The accountancy profession is strongly linked to national economic growth and improved living standards, and it contributes USD $575 billion annually to the global economy, according to a report by the International Federation of Accountants^® (IFAC^®), the global organization for the accountancy profession.

Fayez Choudhury, IFAC Chief Executive Officer, said, “This report highlights the scale of the profession’s importance to the global economy. It confirms a particularly exciting economic opportunity in the rapidly developing Asian and South American regions. And the findings verify the profound importance of IFAC’s mission—and that of the global profession—to help strengthen accountancy capacity in developing countries, where accountants have a significant role to play in strengthening the institutions and architecture that will improve peoples’ lives.”

For the first time, IFAC has definitively linked a strong accountancy profession to improved living standards for citizens.

Launched at the Singapore Accountancy Convention today, Nexus 2: The Accountancy Profession—A Global Value Add, a study conducted by the independent Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr), found that:

• Global regions with a higher share of accountants in total employment have a higher per capita GDP.
• The correlation between the share of accountants in total employment and the UN Human Development Index (HDI) is even stronger. The HDI measures a number of indicators including life expectancy, years of schooling, and income.
• The global accountancy ecology—which includes members of IFAC professional accountancy organizations (PAOs) as well as people who identify their roles as accountancy or accountancy support—contributes an estimated $575 billion gross value added (GVA) annually to the global economy and, of this amount, IFAC PAO members contribute 43%.
• Highly developed countries in North America and Europe dominate the GVA of the global accountancy ecology; Asia’s contribution is third highest.
• There are 640,000 members of IFAC PAOs in Asia—but with an estimated 2.6 million accountants employed in Asia in 2013, a significant opportunity exists to strengthen the profession in a unified voice.

“Professional accountants contribute to better information, reporting, measurement and decision making. When nations have a robust system to track the flow of money in government, within businesses, and between organizations, transparency and accountability are improved, organizations are strengthened, and economies are enhanced,” Mr. Choudhury said.

A panel of leading regional and global figures in the accounting profession presented the report’s findings to an audience comprised of leaders in the public and private sectors.

Methodology
Cebr calculated the gross value added (GVA) of the accountancy sector using official datasets, or where data was poorer, by comparing average wages and then computing GVA per capita across the economy.

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. It is comprised of more than 175 members and associates in 130 countries and jurisdictions, representing over 2.8 million accountants in public practice, education, government service, industry, and commerce.

About Cebr:
Centre for Economics and Business Research Ltd (Cebr) is an independent consultancy with a reputation for sound business advice based on thorough and insightful research. Since 1992, Cebr has been at the forefront of business and public interest research, providing analysis, forecasts and strategic advice to major UK and multinational companies, financial institutions, government departments and agencies, trade bodies and the European Commission.

The objective is to bring property, plant and equipment and intangible assets carried at revalued amounts with the scope of IPSAS 21, Impairment of Non-Cash-Generating Assets, and IPSAS 261, Impairment of Cash-Generating Assets and to clarify that impairments to individual assets within a class of property, plant, and equipment in IPSAS 17, Property, Plant, and Equipment, do not necessitate a revaluation of the entire class to which that impaired asset belongs. 

The objective is to issue a revised IPSAS 25, Employee Benefits which would be converged with the underlying IAS 19, Employee Benefits. The intermediate objective is to produce an Exposure Draft of proposed changes.

Background

IPSAS 25, Employee Benefits was issued in February 2008 and is drawn primarily from IAS 19 (2004), Employee Benefits.

The International Federation of Accountants^® (IFAC^®), the global organization for the accountancy profession, today announced its new Board members and associates, decided at its annual Council Meeting.

Four members were elected to IFAC’s Board: Bill Balhoff (United States), Alan Johnson (United Kingdom), Terence Nomembe (South Africa), and Dr. Zhiguo Yang (China). The IFAC Council also re-elected: Carol Bellringer (Canada), Norunn Byrkjeland (Norway), Pamela Monroe Ellis (Jamaica), and Prof. In-Ki Joo (Republic of South Korea).

Welcoming the new Board members, IFAC President Olivia F. Kirtley said, “Through our global membership, IFAC represents nearly three million professional accountants who work in the public interest to strengthen organizations and enhance the global economy. The new and re-elected Board members represent the depth and breadth of the profession’s talent, as well as its diversity.”

The IFAC Council also voted to admit new associates from Africa and Asia:

• Ordre des Experts Comptables et Comptables Agréés du Burkina Faso (ONECCA-BF)
• The Vietnam Association of Certified Public Accountants (VACPA)

IFAC Chief Executive Officer Fayez Choudhury said: “It is with pleasure that we welcome, after a comprehensive admission process, these IFAC associates. Our new associate from Burkina Faso is the first professional accountancy organization from that country to join IFAC, while VACPA is the second organization to join from Vietnam. We welcome them into the global profession and look forward to working together to advance IFAC’s mission of supporting global economic growth and development.”

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. It is comprised of over 175 members and associates in 130 countries and jurisdictions, representing approximately 2.8 million accountants in public practice, education, government service, industry, and commerce.