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  • IFAC Global SMP Survey Identifies Key Challenges Facing SMPs Globally

    New York, New York English

    The biggest challenges facing small- and medium-sized accounting practices (SMPs) worldwide are complying with regulations and standards and attracting new clients, according to the 2014 IFAC® Global SMP Survey. Conducted annually, the Global SMP Survey provides unique insights into the challenges and opportunities facing SMPs around the world.

    “IFAC is committed to building the capacity of SMPs worldwide, and the findings from our SMP Survey are critical to that mission,” commented IFAC CEO Fayezul Choudhury. “Understanding the challenges that SMPs and their clients face, both on a regional and global scale, helps IFAC and our member organizations better serve this important constituency and accurately represent them in our interactions with regulators, standard setters, and policy makers.”

    The key findings from the 2014 IFAC Global SMP Survey include:

    Challenges Facing SMPs

    • Keeping up with regulations and standards (57%) and attracting new clients (58%) were identified as the two greatest challenges facing SMPs worldwide. Pressure to lower fees (51%), rising costs (50%), and differentiating from the competition (50%) were nearly tied as the next biggest challenges.
    • Attracting new clients was found to be a key concern in the Middle East (80%), but much less of a concern in North America (33%) and Australasia/Oceania (36%).  
    • Regulatory concerns ranked highly at firms in Central and South America (68%), the Middle East (65%), and Europe (63%).

    Challenges Facing SME Clients

    • Rising costs (67%) and economic uncertainty (66%) were identified as the top two challenges facing SME clients.
    • This was especially apparent in the Middle East and Africa, where these challenges were ranked higher than any other region.

    Percentages in the above represent respondents rating these challenges as a “high challenge” or “very high challenge.”

    Performance and Outlook

    • SMPs show promising economic growth, with 72% of firms maintaining or growing the previous year’s practice fee revenues (31% reported that practice fee revenues stayed the same, 37% reported a moderate increase, and 4% reported a substantial increase).
    • Australia/Oceania (63%), North America (56%), and Africa (55%) ranked as the top three regions reporting moderate to substantial growth in practice fee revenues.
    • Tax (48%) and advisory/consulting services (50%) were projected to be the two biggest sources of revenue growth for the year ahead. (Percentages represent respondents rating these services as “increase moderately” or “increase substantially.”)

    “It is encouraging to see SMPs maintaining or growing their revenues as they are a crucial part of the global economy,” said SMP Committee Chair Giancarlo Attolini. “With solid performance this past year, and optimism regarding revenue growth in the coming year, SMPs reflect the current state of the global economy and the spectrum of opportunities for small businesses.”

    The year-end 2014 survey, which is being undertaken in collaboration with lead researchers from the University of Dayton in the US, received 5,083 responses from 135 countries, and was conducted in 21 languages. For full results of the IFAC Global SMP Survey, expected in March 2015, please visit and subscribe to SMP updates from: www.ifac.org/SMP. Due to different response rates in different geographic areas, results may not be statistically representative of global or regional populations of SMPs. IFAC wishes to thank the many member and regional organizations that helped with translation and distribution of the survey.

    About the SMP Committee
    The SMP Committee of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) represents the interests of professional accountants operating in small- and medium-sized practices (SMPs). The committee develops guidance and tools and works to ensure the needs of the SMPs are considered by standard setters, regulators, and policy makers. The committee also speaks out on behalf of SMPs to raise awareness of their role and value, especially in supporting SMEs, and the importance of the small business sector overall.

    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. It is comprised of more than 175 members and associates in 130 countries and jurisdictions, representing approximately 2.5 million accountants in public practice, education, government service, industry, and commerce.

  • Intellectual Property, Translations & Permissions eNews: January 2015

    English
    WCOA 2014 Translations Workshop Session a Big Success

    At the World Congress of Accountants (WCOA) 2014 in Rome, the session “Translating International Standards and Guidance: Best Practices and Tools to Achieve Quality Translation” offered an opportunity to share best practices, technical tools, and IFAC® policies on translation. Interest in this session ran high and WCOA 2014 officials had to relocate it to accommodate a larger audience.

    Chaired by Kelly Anerud, IFAC Deputy Director, Intellectual Property, it provided a comprehensive overview of resources and competencies required to achieve high-quality and widely accepted translations of international standards and related guidance.

    In addition to the Chair’s presentation, “Translating International Standards and Guidance,” the session included presentations by Hilde Blomme, Deputy CEO of the Federation of European Accountants (FEE), who focused on the challenges of representing one region with many languages, by Javier Quintana, Secretary of the Ibero-American Cooperation Framework (IberAm Project) and CEO of the Instituto de Censores Jurados de Cuentas de España, who discussed the experiences of the IberAm Project in working with several regions and numerous countries represented by one language; and by Mariarita Cafulli, Head of the Consiglio Nazionale dei Dottori Commercialisti e degli Esperti Contabli Translation Department, who shared useful tools and resources, such as computer software, for translating international standards.

