activities. The Framework describes the IAASB’s operating processes and procedures for advancing standard setting and other related activities.
The IAASB developed the Framework to support a more agile standard-setting process. The Framework also provides additional public transparency around the IAASB’s prioritization activities, beyond the formally approved due process. The Framework sets out the different components within the IAASB’s due process for advancing topics onto and through the IAASB’s work plan.
The Framework describes the IAASB’s operating processes and procedures for advancing standard-setting and other related activities. By being more deliberate and evidence-based, the IAASB will be more responsive to the key public interest challenges in audit and assurance. The Framework sets out the following key components:
A new video on the suite of quality management standards is now available from the IAASB. It addresses considerations for firms when preparing to implement the standards, such as what may be retained from current systems, the time and resources needed, the impact on the firm as a whole, and various ways to approach implementation. The video emphasizes the need for firms to start early and prepare for implementation.
Amid a rapidly changing world, the first digital native generation is entering the workforce. This joint report from ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) and IFAC (the International Federation of Accountants) draws upon the responses of 9,000+ 18-25 year olds to gain insights into how Generation Z’s top concerns may influence what they want from their careers, what attracts them to organizations, and their views on accountancy, business, and the impact of COVID-19.
The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) today published its Public Report detailing its progress to support the public interest between July 2019 and December 2020. During this 18-month period, the IAASB completed five major standards aimed at enhancing audit and assurance quality, adopted a four-year strategy focused on the public interest, and established a new work plan focused on emerging issues. The IAASB also responded to a new environment sparked by the global pandemic by issuing guidance and engaging with a broad range of stakeholders in order to sustain trust in audit and assurance.
The Public Report showcases the IAASB’s efforts to be a responsive, agile and innovative standard setter, closely connected with its stakeholders. The report highlights completed and in progress standard-setting projects, other new initiatives to respond to stakeholder needs, and our efforts to improve the agility of the standard-setting process. The report also includes reflections from IAASB Chair Tom Seidenstein on his first 18 months in this role.
