Comprehensive profiles of IFAC member organizations and the jurisdictions in which they operate are available on the IFAC website. These in-depth profiles support transparency; adoption and implementation of international standards; and the public interest by demonstrating international standards’ widespread use and the profession’s efforts to encourage adoption, advance implementation, and support the businesses, governments, and communities in their nations.

For more information on the new webpages and how to locate and use the information, take a look at our previous eNews issue, which served as a mini-primer on the new content. Please email any feedback or questions to compliance@ifac.org.

What We’ve Learned

To celebrate hitting our 100^th profile mark, we’ve collated high-level trends and learning—gleaned from reading the published profiles.

• Partnerships and collaboration are key.
  Professional accountancy organizations (PAOs) in Albania, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Egypt, Liberia, Montenegro, Jordan, Serbia, and South Africa, among others, are partnering with global, regional, and local organizations to advance the implementation of international standards and best practices.

• There is a continued focus on ensuring high-quality audits.
  Consultations on audit regulation and auditing standard translations are underway in Belgium, Botswana, Hong Kong, Pakistan, Slovenia, and Uzbekistan.

• High quality preparation of financial statements has not been overlooked.
  Egypt, Finland, Iraq, Pakistan, and South Africa have implemented IFRS certification courses, issued guidance, and/or established partnerships with stakeholders to support proper implementation.

• Essential, foundational components of the accountancy profession are being strengthened.
  Albania, Armenia, Barbados, Burkina Faso, Kenya, Mauritius, Namibia, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Russia, South Africa, and United Kingdom are advancing initiatives related to education, ethics, and investigation and discipline mechanisms.

• Dedicated promotion of IPSAS continues.
  Recognizing the role PAOs play in the public sector, PAOs in Bangladesh, Benin, Lesotho, Papa New Guinea, and Serbia are actively promoting the adoption and implementation of IPSAS through discussions with government officials and training their members.

• PAOs are successfully advocating on behalf of the profession and their members.
  The successful passage of new national accountancy laws in the Bahamas and the Cayman Islands, and OHADA regional requirements, were largely due to PAOs’ advocacy efforts.

We recommend reviewing the profiles for your jurisdiction, member organization, and other countries to more fully understand the accountancy profession in your nation and other areas.

The Mauritius Institute of Professional Accountants, Ordem dos Contabilistas Certificados, and the Union of Accountants, Auditors and Financial Workers of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina became IFAC members in November 2016 after previously being associates. We look forward to our continued collaboration to strengthen the accountancy profession worldwide.

• Peru
  In October 2016, the Junta de Decanos de Colegios de Contadores Públicos del Perú met with Peruvian universities authorities and reached three important agreements that will contribute to International Education Standards adoption.

• Laos & Singapore
  In October 2016, the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants and the Lao Chamber of Professional Accountants and Auditors signed a Memorandum of Understanding to further develop the accountancy profession in Laos. Read more>>

• Brazil
  The Instituto dos Auditores Independentes do Brasil (Institute of Independent Auditors of Brazil, or IBRACON) and the Conselho Federal de Contabilidade (Federal Accounting Board, or CFC) are working to adopt the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants’ new standard on responding to non-compliance with laws and regulations (NOCLAR) one step at a time. Read how>>

• Lesotho
  The Lesotho Institute of Accountants has launched the Lesotho Professional Accountancy Programme, the country’s first locally-developed accounting qualification, designed to strengthen professionalization in the private and public sectors. Learn more>>

• Realizing the Power of PAOs: Professional Qualification and Accountancy Education Workshop
  In conjunction with the 4th African Congress of Accountants in Kampala, Uganda, IFAC and the Pan African Federation of Accountants held an interactive workshop on the approaches PAOs use in educating and qualifying professional accountants. Representatives from PAOs in more than 25 countries participated in the workshop. Highlights will be posted on the IFAC website soon.

• Jordan SMO Workshop
  In cooperation with the Jordanian Association of Certified Public Accountants and the World Bank Group’s Global Governance Practice, IFAC organized an SMO workshop in Sweimeh, Jordan in January 2017 focused on regional issues impacting the profession. Key takeaways >>

• Inter-American Association Workshop
  To promote quality assurance systems implementation and prepare reviewers in the Latin America region, IFAC staff participated in a session of the Inter-American Association’s Train the Trainers workshop in October 2016. The workshop was a follow-up to the IFAC workshop in Costa Rica in early 2016, which uncovered some of the regional challenges for quality assurance systems. Read more in Spanish>>

• ASEAN Council
  The 122^nd ASEAN Federation of Accountants Council meeting in Singapore included presentations from IFAC staff on the compliance program’s work plan, the published member and country profiles, and the new, enhanced CARE framework. Read more >>

• Costa Rica SMO Workshop
  More than 30 representatives from 17 Central and South American and Caribbean PAOs discussed regional issues affecting the profession during a workshop focused on IFAC’s Statement of Membership Obligations, held in cooperation with the Colegio de Contadores Públicos de Costa Rica in February 2016. Read more>>

• IFAC Capacity Building Program
  Projects under the IFAC Capacity Building Program, with funding from the UK Department for International Development, are currently underway in Ghana, Kyrgyzstan, Nigeria, Rwanda, Uganda, Zimbabwe, and regionally in Africa. Each project targets a specific development area based on the needs of the national PAO(s), such as accountancy education or public sector accountancy capacity.

