The International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) and its member bodies Instituto de Censores Jurados de Cuentas de España, Federación Argentina de Consejos Profesionales de Ciencias Económicas, and Instituto Mexicano de Contadores Públicos formally agreed to establish an Ibero-American cooperation framework to achieve longer-term, sustainable processes for a single, Spanish translation of international standards and other IFAC publications.

The agreement was commemorated with a formal signing ceremony that included the Interamerican Accounting Association, IFAC’s regional organization for Latin America and the Caribbean.

“Taking into account the significance of the Spanish language in relation to global adoption and implementation of international standards, this formal establishment of a cooperation framework is a very important milestone,” said IFAC Chief Executive Officer Ian Ball.

“Working collaboratively we should be able to achieve much more than any one of our organizations could do alone. We believe that this project will be of great benefit to the global accounting and auditing profession and we are extremely grateful for the valuable contributions of our member bodies and our regional organization in this regard,” he added

Earlier this year, IFAC welcomed the single Spanish translation of the Handbook of International Standards on Auditing and Quality Control, issued by the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board and the Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants, issued by the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants. Both of these translated publications were a result of the cooperative efforts of the aforementioned groups, in collaboration with other Spanish-speaking IFAC member bodies and key stakeholders.

For more information on Spanish-language or other translations, please visit the IFAC Translations Database.

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 167 members and associates in 127 countries and jurisdictions, representing approximately 2.5 million accountants in public practice, education, government service, industry, and commerce.

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The International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB) today released for comment the Consultation Paper (CP), IPSASs and Government Finance Statistics Reporting Guidelines. The Consultation Paper was developed by a task force that includes representation from both the IPSASB and the statistical community, including international organizations such as the International Monetary Fund and Eurostat, and national representatives from Brazil, the United Kingdom, South Africa, and Switzerland.

The Consultation Paper aims to help reduce differences between Government Finance Statistics (GFS) reporting guidelines and International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSASs). It provides an overview of differences between GFS reporting guidelines and IPSASs, and identifies opportunities to reduce these differences for consideration by either the IPSASB or the statistical community.

The Consultation Paper also aims to support governments’ use of integrated financial information systems that can generate both IPSAS financial statements and GFS reports. Using a single integrated financial information system can result in significant benefits, including reduction of GFS report preparation time, costs, and effort. Improvements are also likely to the source data for GFS reports, with flow-on benefits in terms of report quality.

Use of audited financial reporting data prepared on an accrual basis will substantially improve the data used for the preparation of GFS reports and therefore for policy making. The use of high-quality upstream data is a matter of urgency, considering the issues which led to the sovereign debt crisis.

“Both governments’ general purpose financial reports and their financial statistics on the general government sector provide important information about governments’ finances,” said IPSASB Chair Andreas Bergmann. “This Consultation Paper shows that there is further scope to reduce differences between IPSASs and GFS reporting guidelines, with benefits to the users of both types of reports. It also proposes practical ways that governments can improve their management of such differences, so as to efficiently generate data for both their IPSAS financial statements and GFS reports from the same integrated financial information system.”

How to Comment
To access the Consultation Paper and the At-a-Glance document, which provides a summary, or to submit a comment, please visit the IPSASB website. Comments are requested by March 31, 2013. The IPSASB encourages IFAC members, associates, and regional accountancy bodies to promote the availability of this Consultation Paper to their members and employees.

About the IPSASB
The IPSASB develops accounting standards and guidance for use by public sector entities. The structures and processes that support the operations of the IPSASB are facilitated by IFAC. The IPSASB receives support (both direct financial and in-kind) from the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the United Nations and the governments of Canada, China, New Zealand, and Switzerland.

 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 167 members and associates in 127 countries and jurisdictions, representing approximately 2.5 million accountants in public practice, education, government service, industry, and commerce.

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The PAIB Committee submitted this comment letter to the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB)'s Invitation to Comment: Improving the Auditor's Report. Comments from the PAIB Committee draw heavily on Integrating the Business Reporting Supply Chain.

In recognition of their shared vision for the evolution of corporate reporting, the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) and the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote cooperation, coordination, and alignment.

Integrated Reporting (“<IR>”) is the language for sustainable business. It is the means by which companies communicate how value is created and will be preserved over the short, medium, and long term. This information is used principally by investors to support their capital allocation decisions. It involves processes, one result of which is communication, most visibly through a concise “integrated report,” about the way in which an organization’s strategy, governance, performance, and prospects lead to the creation and preservation of value.

<IR> represents an evolution in corporate reporting, building on recent developments in financial and non-financial reporting. Through this MoU, IFAC and the IIRC recognize the opportunities that exist to work more closely together to promote, support, and contribute to the realization of mutual interests.

