A fundamental tenant of IFAC’s vision about the information companies provide to investors and stakeholders is that reporting and disclosure should capture all relevant information about organizations. To be accountable, companies need to provide a clear and comprehensive picture of their organization’s ability to create sustainable value over time.

This vision addresses the importance of global standards, regulation that supports decision-useful disclosure, and the value of an interconnected approach to sustainability and financial information reporting and assurance.

Today, the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) published its vision for high-quality assurance of sustainability information—calling out best practices identified during its year-long, global engagement campaign related to the State of Play in Sustainability Assurance. This vision addresses the importance of global standards, regulation that supports decision-useful disclosure, and the value of an interconnected approach to sustainability and financial information reporting and assurance.

“In order to be trusted, sustainability disclosure must be subject to high-quality, independent, external assurance,” said IFAC CEO Kevin Dancey. “Sustainability information must take its rightful place in the corporate reporting ecosystem and stakeholder confidence must be on par with financial reporting. Given the announcement of the International Sustainability Standards Board, the publication of a Climate Prototype, and IOSCO’s continued support for the initiative, it’s an appropriate time for regulators and authorities to put sustainability assurance on the agenda, as already proposed in the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive. We urge IFAC member organizations to promote high-quality reporting and assurance through discussions with policymakers, regulators, investors, and other stakeholders.”

As a harmonized, global reporting system for reporting sustainability information takes shape, based on the Building Blocks Approach, emerging regulatory frameworks should be designed to promote robust, decision-useful disclosure and disincentivize a compliance-based approach to both reporting and assurance. Aligning sustainability disclosure with financial reporting and connecting sustainability assurance engagements with financial statement audits will maximize value to reporting entities and their stakeholders. High-quality, global standards—for reporting, assurance, and ethical professional conduct—play a key role in meeting this objective and in avoiding unnecessary costs and reduced comparability and consistency that result from regulatory fragmentation.

Read more about IFAC’s support for global sustainability-related standard on the IFAC website.

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.

Today, IFAC released a publication, “Sustainability Information for Small Businesses: The Opportunity for Practitioners,” exploring the diverse benefits of embracing sustainability information. 

The report examines the importance of readily available, relevant, and reliable sustainability information for achieving better-informed decisions, enhanced strategic and risk management, and more thorough and valuable reporting to external stakeholders. It also highlights a range of emerging services that practitioners can provide to their clients, including advisory services, reporting, agreed-upon procedures (AUP) engagements, and assurance services.

Small businesses make up more than 90 percent of businesses worldwide; they are critical to achieving sustainable outcomes for economies, the environment and society. They can find significant advantages from establishing (or enhancing) processes, systems and controls for identifying, measuring, and analyzing sustainability information. This can include improved efficiencies and performance, as well as differentiation from competitors. Small businesses are also likely to be subject to sustainability-related reporting information requests from a diverse range of stakeholders, including large companies, banks, and suppliers—if they are not already. 

This publication was developed with advice and guidance from the IFAC Small and Medium Practices (SMP) Advisory Group and builds on the Advisory Group’s work on practice transformation. 

Although focusing on sustainability information and related services may seem premature for some small businesses and practitioners, the field is growing quickly. To speak to different practitioners’ unique circumstances, the publication includes suggestions on building knowledge and competencies and taking initial steps. 

IFAC will explore these issues further in a webinar on December 15 titled “Sustainability Offers New Opportunities for SMPs” (with simultaneous translation into Spanish and French). The webinar will feature a panel discussion with practitioners who are providing services in this space.

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.

This report examines the importance of readily available, relevant, and reliable sustainability information for achieving better-informed decisions, enhanced strategic and risk management, and more thorough and valuable reporting to external stakeholders. It also highlights a range of emerging services that practitioners can provide to their clients, including advisory services, reporting, agreed-upon procedures (AUP) engagements, and assurance services.

The International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) has selected Mr. Paul Druckman of the United Kingdom as the 2021 recipient of the IFAC Global Leadership Award, recognizing his contributions to the advancement of the global accountancy profession and capital markets.

