The International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) has launched a newly redesigned and expanded Publications and Resources website, featuring over 200 titles developed by IFAC and its standard-setting boards and committees. This new site improves the user experience through enhanced navigation and features, including links to recommended publications based on user's selection.

The website includes the following broad range of pronouncements and resources:

• IFAC policy position papers and special reports;
• International standards on auditing and assurance, accounting education, ethics, and public sector financial reporting developed by IFAC's independent standard-setting boards;
• Good practice guides on corporate governance, sustainability, and other topics of interest to professional accountants in business; and
• Videos, presentation slides, guides to assist small and medium accounting practices, and other tools and resources to facilitate the adoption and implementation of international standards.

Visitors will experience enhanced functionality and interactivity with the addition of a search engine to facilitate user search and retrieval of specific resources of interest. Located on the homepage, a listing of the most recent and most popular publications, along with links to recommended publications, helps professional accountants find publications that are relevant to the work they do.

Explore all the new features and download IFAC publications and resources for free.

About IFAC
IFAC (www.ifac.org) 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 159 members and associates in 124 countries and jurisdictions, representing more than 2.5 million accountants in public practice, education, government service, industry, and commerce.

Global accountancy leaders support the International Federation of Accountants' (IFAC) recommendations to intensify its efforts to strengthen small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and accounting practices (SMPs), IFAC announced today.

IFAC recently convened the chief executives of more than 40 accountancy organizations to discuss how to further alleviate the challenges arising from the recent global financial crisis--also identified in IFAC's 2009 Global Leadership Survey.

"Small- and medium-sized businesses around the world, and the accounting practices that serve them, are struggling to recover from the global financial crisis," said IFAC President Robert Bunting. "IFAC and its member organizations must continue to take the lead in addressing the challenges facing SMEs and SMPs, including the need to avoid over-regulation."

The following areas were at the top of the list for the chief executives who attended IFAC's annual meeting:   

• Expand monitoring of global regulatory reform to ensure its suitability for SMEs and SMPs
• Increase the visibility and voice of SMEs and SMPs
• Collaborate with IFAC members to develop guides and resources to provide practical assistance to SMPs

The chief executives also agreed that IFAC should consider how to increase the participation of SMEs and SMPs in its standard-setting activities.

The chief executives backed IFAC's proposal to increase emphasis on sustainability reporting and corporate governance-related matters in its priorities for future action.

IFAC will take a stronger role in urging businesses to integrate sustainability throughout the whole of an organization's decision-making processes. The chief executives supported IFAC's co-operative work with the Prince of Wales' Accounting for Sustainability Project and its development of an international connected reporting committee to advance decision making and reporting on sustainability.

The chief executives agreed corporate governance was essential to effective financial reform and that IFAC should press for the implementation of good corporate governance principles, both in the private and public sectors. The accountancy profession's support for national financial frameworks that embrace corporate governance will be discussed at a joint conference hosted by IFAC and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in April in Geneva.

Other topics discussed in the chief executives' meeting included the issues facing the profession in developing and emerging economies and actions to reinforce the invaluable role of professional accountants in business.

The input received from the chief executives will be considered by the IFAC Board as it develops its strategic plan for 2011-2014.

About IFAC
IFAC (www.ifac.org) 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 159 members and associates in 124 countries and jurisdictions, representing more than 2.5 million accountants in public practice, education, government service, industry, and commerce.

The International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) is encouraged that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) today confirmed its intent to support adoption of global accounting standards for US companies and reduce uncertainty about the future use of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs). We are disappointed that it is not seeking an adoption date closer to the ambitions of the G-20--by June 2011--and urge the SEC to allow for early adoption of IFRSs for severely affected multinational companies.

It is vital that all governments adopt and implement common global standards, not only for accounting, but also for auditing and for auditor independence. These standards are crucial, as having consistent financial information around the world strengthens capital markets, enhances cross-border activity, and reduces risks and uncertainties in the capital markets. Continuing on the path of convergence is a helpful interim step, but a commitment to adoption is necessary for the world to truly have access to a single set of global standards.

Robert L. Bunting, President

Global accountancy leaders want the International Federation of Accountants to increase pressure for adoption, implementation, and enforcement of standards.   

Investors and all consumers of financial information deserve clear, reliable, and consistent information, IFAC organizations from around the world asserted in a survey by the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC).

The adoption, implementation, and enforcement of international financial standards is crucial, according to the latest IFAC Global Leadership Survey, which polled its membership of 157 accountancy organizations in 123 countries.^* The presidents and chief executives responding to the survey said that IFAC needs to continue to lead the convergence of standards developed by its independent standard-setting boards, relating to auditing and assurance, education, ethics and public sector accounting, and to support the implementation of those standards.

The IFAC Global Leadership Survey announced in a revised version today the accountancy profession's leadership views of top priorities as:

• Increase confidence in international standards for accounting and auditing, in both the private sector and the public sector
• Adopt but also implement international standards, including principles of good corporate governance
• Urge the G-20 to not place unreasonable burdens on small and medium-sized enterprises through new regulations or re-regulation

"To move beyond the current crisis and ensure protection for all investors and taxpayers, the necessary parties around the world need to adopt and implement high-quality global standards," says IFAC CEO Ian Ball. "It is crucial for governments and regulators to take decisive actions in their countries and put in place their international commitments to converged standards."