“There are inherent synergies between the work of IFAC and the IIRC in support of an internationally accepted framework for integrated reporting,” according to IFAC Chief Executive Officer Ian Ball. “Traditional financial reporting alone is no longer enough information for investors and stakeholders. A more complete picture is needed, and the work of the IIRC will help guide organizations to achieve this.”

Commenting on the signing of the MoU, IIRC Chief Executive Officer Paul Druckman said: “The ability of business to measure and communicate what really matters is an increasing demand of investors and other users of corporate information.  <IR> enables a business to tell its value creation story in a way that gets to the heart of what makes the business tick today and in the future. 

“The accountancy profession globally has a vital role to play in providing confidence in the validity of both the narrative and the numbers that businesses must disclose to secure investment and provide transparency.  This MoU underscores the value that both IFAC and the IIRC place in this continued partnership, and its role in helping to secure an evolution in corporate reporting that supports efficient and productive capital markets, and a more sustainable global economy.”

IFAC, as the global organization for the accountancy profession and representing 167 professional accountancy organizations around the world, has a mandate to speak for the accountancy profession and to facilitate the development and adoption of high-quality, international standards of accounting and auditing as well as serve the public interest.

The IIRC’s mission is to create the globally accepted <IR> Framework that elicits from organizations material information about their strategy, governance, performance and prospects in a clear, concise and comparable format.  The Framework will underpin and accelerate the evolution of corporate reporting, reflecting developments in financial, governance, management commentary and sustainability reporting.  The IIRC will seek to secure the adoption of <IR> by report preparers and gain the recognition of standard setters and investors. Through cooperation, IFAC and IIRC will enhance their respective missions and strategic goals.

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 167 members and associates in 127 countries and jurisdictions, representing approximately 2.5 million accountants in public practice, education, government service, industry, and commerce. IFAC President Göran Tidström is a member of the IIRC and IFAC Chief Executive Officer Ian Ball is the chairman of the IIRC’s Working Group. Additionally, IFAC provides staff support for the development of the <IR> Framework.

About IIRC
The IIRC is a global coalition of regulators, investors, companies, standard setters, the accountancy profession and NGOs. Together, this coalition shares the view that the communication of value (applying <IR>) should be the next step in the evolution of corporate reporting. The International <IR> Framework is being developed in consultation with standard setters and regulators to encourage a consistent evolution in the standards, regulation and practice of corporate reporting.

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IFAC Senior Technical Manager and Head of the Professional Accountants in Business team, Stathis Gould, was invited to the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA)'s Global Virtual Conference to address sustainability and accountancy. More than 300 people participated in Mr. Gould's session.

Over 50 senior audit professionals from 23 international networks of accounting firms met today to contribute their perspectives on proposed revisions to auditor reporting. The symposium, organized by the Forum of Firms, assembled a group of experts to discuss the proposals outlined in the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB)’s public consultation, Invitation to Comment: Improving the Auditor’s Report (ITC).

Participants representing various jurisdictions and network sizes lent a variety of perspectives to the lively debate on the ITC proposals. “The symposium gave us the opportunity to collectively gain a deeper understanding of the proposals and consider the practical implications for implementation and related consequences for audit quality. The interactions raised awareness while also providing a unique opportunity for direct practitioner interaction with the IAASB on a topic that runs to the core of the auditing profession,” said David Maxwell, chair of the Transnational Auditors Committee.

Each panel discussion commenced with an overview of the existing landscape, overall summary of the relevant ITC proposals, and early indicative feedback collected by the IAASB to date. The first of two panels, Auditor Commentary—Moving Beyond Boilerplate, then explored the proposal to add a section to the standard auditor’s report on auditor commentary. The second panel, Going Concern and Other Information—Making Auditors’ Implicit Messages Explicit, focused on the call from investors to provide more information about the auditor’s responsibilities. The symposium concluded with an opportunity for participants to give their reactions to the remainder of the ITC’s proposals and the likelihood they will achieve the goal of making financial statement users understand more about the audit.

"The auditor’s report is a critical outcome from the audit, playing an important role in public confidence in audited financial statements. The Forum of Firms welcomes open discussion and debate that will contribute to enhanced audit quality,” said Robert Dohrer, chair, Forum of Firms. “It is essential that all audit firms be engaged in the global debate on audit quality so that we can consider how we, as practitioners, can better contribute to its advancement.”

About the Forum of Firms
The Forum of Firms is an association of networks of international accounting firms that perform transnational audits. Members of the Forum have committed to adhere to and promote the consistent application of high-quality audit practices worldwide, including the use of International Standards on Auditing, and the maintenance of appropriate quality control standards in accordance with International Standards on Quality Control issued by the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board. Through their organizations, members also conduct globally coordinated internal quality assurance reviews on a regular basis and have policies and methodologies that conform to the Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants. The Transnational Auditors Committee is the Executive Committee of the Forum of Firms and a committee of the International Federation of Accountants.

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 167 members and associates in 127 countries and jurisdictions, representing approximately 2.5 million accountants in public practice, education, government service, industry, and commerce.

