The UK Department for International Development (DFID), which leads the United Kingdom’s work to end extreme poverty, and the International Federation of Accountants^® (IFAC^®), the global organization for the accountancy profession, have entered into an agreement to strengthen professional accountancy organizations (PAOs) in developing countries. Under this agreement, DFID will provide £4.935 million to IFAC over seven years. The funding will be used to strengthen PAOs in at least 10 DFID focal countries to play a greater role in furthering economic development. These focal countries are currently being selected by IFAC, in consultation with its regional organizations and DFID.

IFAC invites organizations to indicate their interest in providing PAO capacity-building services under this agreement. IFAC will facilitate, coordinate, and supervise projects, including peer-to-peer support by more established PAOs, to build developing country PAOs’ managerial, financial, and technical capacity so that they can drive improvements in professional and ethical standards.

Expressions of Interest can be submitted via www.surveygizmo.com/s3/1735005/Expression-of-Interest. Interested organizations should be able to demonstrate that they have the required qualifications and relevant experience to perform the capacity-building services. Based on information in the Expressions of Interest, IFAC will evaluate interested organizations and—in the future—invite eligible organizations to submit proposals to provide services for specific projects. Further information is available by emailing development@ifac.org.

Timetable and Deadlines for Expressions of Interest

• October 17, 2014, 8:30 am (New York time) – Webinar for applicants to clarify any matters. Please email development@ifac.org to receive instructions for participation.
• November 19, 2014 – Deadline for submissions of interest.
• First Quarter 2015 –Organizations will be invited to submit full proposals.

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 179 members and associates in 130 countries and jurisdictions, representing approximately 2.5 million accountants in public practice, education, government service, industry, and commerce.

About DFID
The Department for International Development (DFID) leads the UK’s work to end extreme poverty. We're ending the need for aid by creating jobs, unlocking the potential of girls and women and helping to save lives when humanitarian emergencies hit. For more information visit www.gov.uk/dfid.

IFAC^® President Warren Allen provided an overview on the changing audit environment and IFAC's response to it as well as an update on activities of the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board^® to the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Greece (SOEL) September 19, 2014, in Athens, Greece. 

The IFAC Professional Accountants in Business (PAIB) Committee has released International Good Practice Guidance, Developing and Reporting Supplementary Financial Measures, to provide recommendations for the use of supplementary financial measures as part of high-quality financial reporting in organizations. Since supplementary financial measures fall outside the remit of GAAP, they may lack transparency, comparability, and consistency—essential qualities for investors and other stakeholders wanting to assess financial performance.

The Professional Accountants in Business (PAIB) Committee of the International Federation of Accountants^® (IFAC^®) today issued International Good Practice Guidance, Developing and Reporting Supplementary Financial Measures. The guidance provides recommendations for the use of supplementary financial measures as part of high-quality financial reporting in organizations.

Since supplementary financial measures fall outside the remit of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), they may lack transparency, comparability, and consistency—essential qualities for investors and other stakeholders wanting to assess financial performance. To address this challenge, the PAIB Committee’s guidance establishes a set of principles that allows professional accountants to develop and report useful measures in accordance with the qualitative characteristics of financial information.

“Supplementary financial measures can provide stakeholders with a greater understanding of an organization’s financial performance, helping them make more informed financial decisions,” said Charles Tilley, Chair of the PAIB Committee. “Because supplementary financial measures are widely used, and can contribute to the overall picture of an organization, our aim is to improve their quality and usefulness.”

The guidance builds on the qualitative characteristics of useful financial reporting: relevant and faithful representation, as well as comparability, verifiability, timeliness, and understandability.

“All measures in a financial report, whether they are prescribed by GAAP or are supplementary, should be clearly defined to provide comprehensive understanding of an organization’s financial performance,” said Karyn Brooks, Chair of the PAIB Committee’s Business Reporting Advisory Group. “This guidance will serve as a reference for the development, implementation, location, and disclosure of supplementary financial measures.”

As part of IFAC’s commitment to strengthen financial reporting practices and the PAIB Committee’s efforts to support professional accountants in business, this guidance reinforces accountants’ ability to produce high-quality reports that enable sound decision making about organizations.

About International Good Practice Guidance
International Good Practice Guidance issued by the PAIB Committee cover areas of international and strategic importance in which professional accountants in business are likely to engage. In issuing principles-based guidance, IFAC seeks to foster a common and consistent approach to those aspects of the work of professional accountants in business not covered by international standards. IFAC seeks to clearly identify principles that are generally accepted internationally and applicable to organizations of all sizes in commerce, industry, education, and the public and not-for-profit sectors. Previously issued guidance is available on the IFAC website, including Preface to IFAC’s International Good Practice Guidance.

About the PAIB Committee
The PAIB Committee serves IFAC member bodies and professional accountants worldwide who work in commerce, industry, financial services, education, and the public and the not-for-profit sectors. Its aim is to promote and contribute to the value of professional accountants in business by increasing awareness of the important roles professional accountants play, supporting member bodies in enhancing the competence of their members, and facilitating the communication and sharing of good practices and ideas.

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 179 members and associates in 130 countries and jurisdictions, representing approximately 2.5 million accountants in public practice, education, government service, industry, and commerce.

IFAC submitted a comment letter to the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FSTB)'s Consultation Paper, Proposals to Improve the Regulatory Regime for Listed Entity Auditors. IFAC commends the FSTB on issuing a very thorough and thoughtful consultation paper that addresses a range of matters that aims to improve the regulatory regime for listed entity auditors in Hong Kong.

The SMP Committee submitted this comment letter to the IAASB in response to their Exposure Draft: Proposed Changes to the International Standards on Auditing (ISAs): Addressing Disclosures in the Audit of Financial Statements.

IFAC^® SMP Committee Chair, Giancarlo Attolini, spoke at the Conferência Brasileira de Contabilidade e Auditoria Independente, hosted by IBRACON, about IFAC’s activities to support small- and medium-sized practices (SMPs), including:

• supporting the implementation of international standards;
• providing input to the development of international standards; and
• contributing to the content and strategy for the Global Knowledge Gateway.

He also shared insights from the last IFAC SMP Quick Poll, which is conducted annually in over 15 languages to take a snapshot of the issues, trends, and current state of SMPs and their small business clients.

During the annual meeting of International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI)’s Subcommittee on Internal Control Standards, IFAC Senior Technical Manager Vincent Tophoff gave a presentation on the International Framework Good Governance in the Public Sector, a joint project of IFAC and the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) published in July 2014.

The presentation discusses the key definitions, structure, and guiding principles of the Framework, as well as its purpose and development process.

The SMP Committee submitted this comment letter to the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants in response to their Exposure Draft, Proposed Changes to Certain Provisions in the Code Addressing Non-Assurance Services for Audit Clients.