Roger Tabor, Chair of the Professional Accountants in Business Committee addresses the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan on their 50th anniversary. Mr. Tabor discusses the influence and reach of the accountancy profession, and the objectives and focus areas of the Committee.

IFAC's comments on the FSA (UK) Guidance Consultation: Code of Practice for the relationship between the external auditor and the supervisor submitted on March 25, 2011.

The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) today released its 2010 annual report. The report highlights the IAASB’s ongoing work to promote the adoption and implementation of its clarified International Standards on Auditing (ISAs), and the issuance of a number of proposals in areas where there is demand for new and innovative assurance and related services other than audits of financial statements.

“A number of projects underway are addressing issues that are at the forefront of our stakeholders’ minds, and our efforts can be best summarized as a pursuit of three goals: clarity, quality, and relevance,” said IAASB Chairman Prof. Arnold Schilder. “Developing assurance standards in new areas has taught us that wide consultation becomes even more critical to ensure the public interest is being met.” Accordingly, the annual report details the extensive outreach and liaison activities undertaken during 2010 with key groups, such as regulators and audit oversight bodies, national auditing standard setters, accounting standard setters, governments and public sector organizations, and accounting firms.

Noted James Gunn, IAASB Technical Director, “The IAASB’s debates on its 2010 standard-setting proposals are likely to evolve during 2011 as stakeholder responses are received. We hope that the new interactive format of the 2010 annual report allows those interested in the IAASB’s work to more easily stay abreast of developments in our initiatives.” The annual report also catalogues the tools and resources that have been developed to support the clarified ISAs and makes reference to the ongoing consultation on the IAASB’s work program for 2012–2014.

A report from Linda de Beer, the newly appointed chairman of the IAASB Consultative Advisory Group (CAG), describes the work of the CAG in providing input to the IAASB. The IAASB also continues to receive oversight from the Public Interest Oversight Board (PIOB).

The 2010 IAASB annual report can be downloaded from its website.

About the IAASB
The IAASB (www.iaasb.org) develops auditing and assurance standards and guidance for use by all professional accountants under a shared standard-setting process involving the PIOB, which oversees the activities of the IAASB, and the IAASB CAG, which provides public interest input into the development of the standards and guidance. The structures and processes that support the operations of the IAASB are facilitated by IFAC.

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. It is comprised of 164 members and associates in 125 countries and jurisdictions, representing approximately 2.5 million accountants in public practice, education, government service, industry, and commerce.

Thank you for the introduction Caroline, and for the kind welcome. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. It is a great pleasure to be here; my congratulations to CIPFA for organizing such an excellent conference.

The overall theme of this conference is trust and accountability in public financial management. The incoming Chairman of the IASB, Hans Hoogervorst, said at a recent conference in Brussels, “Without transparency, there can be no enduring stability.” I believe that without transparency, neither can there be trust or accountability. And as a basis for what follows, I should be clear that a crucial element of transparency in the public sector is accrual accounting.

The Professional Accountants in Business (PAIB) Committee of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) has significantly updated its Sustainability Framework (the Framework), a tool to support professional accountants and their organizations as they integrate sustainability into their strategy, operations, and reporting. The Framework highlights the important roles that professional accountants play in facilitating the sustainable development of their organizations, as well as the importance of adopting an integrated approach to business reporting.

Embracing sustainability and corporate responsibility from three perspectives—strategy, operations, and reporting—is critical to gaining the trust of stakeholders and the wider public, and ultimately ensuring sustainable value creation. Through key considerations, as well as examples from major international corporations, smaller firms, professional accountancy organizations, and leaders from around the world, the Framework provides a comprehensive view of some of the current best practices globally in each of these areas, and is applicable to entities of all sizes and levels of complexity.

“Professional accountants are already doing much to help organizations minimize waste, create efficiencies, and cut costs, which is undoubtedly the biggest driver for embracing sustainability,” said Roger Tabor, chair of the PAIB Committee. “However, accountants also need to be prepared to take on new and expanded roles, activities, and skills as they support their organizations in charting a more sustainable path. The Framework can help them on this journey.”

“To successfully embed sustainability within an organization, business leaders and professional accountants must recognize the importance of incorporating environmental, social, and governance factors into all functions and processes—from strategic planning and goal setting, to external communications and reporting. And, each of these areas is interconnected: to produce high-quality sustainability and integrated reports, these factors must be embedded into an organization’s culture and decision making,” said Ian Ball, CEO of IFAC.

Presented in a digital magazine format, and available in PDF, the Framework contains numerous internal links to allow professional accountants to easily navigate to the sections of most relevance to their particular roles. All sections include key considerations for professional accountants, including examples and references to other sources of information and guidance. The Sustainability Framework is available on the IFAC website.