Mr. Druckman is a passionate global leader in capital market reform, bringing about significant advancements in corporate governance and corporate reporting to enhance accountability for responsible business and sustainability. He currently serves as the Chairman of both Clear Insurance and the World Benchmarking Alliance, which is developing transformative benchmarks to enable companies to accelerate their contribution to sustainable development goals.

After qualifying as a chartered accountant in 1979, and becoming a mathematics teacher and then IT entrepreneur, Mr. Druckman served as president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales (ICAEW) in 2004/5. Mr. Druckman subsequently acted as executive chair of the Prince of Wales’s Accounting for Sustainability Project, and in this role he was central to the formation of the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) to bring about an enhanced corporate reporting system relevant to the digital, knowledge-driven, and resource-constrained world of the 21st century. He led the IIRC as founding CEO achieving the development of the International Integrated Reporting Framework in 2013.

Mr. Druckman has also been a board member of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) over two separate terms, including the post Enron era and then again until 2019. He also chaired the FRC’s Corporate Reporting Council, which sets UK accounting standards.

“I am delighted that Paul has received the IFAC Global Leadership Award this year,” said President of IFAC Alan Johnson. “While his roots are as a Chartered Accountant, his entrepreneurial spirit and drive have led him to a very successful career within the profession, one which we all benefit from through his insights into important emerging fields, such as technology and sustainability. Given the commitments by world leaders at COP26 that ends this week, Paul’s vision for a sustainable world on which he has been campaigning for many years is hopefully now in sight”.

Established in 2017 by the IFAC Board, the IFAC Global Leadership Award in Honor of Robert Sempier recognizes individuals who make outstanding contributions to the global accountancy profession. The award honors the contributions of Robert Sempier, IFAC’s first executive director who greatly contributed to the development of the profession worldwide.

The Global Leadership Award was presented during IFAC’s Council meeting, held virtually on November 10-11, 2021.

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.

In late July, the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) opened a six-month public consultation on its landmark new proposed standard for audits of financial statements of less complex entities (LCEs).

While the IAASB encourages all interested stakeholders to respond to the consultation in writing, it recognizes that some may not have the time or resources to do so. To help, the International Federation of Accountants and the IAASB developed a survey to offer an alternative way to participate in the consultation and provide your views. The survey is open until January 14, 2022 and is available in English, French and Spanish by clicking the language selector in the survey’s top right corner.

Survey responses will be analyzed by the IAASB alongside all other feedback and help shape the final standard; individual survey responses are confidential.

In late July, the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) opened a six-month public consultation on its landmark new proposed standard for audits of financial statements of less complex entities (LCEs).

While the IAASB encourages all interested stakeholders to respond to the consultation in writing, it recognizes that some may not have the time or resources to do so. To help, the International Federation of Accountants and the IAASB developed a survey to offer an alternative way to participate in the consultation and provide your views. The survey is open until January 14, 2022 and is available in English, French and Spanish by clicking the language selector in the survey’s top right corner.

Survey responses will be analyzed by the IAASB alongside all other feedback and help shape the final standard; individual survey responses are confidential.

IFAC’s Professional Accountants in Business (PAIB) Advisory Group has compiled insights on how accountants are contributing to value creation and sustainability in their organizations in both the private and public sectors in a new report, The Role of Accountants in Mainstreaming Sustainability.  

This report includes highlights from the PAIB Advisory Group’s October 2021 meeting, including: 

• Achieving sustainability and decarbonization under the stewardship of CFOs and accountants 
• Navigating potentially disruptive transitions by investing in technology, innovation, talent, and partnerships  
• Optimizing and capturing value for a range of stakeholders 
• PAIB perspective on digital assets and cryptocurrencies 

Sanjay Rughani, IFAC PAIB Advisory Group Chair says: “The need for CFOs and finance functions to contribute strategically as value partners is increasing to advance sustainability. By sharing our learnings as a profession, we can continue to elevate our focus and actions on higher value activities to support and empower professional accountants to take on more strategic roles.” 

Access the report and related case studies.