Professional accountants in business (PAIB) play a vital role within various sectors such as commerce, industry, financial services, education, and the public and non-profit sectors. IFAC’s PAIB Advisory Group, established in 1977, is a global forum of finance and business leaders advising the global accountancy profession and its members on critical areas such as sustainability and digital transitions so that PAIBs are well prepared to meet the evolving needs of both business and the public sector in the future.

The newest PAIB Advisory Group members are:

• Mike Driver, Past President, CIPFA & Independent Non-Executive Director (United Kingdom)
• Ruth Gardiner Forbes, President and CEO, Fortis TCI Ltd (Turks and Caicos Islands)
• Lisa Kelley, Managing Director, Floating Interest Corporation (United States of America)
• Josephine Okui Ossiya, CEO, Capital Markets Authority of Uganda (Uganda)
• Aniket Sunil Talati, Senior Partner, Management Consultancy Services and Advisory, Talati & Talati LLP (India)
• Charles Xuereb, CEO, Trident Estates Plc (Malta)

With these additions, the PAIB Advisory Group has achieved gender parity. Sanjay Rughani remains Chair and Sharon Ditchburn has been appointed Deputy Chair.

"Every member brings a distinctive and valuable viewpoint on the contributions of professional accountants in business and finance leadership,” said Sanjay Rughani, Chair, IFAC PAIB Advisory Group. “We are privileged to welcome these new members who will share their diverse experiences and offer strategic insights on the profession, expanding its contribution to sustainable economic development worldwide and serve as global champions for the profession.”  

The continuing PAIB Advisory Group members are:  

• Sanjay Rughani, Chair, CEO, Standard Chartered Bank Uganda (Uganda)
• Sharon Ditchburn, Deputy Chair, & Managing Director/Founder, Capital Advantage Consultants (Australia)
• Zia-Ul-Mustafa Awan, CFO and Business Administrator, Pakistan Expo Centres Private Limited (Pakistan)
• Anastasija Boljević, Secretary General, Institute of Certified Accountants of Montenegro (Republic of Montenegro)
• Esther Bosch, Director Risk & Audit, Royal Schiphol Group (Netherlands) 
• Ibrahim (Murat) Çağlar, Chief Financial Officer, Sanovel (Türkiye)
• Eric Freudenreich, Independent Non-Executive Director (France)
• Lindawati Gani, Professor in Management Accounting, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Indonesia (Indonesia) 
• Tim Herrod, Vice President, Global Procurement, Albemarle Corporation (Canada)
• Margaret Muinde, Financial Controller, Kenya Roads Board (Kenya)
• Maria del Dado Alonso Sanchez, Group CFO, Berlin Brands Group (Spain) 
• Milton Segal, Executive Director: Standards, South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (South Africa)
• Muhammad Samiullah Siddiqui, CFO, Oxford University Press Pakistan (Pakistan) 
• Nancy Sau Ling Tse, JP, Independent Non-Executive Director [Hong Kong (Special Administrative Region of China)]
• Ichiro Waki, Group CEO, JBA Group (Japan)
• Gloria Zvaravanhu, Managing Director, Old Mutual Insurance Company (Zimbabwe)

Member expertise is drawn upon to deliver timely reports, articles, and case studies relevant to professional accountants in business across the globe. Explore their latest insights. 

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 135 countries and jurisdictions, representing more than 3 million accountants in public practice, education, government service, industry, and commerce. 

About the Professional Accountants in Business (PAIB) Advisory Group 
Professional accountants in business comprise a significant part of the profession working in commerce, industry, financial services, education, and the public and not-for-profit sectors. The Professional Accountants in Business (PAIB) Advisory Group focuses on ensuring these accountants meet the future needs of business and the public sector. 

3:00 PM - 4:30 PM CET 

The International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) today released a literature review, Educating Accountants for a Sustainable Future: A Literature Review of Competencies, Educational Strategies, and Challenges for Sustainability Reporting and Assurance. The review highlights key themes in current sustainability-related education, learning and development to provide insights on how the global accountancy profession can meet stakeholder demands for relevant and reliable sustainability reporting.

Recent years have seen a significant shift in demand for relevant sustainability-related disclosure, reporting, and assurance and the accountancy profession is working to prepare current and future professionals to meet these stakeholder demands. The literature review identifies the new and existing competencies required of professional accountants to provide these services; educational strategies to develop them; and the challenges the accountancy education community will face. The literature review also informed IFAC’s decision to make sustainability-related revisions to the International Education Standards  and will contribute to the forthcoming proposed revisions, expected in Q2 2024.

In addition to the literature review, IFAC will host a joint webinar with the International Association for Accounting Education & Research (IAAER) on February 7, 8:00 AM to 9:30 AM EST, featuring a discussion with the review’s lead author. Register for the webinar here.

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.