About the PAIB Committee
The PAIB Committee serves IFAC member bodies and the more than one million professional accountants worldwide who work in commerce, industry, financial services, the public sector, education, and the not-for-profit sector. Its aim is to promote and contribute to the value of professional accountants in business by increasing awareness of the important roles professional accountants play, supporting member bodies in enhancing the competence of their members, and facilitating the communication and sharing of good practices and ideas.

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 164 members and associates in 125 countries and jurisdictions, representing approximately 2.5 million accountants in public practice, education, government service, industry, and commerce.

Today over 200 delegates from more than 45 countries converged in Istanbul for the fifth SMP Forum of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) Small and Medium Practices (SMP) Committee. Held in cooperation with the Union of Chambers of Certified Public Accountants of Turkey (TÜRMOB), the Expert Accountants' Association of Turkey (EAAT), and the Fédération des Experts Comptables Méditerranéens (FCM), the conference featured a keynote address from IFAC President Göran Tidström, and presentations from the World Bank and the European Association of Craft, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (UEAPME).

Delegates from IFAC member bodies convened to discuss, debate, and share best practices on a range of topics, including the challenge for small businesses in keeping up with the complicated and rapidly changing regulatory environment and the many ways that SMPs can partner with small businesses to build and sustain value. The forum also included breakout sessions on implementing the IESBA Code of Ethics, the IAASB’s future projects for SMPs, and resources and tools to support this sector.

In his opening remarks, Mr. Tidström indicated that small- and medium-sized entities (SMEs) are a public interest issue: they represent two-thirds of employment globally, and comprise 95% of entities, according to the OECD. “Therefore,” he said, “keeping the wheels of the SME sector turning is critical, as they are the engine of the global economy.”

Mr. Tidström continued, “SMPs can help SMEs thrive by providing them with a broad range of services, including strategic and business advisory services, IT and financial reporting systems support, risk management and fraud prevention services, and financial, tax, and HR advisory services. The IFAC SMP Committee supports SMPs in developing and maintaining their competencies to provide these services, in addition to traditional compliance services.”

“This event continues to provide us with a unique opportunity to unite the global SMP community to focus on the issues that are the most relevant to this sector. The attendance here today is testament to professional accountancy organizations’ commitment to their SMP members. The SMP Committee is committed to building the capacity of SMPs, and we look forward to translating what we have learned here today into tangible outputs,” said Sylvie Voghel, chair of the IFAC SMP Committee.

To learn more about IFAC’s activities to support SMPs, and to access the valuable resources and guides produced by the SMP Committee, see the International Center for SMPs on the IFAC website. Presentations from this year’s forum, as well as videos, will be available on this site.

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 164 members and associates in 125 countries and jurisdictions, representing approximately 2.5 million accountants in public practice, education, government service, industry, and commerce.

The updated Sustainability Framework consolidates the important aspects of embedding sustainability into the DNA of an organization and can be applied to entities of all sizes and complexities. This edition focuses on the integration of sustainability factors from three perspectives--business strategy, operational, and reporting--and highlights the important roles that professional accountants play in facilitating the sustainable development of their organizations.

The Compliance Advisory Panel (CAP) has released for comment the International Federation of Accountants’ Proposed Member Body Compliance Program Strategy 2011-2014. The paper was drafted as a result of the strategic discussions held between the CAP, IFAC compliance staff, and Public Interest Oversight Board (PIOB) representatives in October 2010 and January 2011. The discussions were based on the CAP self-assessment, submitted as part of the 2009-2010 Monitoring Group’s review of the IFAC Reforms, as well as comments from the Fifth Public Report of the PIOB (May 2010).

The paper highlights the vision, values, and objectives of the IFAC Compliance Program and suggests priority areas through 2014. These areas include enhancing quality of professional accountancy organizations (PAOs); contributing to the agendas and actions of PAOs for the meaningful adoption and implementation of international standards; improving information and knowledge sharing; and collaborating with stakeholders involved in the regulation and development of the profession.

The CAP invites IFAC members and external stakeholders to comment on its proposed strategy. To access the paper or submit a comment, visit the Exposure Drafts and Consultation Papers section of the IFAC website. Comments on the paper are requested by May 30, 2011.

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 164 members and associates in 125 countries and jurisdictions, representing approximately 2.5 million accountants in public practice, education, government service, industry, and commerce.

Thank you, Tony for the introduction. Good morning everyone.

It is always a pleasure to be in Melbourne. And it is a particular pleasure to be participating in this convention, both as a member of CPA Australia, and someone who, admittedly a very long time ago, was on the public sector committee of the Tasmanian branch.

Thinking about what to cover in this presentation lead me to a personal reflection on what has been achieved in governmental financial reporting over the past 40 years, where we are now, and what remains to be done. Even as a very new graduate in accounting, working in the public service in New Zealand 40 years ago, I could not understand why governments did not seem to use good accounting information.