The survey also found that the demand for professionals in public practice, business, and the public sector is expected to be high in the next three years. Student interest in accountancy has increased dramatically over the past three years, according to survey results. The profession was rated "Very attractive" or "Attractive" to university-level students, as well as experienced professionals and graduates who recently entered the field.

This version of the survey includes responses from more than 110 presidents and chief executives of IFAC members and regional accountancy organizations and groupings around the world.

About IFAC
IFAC (www.ifac.org) 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 159 members and associates in 124 countries and jurisdictions, representing more than 2.5 million accountants in public practice, education, government service, industry, and commerce.

IFAC has issued the revised results of the Third Annual Global Leadership Survey. Key findings cover a wide-range of topics, including the need to support small and midsize businesses in the current environment, the increasing importance of adoption and implementation of international standards, and the improvements made in the area of corporate governance.

The International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB) is seeking comments on an exposure draft (ED) that addresses accounting for service concession arrangements by the grantor. Service concession arrangements, often called Private Public Partnerships or PPPs, involve an operator providing services to the public on behalf of a grantor--usually the government or another public sector entity. For many countries, such arrangements are a means to ensure large-scale, infrastructure projects, such as the building of roads and airports, can be developed and provided to the public for use. However, in some cases, they are not recognized in the financial statements, effectively concealing the financial position of the grantor.

Entitled Service Concession Arrangements: Grantor, the ED presents requirements and guidance on how grantors recognize, account for, and disclose assets in service concession arrangements. Currently, there is no international standard to address the accounting for such arrangements from the grantor's perspective as IFRIC 12, Service Concession Arrangements, issued by the International Financial Reporting Interpretations Committee (IFRIC), applies only to the operators of these arrangements.

The IPSASB's proposals seek to assist the public sector in ensuring the assets used to provide the public service in the service concession arrangements are recognized appropriately in public sector financial statements and provide relevant disclosures about the arrangement. To ensure consistency in accounting by both parties to the service concession arrangement, the criteria for recognizing the assets are based on principles set out in IFRIC 12.

"The use of service concession arrangements as a means for the public sector to build and improve public services has increased dramatically in recent years. This increase in volume coupled with the lack of an international standard for grantors in such arrangements made action in this area of critical importance for the financial stability of governments," said IPSASB Chair Andreas Bergmann, adding, "This ED aligns with the IPSASB's long-held goal of promoting and enhancing the transparency, accountability, and decision making of the public sector."

How to Comment
To access the exposure draft or submit a comment, visit the IFAC website at www.ifac.org/Guidance/EXD-Outstanding.php. Comments on the exposure draft are requested by June 30, 2010.

The IPSASB encourages IFAC members, associates, and regional accountancy bodies to promote the availability of this exposure draft to their members and employees.

About IFAC
IFAC (www.ifac.org) 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 159 members and associates in 124 countries, representing more than 2.5 million accountants in public practice, education, government service, industry, and commerce. In addition to setting international public sector financial reporting standards through the IPSASB, IFAC sets ethics, auditing and assurance, and education standards. It also issues guidance to encourage high-quality performance by professional accountants in business.

The International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB) has published a new International Public Sector Accounting Standard (IPSAS) that covers the accounting for and disclosure of intangible assets: IPSAS 31, Intangible Assets. It fills a gap in the IPSASB literature and adds some guidance on public sector-specific issues, including intangible heritage assets.

"Until this new IPSAS, there has been no direct guidance to address intangible assets that exist in the public sector. The new standard will enhance consistency in accounting for intangible assets, while also laying the groundwork for dealing with some of the more complex public sector-specific issues going forward," states Andreas Bergmann, IPSASB Chairman.

IPSAS 31 is primarily drawn from the International Accounting Standards Board's (IASB) IAS 38, Intangible Assets. It also contains extracts from the IASB's Standing Interpretations Committee Interpretation 32 (SIC 32), Intangible Assets--Web Site Costs, adding application guidance and illustrations that have not yet been incorporated into the IAS. At this point, IPSAS 31 does not deal with uniquely public sector issues, such as powers and rights conferred by legislation, a constitution, or by equivalent means; the IPSASB will reconsider the applicability of the standard to these powers and rights in the context of its conceptual framework project, which is currently in progress.

The IPSASB has also published Improvements to IPSASs, to conform with minor changes to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) that were made since the related IPSASs were originally released. These are part of a series of annual improvements that is modeled on a successful IASB annual update program.

"While we have achieved substantial convergence with IFRSs (dated December 2008), it is necessary for the IPSASB to continually reassess the IPSASs to ensure that they remain relevant to users of public sector financial statements," states Mr.  Bergmann.

IPSAS 31 and Improvements to IPSASs are available to download free of charge from the IPSASB section of IFAC's Publications and Resources site (web.ifac.org/publications). The IPSASB encourages IFAC members, associates, regional accountancy bodies, and firms to use these materials and to promote their availability to members and employees.

About IFAC
IFAC (www.ifac.org) 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 159 members and associates in 124 countries and jurisdictions, representing more than 2.5 million accountants in public practice, education, government service, industry, and commerce.

This document sets out amendments to IPSASs and the related Bases for Conclusions, Comparisons with IFRSs/IASs, and guidance. These amendments are drawn from the IASB document, Improvements to IFRS issued in May 2008. The IASB's rationale for its amendments is documented in the related Bases for Conclusions in the IASB's document, Improvements to IFRS.