The International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) today announced that Lee White has been named to succeed Kevin Dancey as CEO. Mr. White will assume his new post in March 2024 and will be based in London.

Mr. White, who has been with the IFRS Foundation since 2018, has more than 30 years of global executive, regulatory and leadership experience. A chartered accountant, Mr. White has most recently led the creation of the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) within the IFRS Foundation and the launch of the ISSB’s first two standards in June. Mr. White is an avid champion of the role of professional accountants in driving and delivering high-quality sustainability-related disclosure and assurance.

Before joining the IFRS Foundation, Mr. White spent nine years at Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CAANZ), including six years as its CEO, having been instrumental in the successful merger of the Institute of Chartered Accountants Australia (ICAA) with CAANZ. Earlier in his career, Mr. White was Chief Accountant of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) during which time he was directly involved in the creation of the International Forum of Independent Audit Regulators (IFIAR).

On the occasion of his appointment, Mr. White said, “I am delighted with and humbled by the opportunity ahead. Engagement of the global accounting profession has never been more critical if society is to address many of the world’s most pressing economic and environmental issues. I look forward to leading our profession in a way that will continue to serve a vital public interest role, and also to raising awareness about the extraordinary opportunities available to accountants today.”

Asmâa Resmouki, President of IFAC, said, “We are very fortunate to have secured a leader of Lee’s caliber to take IFAC on the next chapter of its journey, and I would like to thank IFAC’s CEO Search Committee for their efforts in identifying the best candidate for the role. Lee’s deep knowledge of IFAC, his global business acumen and his commitment to the public interest promise to serve the profession, and indeed all of IFAC’s stakeholders, very well.”

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 more than 135 jurisdictions, representing millions of professional accountants in public practice, education, government service, industry, and commerce.

On August 2, the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) launched a public consultation on its landmark proposed global sustainability assurance standard, International Standard on Sustainability Assurance (ISSA) 5000, General Requirements for Sustainability Assurance Engagements. It also committed to an extensive, high-level outreach plan to ensure broad stakeholder input to improve both the quality of and trust in the final standard. This plan included in-person roundtables around the world, virtual webinars for global audiences, and regional and national meetings with regulators and oversight bodies.

These are the results of this unprecedented outreach campaign:

The International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) and Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CA ANZ) released a quality management toolkit today to help small- and medium-sized practices (SMPs) implement the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board’s (IAASB) suite of quality management standards.

The Quality Management Toolkit for Small- and Medium-Sized Firms and its companion Illustrative Risk Matrix include a suite of illustrative documents, policies, checklists, sample letters and forms to help SMPs establish their quality objectives, identify and assess quality risks, and design and implement responses to address their identified quality risks. The toolkit is designed to require each SMP to adapt the content to its nature, circumstances, and engagements, a crucial element given each firm goes through its own unique process developing its quality management system.

Kevin Dancey, IFAC CEO, said: “Many SMPs face resource constraints that affect implementing the IAASB’s quality management standards, given the new standards require a more proactive and tailored approach to managing quality across firms of all sizes. By partnering with CA ANZ to adapt its excellent original materials for an international audience, we are providing SMPs, and the professional accountancy organizations that support them, with a clear roadmap to understanding and applying the standards to drive overall quality.”

Ainslie van Onselen, CA ANZ CEO and Chair-Elect of Chartered Accountants Worldwide, said: “High-quality audits are crucially important for enterprises of all sizes in markets around the world. Based on our experience using a similar approach in Australia and New Zealand, this toolkit will help SMPs implement the quality management standards and ensure that a commitment to quality is at the center of a firm’s strategy, operation, and service delivery for audits and other engagements. We are pleased to partner with IFAC to deliver these materials to the global accountancy profession. Our Australian and New Zealand version was well received and we hope this global version will be valuable to SMPs around the world.”

Individual practitioners can tailor and reproduce the quality management toolkit for non-commercial use without permission from IFAC. Otherwise, permission is required to reproduce, store, or transmit, or to make similar uses of the toolkit. Contact permissions@ifac.org. IFAC member organizations are invited to submit a permission request to provide their members with the toolkit, including adding their logo, as long as appropriate acknowledgement of IFAC and CA ANZ is included with the copyright notice.

This quality management toolkit joins IFAC’s collection quality management resources, including webinars, articles and videos, as well as the IAASB first-time implementation guides, all of which are available at ifac.org/qualitymanagement.

IFAC acknowledges and appreciates feedback from IFAC’s Small and Medium Practices Advisory Group and the Forum of Firms representatives in the development of the toolkit.

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 more than 135 jurisdictions, representing millions of professional accountants in public practice, education, government service, industry, and commerce.

About CA ANZ
CA ANZ represents more than 136,000 Members around the world, offering its flagship CA Program, promoting the CA designation and high ethical standards and delivering world class services and lifelong education to its Members and advocates for the public good.