• MOSAIC Steering Committee Webinar
  The MOSAIC Steering Committee met in April 2017 to advance the Foundations Project—an initiative of the IFAC Capacity Building Program with funding from the UK Department for International Development to build foundational accountancy skills in the public and private sectors in emerging economies. A competency framework was developed under the project, which will be field tested through an upcoming project in Rwanda; development of additional support tools is planned for the future. The Steering Committee also considered a potential initiative to build accountancy capacity in fragile states.

June 2017: ICAC Conference, Guyana

July 2017: SMO Workshop, Vietnam

July 2017: Compliance Advisory Panel Meeting, Vietnam

October 2017: MOSIAC, Compliance Advisory Panel, and PAO Development Committee Meetings, New York

October 2017: AIC Conference, Peru

November 2017: IFAC Council, Belgium

IFAC Statements of Membership Obligations

The IFAC Quality & Development Team supports IFAC member organizations’ efforts to adopt and implement international standards (thus improving SMO fulfillment) and build the capacity of the global accountancy profession.

The team manages the Member Compliance Program and the membership admission process, PAO Capacity Building Program, including the PAO Development Committee, Accountability. Now. and sustainable accountancy development efforts. The Member Compliance Program is overseen by the Compliance Advisory Panel and the Public Interest Oversight Board as one of IFAC’s public interest activities.

Questions: compliance@ifac.org.

The March IESBA meeting considered a project proposal to develop application material in the Code to:

• explain how compliance with the fundamental principles supports the exercise of professional skepticism for audit, review, and other assurance engagements;
• emphasize the importance of professional accountants obtaining an understanding of the facts and circumstances known to them when exercising professional judgment, in the context of applying the conceptual framework.

The IESBA approved the project and broadly supported the direction of the proposed application material. The IESBA directed its Task Force to present a revised draft of the proposals for further consideration and approval for exposure at a teleconference scheduled in April.

The IESBA considered a revised draft of proposed Section 250, Gifts, Hospitality and Other Inducements, and discussed, among other matters, the conceptual structure of the section and inducements involving immediate and close family members. Since the meeting, the IESBA held a teleconference in May to further consider refinements to the proposals. The IESBA will consider the draft Exposure Draft, including consequential and conforming amendments to related sections of the Code, for approval at its June 19-21 meeting.

The IESBA further discussed the approach to, and content of, a draft stakeholder survey as a first step in developing its future strategy beyond 2018. The survey was released in April and will inform the IESBA as it develops its proposed new Strategy and Work Plan, which is expected to be issued for public consultation in 2018. The survey will remain open until July 18.

Take the survey now »

The IESBA’s Fees Working Group is working to identify whether there is a relationship between fees charged by audit firms and threats to compliance with the fundamental principles or to independence.  The Working Group’s fact finding is looking at four areas: audit fee levels for individual audit engagements; relative fee size and dependence on particular clients; the ratio of non-audit to audit fees; and audit services provided by firms that have significant non-audit service businesses.

As part of this initiative, the IESBA considered a high level review of the final report from Prof. David Hay, the academic commissioned to undertake a review of academic and other literature. The IESBA also considered an overview of regulatory provisions regarding fees in G-20 jurisdictions. 

As part of the fact finding work, the IESBA also considered a proposed stakeholder survey being developed by its Working Group that will focus on the four identified areas.

The IESBA heard a presentation from IFAC about its study, The Accountancy Profession: Playing a Positive Role in Tackling Corruption. This study is the first to demonstrate how professional accountants are a part of governance architectures that tackle corruption. The link between the prevalence of professional accountants in the workforce, and more favorable scores on the main global measures of corruption, is stronger in G20 countries, and member nations of the Financial Action Task Force, which have adopted anti-money laundering laws.

Read the report »

During the first quarter, IESBA representatives met with the Standards Coordination Working Group of the International Forum of Independent Audit Regulators (IFIAR). The IESBA Chairman also gave a presentation titled “Enhancing Auditors’ Ethical Behavior” at an IFIAR Inspection Workshop.

During the quarter, IESBA representatives also met with representatives of the profession, including the Canadian profession’s Public Trust Committee and the IFAC Small and Medium Practices Committee.

Access listing of recent and upcoming IESBA outreach activities »

The most recent IESBA Consultative Advisory Group (CAG) meeting was held March 6 in New York, US. Meeting highlights include discussion on professional skepticism, inducements, the IESBA’s strategy survey, and fee-related matters. In the context of the strategy discussion, the CAG also received a presentation from Jeanne Boillet, EY Global Assurance Innovation Leader, on the transformative effects of trends and developments in technology and innovation on the accounting and finance functions.

Access March CAG papers »

In March, the Public Interest Oversight Board (PIOB) released its Feedback Statement and PIOB Strategy 2017-2019. The feedback statement summarizes the responses the PIOB received on its strategy consultation and the way in which it has taken these responses into account in finalizing its strategy for 2017–2019.

Register or log in for access to current Handbook of the Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants for personal use or to purchase print copies.

Access Handbook »

• June 19-21, 2017: IESBA meeting, New York, USA
• September 13, 2017: IESBA CAG meeting, Madrid, Spain

For more info, or to register to attend a meeting as an observer, visit Ethics Board Meetings and Ethics Board CAG Meetings.