IFAC : International Center for Professional Accountants in Business

Overview

The International Center for Professional Accountants in Business provides resources and facilitates the exchange of knowledge and best practices among the more than one million professional accountants worldwide employed in commerce, industry, financial services, the public sector, education and the not-for-profit sector.

The Professional Accountants in Business Strategy and Work Plan for 2010-2012 sets out IFAC’s vision: Global recognition of professional accountants as business leaders and strategic partners in building long-term sustainable organizational success. The Strategy and Work Plan focuses on enhancing the profile, influence, and relevance of professional accountants in business. It recognizes that many professional accountants are in a position of strategic or functional leadership, or are otherwise well-placed to collaborate with colleagues in other disciplines to create long-term sustainable value for their organizations.

IFAC’s service delivery focuses on international, strategic, and emerging issues in the following areas:

• Governance and ethics;
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• Risk management and control;
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• Sustainability and corporate responsibility;
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• Financial management; and
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• Business reporting.
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Select IFAC member body resources and websites are listed under each area. These lists are not exhaustive and member bodies are invited to provide additional links to resources by contacting Stathis Gould or  Vincent Tophoff.

The IFAC PAIB Committee

The Professional Accountants in Business (PAIB) Committee serves IFAC member bodies and has 18 member bodies. For a complete list of committee members, click here.

• PAIB eNews is an electronic communication issued three to four times per year. It covers initiatives relevant to professional accountants in business. You can sign-up to receive eNews here.
  
  
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • February 2010
  • July 2009
  • April 2009
  • February 2009
  • December 2008
  • July 2008
  • March 2008
  • July 2007
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• Publications and resources
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• Exposure Drafts and Consultation papers
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• Key contacts
  
  • Stathis Gould, Senior Technical Manager (stathisgould@ifac.org)
  • Vincent Tophoff, Senior Technical Manager (vincenttophoff@ifac.org)
  • Roger Tabor, Chair PAIB Committee (rogermtabor@aol.com)

Latest PAIB Activities

Consultation paper highlights changing roles and employer expectations of professional accountants in business

Competent and Versatile, How Professional Accountants in Business Drive Sustainable Organizational Success highlights how employer expectations of professional accountants in business are expected to change in light of global trends and evolving organizational needs. It analyzes these expectations in relation to eight drivers of sustainable organizational success—what companies need to do to achieve and sustain success in the changing global economic landscape. The drivers provide the framework for key activities that professional accountants will be expected to perform. These activities are highlighted under the following four roles that form the cornerstones of the services provided by professional accountants: creators, enablers, preservers, and reporters of sustainable value.

Financial Reporting Supply Chain: Business Reporting Recommendations from Key Leaders

Key leaders provide recommendations on what should be done to improve corporate governance, business reporting, and auditing in the aftermath of the financial crisis in a series of five articles.

The Business Reporting Project Group has entered the final phase of the Financial Reporting Supply Chain Project having interviewed 25 key leaders on what should be done to improve these areas in the aftermath of the financial crisis.

The interviewees agreed on the following:

• The primary responsibility of directors is performance; not compliance
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• Organizations should expand their view from a shareholder perspective to a stakeholder perspective
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• Organizations should take economic, as well as social and environmental performance factors into account
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• Organizations should better integrate governance and sustainability in the strategy, operations, and stakeholder communications
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• Organizations should further improve their stakeholder communications
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Readers are encouraged to comment on the recommendations of individual business leaders via a brief survey. The articles, along with transcripts of the full interviews and links to the surveys, are available at www.ifac.org/frsc.

Sustainability Framework

The Sustainability Framework is a web-based tool that targets professional accountants working in commerce, industry, the public sector, education, and the not-for-profit sector who can influence the way organizations integrate sustainability into their objectives, strategies, management, and definitions of success. It highlights the issues organizations must address to make sustainability an integral part of their business model.