    New “IFAC Translator Forum” Launched on LinkedIn

    IFAC's Intellectual Property, Translations, & Permissions Department recently introduced the “IFAC Translator Forum,” a subgroup of IFAC’s LinkedIn group. The “IFAC Translator Forum,” which has nearly 100 members, is targeted to IFAC-designated translating body contacts and related stakeholders as a way to share best practices, collaborate, submit questions and offer responses on topics related to the translation of standards, handbooks, guides, and tools. To request membership, click “Join” and the request will be reviewed by the group manager. Membership in the IFAC LinkedIn group, which is open to all, is required to join the IFAC Translator Forum. 

    French Translating Bodies Formalizing Cooperative Efforts

    Following a meeting at WCOA 2014 between 10 organizations representing 30 Francophone nations, the French translating bodies are progressing in their efforts to produce a more formal structure for collaboration on high-quality French translations of international standards and other IFAC publications. Representatives from a subgroup of the French translating bodies will meet with IFAC in March to work on a draft cooperation framework and to prepare a preliminary Memorandum of Understanding. 

    Spanish Translation of Statements of Membership Obligations Published

    In December, the IberAm Project published the authorized Spanish translation of IFAC’s Statements of Membership Obligations (SMOs). IFAC officials called this a “milestone development” for the IberAm Project, as it represents the first document to have undergone the complete IberAm process, which includes translation, transfer to translation memory software, review, approval, formatting, and publication. The IberAm Project Memorandum of Understanding was signed on October 2, 2012, at IFAC’s New York offices with the goal of developing single, high-quality Spanish language translations of international standards and other IFAC publications.

    Update on IberAm Project Activities

    The IberAm Project Executive Committee recently approved the final translation of the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board® (IAASB®) 2013 Handbook of International Quality Control, Auditing, Review, Other Assurance, and Related Services Pronouncements, Volume I, and other documents, including publications from the IAASB, the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants® (IESBA®), the Professional Accountants in Business (PAIB) and Professional Accountancy Organization (PAO) Development committees, and a summary of IFAC Policy Position Papers 1-8. These translations will now proceed to be published in various formats over the coming months. Other documents, such as IAASB Exposure Drafts, IAASB video modules, Small and Medium Practices (SMP) guidance, toolkits from the PAO Development Committee, and publications from the PAIB Committee are in various stages of the IberAm process and will be published over the coming months.

    Online Permission Request and Inquiry Management System

    IFAC’s Intellectual Property, Translations & Permissions department encourages stakeholders to utilize the recently launched Online Permission Request and Inquiry (OPRI) Management system, which is designed to streamline the process of submitting requests for reproduction, translation, and information. OPRI allows registered users to submit new requests by type (reproduction, translation of international standards, translation of other publications, or inquiry) as well as manage all their requests in one place, duplicate existing requests to save time when placing new ones, and view the status of pending requests.

    Updates on Recent Translations Posted on Twitter

    IFAC is now using social media to update stakeholders on recently translated publications and resources, via IFAC’s @IFAC_Update handle on Twitter. Here are the latest translated publications:

    Revisions and Updates to “Frequently Asked Questions” Section

    IFAC has recently revised and updated the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) section of the Intellectual Property, Translations & Permissions web page. This section includes 50 responses related to areas of interest such as IFAC’s relevant policies and processes, performing quality translations, the process for obtaining an agreement with IFAC to perform or reproduce translations, terminology used in translations, and use of IFAC logos, trademarks, and graphics. The FAQs are a useful resource for a range of stakeholders, including IFAC member bodies, national standard-setting bodies, adopting authorities, training providers, and commercial publishers. 

    Translations Database to Incorporate New Features

    IFAC’s Translations Database is adding new enhancements, including an improved search/sort function, publication title in the language of translation, and links from the translated publications to the original English-language documents. The publicly available Translations Database lists authorized translations of IFAC publications, including the international standards, and the ongoing enhancements are aimed at improving user-friendliness and expanding its search functionality. These new features are expected to be available during the second quarter of 2015.

  • Governance, Risk Management, and Internal Control in the Public Sector

    Vincent Tophoff
    Senior Technical Manager, IFAC
    Interagency Council on Enterprise Risk Management
    White House Conference Center, WDC English

    IFAC Senior Technical Manager Vincent Tophoff was invited to give a presentation on risk management and internal control in the public sector to the US Interagency Council on Enterprise Risk Management at the White House Conference Center in Washington, DC. The audience was comprised of risk management and internal control managers throughout the various US federal departments and agencies, including the US Treasury and the Office of Management and Budget.

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