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In This Issue:

1. IAASB Meeting Highlights
2. Approval of Exposure Draft of Proposed International Standard on Auditing (ISA) 720 (Revised)Auditor Reporting Invitation to Comment (ITC)—Comment Period
3. Drawing to a Close
4. IAASB Continues to Address Assurance Needs of Smaller Entities; Issues Revised Standard on Review Engagements

1. IAASB Meeting Highlights

The most recent IAASB meeting was held September 17–21, 2012, in New York, USA.

In addition to the projects discussed in this eNews, the IAASB deliberated issues relating to the following:

• Approval of a new project to consider the audit implications of financial statement disclosures
• The development of an audit quality framework (the Framework), Audit Quality: An International Framework
• Proposed International Standard on Assurance Engagements (ISAE) 3000 (Revised), Assurance Engagements Other than Audits or Reviews of Historical Financial Information
• Preliminary findings and the planned timetable of Phase 2 of the ISA Implementation Monitoring project relating to the clarified International Standards on Auditing (ISAs)
• The IAASB’s ongoing liaison with the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB)
• The development of a Staff Question & Answer publication addressing the proportionate application of International Standard on Quality Control (ISQC) 1, Quality Control for Firms that Perform Audits and Reviews of Financial Statements, and Other Assurance and Related Service Engagements 

The IAASB will meet in New York, USA, December 10–14, 2012. As a reminder, all meeting agenda materials are publicly available and posted on the IAASB's website in advance of IAASB meetings. In addition, meeting highlights, a summary podcast, and complete audio recordings are posted after the meetings. Visit the IAASB Meetings page.

2. Approval of Exposure Draft of Proposed International Standard on Auditing (ISA) 720 (Revised)

The IAASB approved for exposure proposed ISA 720 (Revised), The Auditor’s Responsibilities Relating to Other Information in Documents Containing or Accompanying Audited Financial Statements and the Auditor’s Report Thereon. The proposed standard broadens and clarifies the scope of documents to be addressed by the auditor, enhances the auditor’s work effort, and introduces reporting requirements.

The Exposure Draft will be released by the end of October 2012. Comments will be requested by February 28, 2013.

3. Auditor Reporting Invitation to Comment (ITC)—Comment Period Drawing to a Close

In support of its work to enhance, on a global basis, the communicative value of the auditor’s report on financial statements, in June 2012 the IAASB issued Invitation to Comment (ITC): Improving the Auditor’s Report. The ITC sets out the indicative direction of the board’s future standard-setting proposals to improve how and what auditors report in accordance with the International Standards on Auditing (ISAs). Interested stakeholders have the opportunity to submit a formal response to the ITC through October 8, 2012 via this link.

At its most recent meeting, the IAASB received an update on discussions held at its North American and European Auditor Reporting Roundtables and other outreach activities to date; and discussed, on a preliminary basis, the scope and potential structure of the ISAs to be revised as part of its Auditor Reporting project. The IAASB will consider responses received on the ITC, as well as feedback from its Asia Pacific Roundtable and other outreach activities, at its December 2012 meeting. The IAASB’s current timetable anticipates approval of an Exposure Draft on revised auditor reporting standards in June 2013. To follow this project, visit the IAASB’s Auditor Reporting page. 

4. IAASB Continues to Address Assurance Needs of Smaller Entities; Issues Revised Standard on Review Engagements

The IAASB has released International Standard on Review Engagements (ISRE) 2400 (Revised), Engagements to Review Historical Financial Statements. ISRE 2400 (Revised) follows the release earlier in 2012 of International Standard on Related Services (ISRS) 4410 (Revised), Compilation Engagements, a standard also addressing services of particular relevance to small- and medium-sized entities (SMEs).

Review engagements are of particular relevance for entities that are not required, or do not elect, to have an audit, but wish to enhance the credibility of, and confidence in, their unaudited financial statements among their users through practitioner involvement. ISRE 2400 (Revised) enhances both the value and performance of review engagements. Through strengthened requirements and additional guidance, it helps ensure there is sufficient appropriate evidential support for the practitioner’s conclusion on the financial statements and further promotes high-quality engagements. The revised standard is effective for reviews of financial statements for periods ending on or after December 31, 2013. An At a Glance publication provides an overview of the revised standard.

At the annual IFAC SMP Forum, delegates convene to learn, debate, and collaborate on a global stage regarding the unique opportunities and challenges facing SMPs and their small- and medium-sized entity (SME) clients. This year’s event attracted over 175 delegates from 33 professional accountancy organizations in 30 countries. 

Program is subject to change. 

The forum is made possible through the generous support of our sponsors: 

Gold Sponsor:

• Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA)  

Silver Sponsors:

• Corpul Expertilor Contabili si Contabililor Autorizati din Romania (CECCAR)
• Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants (Hong Kong Institute of CPAs)
• Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW)