The COVID-19 pandemic and government interventions to mitigate its effects have both immediate and on-going financial impacts. The nature and scale of these interventions vary widely across jurisdictions, as will their longer-term impacts.

To help governments understand the impact of general types of interventions at different points in time for decision making purposes, IFAC and ZHAW, with IPSASB as a Knowledge Partner, created this COVID-19 Intervention Assessment Tool. The Tool provides an immediate way of evaluating the financial impacts of current and planned policy initiatives, and can be used independently of where a jurisdiction is on the path to full accrual.

Before an organization can measure, track, and communicate on its value, it is important to understand value creation and enable a value creating business model. 

This can be achieved through a management process of defining, creating, delivering, and sustaining value. This report examines the process of creating and maintaining value in great depth. It also serves to supplement the report The CFO and Finance Function Role in Value Creation.

This report sets out current thinking on how CFOs and their finance teams can account for and communicate value creation for internal and external stakeholders.

This thinking enables CFOs and their teams to focus on:

Professional accountants in business and the public sector have important roles to play in leading their organizations through the current crisis and the 

This report highlights takeaways from the September 2019 Professional Accountants in Business (PAIB) Committee meeting, and outlines key priorities for accountants in business.

The report specifically focuses on:

• Integrated value creation;
• The value of data;
• Action on the SDGs;
• Opportunities and challenges for accountants in SMEs; and 
• Professional ethics.

The International Integrated Reporting Council's meeting, hosted today by IFAC, comes at a seminal moment for corporate reporting. To be accountable to their stakeholders, organizations need to provide a clear and concise picture of their ability to create sustainable value over time. At the same time, rapid change and disruption, driven by climate change and technology, are forcing businesses to reconsider their approach to value creation and reporting.

Over the past decade, the corporate reporting landscape has become a mosaic of mandatory and voluntary disclosures under various standards and frameworks. The result is complexity and reporting that fails to meet the needs of investors and other stakeholders. Convergence towards relevant, reliable, and comparable narrative information and metrics is desperately needed.

Integrated reporting meets today’s expectations for corporate accountability and transparency. IFAC’s partnership with the International Integrated Reporting Council aims to support organizations in developing reporting and thinking that properly considers long-term opportunities and risks.

To address the future of reporting, and the role accountants must play in it, IFAC has published its Point of View on enhancing corporate reporting. Also published on the Gateway is an article from IFAC CEO Kevin Dancey and IIRC Interim CEO Charles Tilley that highlights the evolving role of CFOs and finance teams in accounting for value creation. IFAC is determined to support this evolution through an integrated value creation agenda.

Accountants have a key role to play in this future and must work to drive corporate reporting that meets the demands of the present and the future. This is an enormous opportunity that the profession must seize now.

With a changing and uncertain business environment, Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) and finance functions must evolve to sit at the heart of decision making within their organizations, according to a series launched today by IFAC (the International Federation of Accountants). The series includes:

• A vision for the CFO and finance function;
• Future-fit accounting roles for the next decade; and
• An evaluation tool to help guide organizations in finance function transformation.

With more demanding customers and societal expectations, achieving long-term value creation and success has never been more challenging for businesses. The CFO and finance function of today and tomorrow needs to provide information and analysis that supports decisions about all aspects of an organization’s business model and value creation. As business partners, they need to communicate how value is created today, how it will be created in the future, and if profitability is sustainable.

“The finance function cannot survive as a support or back-office function and must do more than account for the balance sheet” said Kevin Dancey, IFAC CEO. “As business models evolve and uncertainty increases, CFOs and their finance teams are uniquely situated to provide the information that powers decision-making for long-term value creation.”

To be at the heart of decision making, effective CFOs and finance functions must deliver:

• Actionable insights to support strategic and operational planning and decisions;
• Performance analysis to steer the organization toward achieving objectives, targets, and long-term profitability, as well as to ensure alignment between strategy, planning and delivery;
• Enterprise risk management to manage uncertainty, opportunities, and risks in the context of business objectives and the external environment;
• Effective communication and storytelling on all aspects of an organization’s business model and value creation;
• Trust and confidence in the governance of the organization, and in the quality of data, processes, systems and reporting through adequate control and security; and
• Integrity and professionalism to encourage ethical behavior and decision making throughout an organization to ensure sustainable value creation.

It is incumbent upon various stakeholders – organizations, professional accountancy organizations (PAOs), and individuals – to help prepare future-fit accountants in business.

For organizations, developing a finance function vision will help identify the enablers of change and ensure that the finance function is fit-for-purpose to partner with the business. IFAC's evaluation tool is meant to help boards and management teams identify strengths and areas of improvement for their finance team.

For PAOs, there are three priority areas to develop future-ready accountants in business: engaging accountants in business and their employers, advancing accountancy education, and promoting the value of the accounting profession.

###

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 more than 175 members and associates in more than 130 countries and jurisdictions, representing almost 3 million accountants in public practice, education, government service, industry, and commerce.

This report provides insight into what it will take to prepare future-ready professional accountants. Capturing conversations from the IFAC Professional Accountants in Business Committee meeting in March 2019, the report focuses on:

• Finance function transformation, with a case study from Prudential Financial, Inc;
• Building data science and analytics capabilities;
• Supporting accountants in professional ethics;
• Effective risk management and internal control; and
• Examining the role of the audit committee.

Enterprise risk management (ERM) needs to be part of the professional accountant mindset and makeup. This report explores the contribution of professional accountants to effective ERM in their roles as chief financial officers (CFO) and within finance functions. To add value, accountants must be seen as risk experts who are outward-looking and provide valuable insights to help organizations manage risk, respond to uncertainty, and achieve their objectives.