IFAC’s Strategic Plan is a global roadmap designed to help guide the work of the accountancy profession. It reflects the priorities of our 180 member organizations, which collectively serve the public interest by ensuring that society has access to a robust, ethical and future ready workforce of professional accountants.

Join IFAC and the International Association for Accounting Education and Research (IAAER) for a webinar on IFAC’s recently published literature review of competencies, educational strategies, and challenges for sustainability reporting and assurance. We will be joined by Erica Neuman, author of the literature review, who will share its key findings. 

Call for nominations for IFAC groups in 2025

The International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) today announced plans to revise the International Education Standards (IES) to bring greater focus to sustainability reporting and assurance competence and recognize the evolving role of professional accountants in this important area. IFAC anticipates launching a public consultation on proposed revisions to the standards in Q2 2024, marking a significant milestone for the global accountancy profession’s journey to advance sustainability disclosure standards that respond to the needs of investors and other stakeholders.

Extensive stakeholder outreach and research made it clear that while professional accountants’ skills and training are transferable to sustainability reporting and assurance, there’s a need for a focus on sustainability in the IES. The planned revisions will address this, including revised and new learning outcomes needed for professional development programs to best prepare future and current professional accountants for the increasing demands for sustainability reporting and assurance.

As IFAC commits to revising the IESs, in partnership with the IFAC International Panel on Accountancy Education, it encourages professional accountants to seize the opportunity to enhance their sustainability knowledge and expertise. IFAC CEO Kevin Dancey said, “As sustainability reporting and assurance become mainstream, professional accountants have a unique opportunity to lead and bring value. Professional accountants should begin their journey now to develop or enhance sustainability reporting and assurance abilities. It is imperative that we all commit to personal professional development, ensuring that we are ready to meet the moment with the competence and due care that define our profession.”

Professional accountancy organizations have crucial roles to play helping their members as they transition to increasing market demand for sustainability reporting and assurance. Collective action is needed at the global, regional and local levels to accelerate the pace at which existing knowledge is expanded upon. IFAC encourages its member organizations to enhance current learning requirements with respect to sustainability and to recognize those courses offered by others—including the IFRS Foundation's anticipated eLearning course, which may prove useful to PAOs to offer their members as it is designed to respond to market demand to begin implementing the inaugural IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards, IFRS S1 and S2.

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 the International Education Standards
The International Education Standards (IESs), issued by the International Federation of Accountants, set forth the principles that professional accountancy organizations should follow to build a national accountancy profession that is fully capable of fulfilling the complex demands economies and societies place on it. The IESs are authoritative and are used by IFAC member organizations when setting education requirements for professional accountants and aspiring professional accountants.

Dans leur rapport conjoint intitulé Protection des lanceurs d’alerte : Comprendre les lois, les pratiques, les tendances et les principaux aspects de la mise en œuvre, l’International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) et Comptables professionnels agréés du Canada (CPA Canada) présentent une analyse du sujet fondée sur des données probantes et des points de vue pratiques.

Élaboré avec l’apport du Whistleblowing International Network, ce rapport vise à renseigner les organisations professionnelles comptables, les professionnels comptables, les autorités compétentes et les décideurs partout dans le monde sur les questions relatives à l’adoption et à la mise en œuvre de lois sur la protection des lanceurs d’alerte ainsi que sur les facteurs à prendre en considération en matière de politique publique pour s’assurer que les cadres locaux sont adaptés aux besoins. Le rapport s’appuie sur le rapport publié par l’International Bar Association and Government Accountability Project en 2021, intitulé Are Whistleblowing Laws Working? A Global Study of Whistleblower Protection Litigation, qui expose les difficultés liées à l’élaboration et à la mise en œuvre de cadres efficaces.

Kevin Dancey, chef de la direction de l’IFAC, a précisé ce qui suit : « Les lanceurs d’alerte sont largement reconnus pour leur rôle central dans la mise au jour d’irrégularités financières, de crimes économiques et de cas de fraude et de corruption. Pour protéger et soutenir leur apport, et pour promouvoir la confiance et l’intégrité dans les secteurs public et privé, des lois strictes sont nécessaires. Dans le cadre de son engagement à agir dans l’intérêt public, la profession comptable doit se battre pour mettre en place des pratiques éthiques et responsables visant à protéger les lanceurs d’alerte contre les représailles et s’assurer que les auteurs d’actes répréhensibles ont des comptes à rendre. »

Pamela Steer, présidente et chef de la direction de CPA Canada, a quant à elle fait la déclaration suivante : « Bien que l’expansion considérable de l’activité législative dans ce domaine soit encourageante, force est de constater que les lois sur la dénonciation à l’échelle mondiale sont généralement peu efficaces. Pour que les mesures législatives puissent contribuer à la prévention et à la détection de la corruption dans le monde entier, les gens doivent savoir qu’il existe des lois et des pratiques qui ont un effet tangible, ce qui exige une transparence, une action et une sensibilisation continues. »

L’IFAC et CPA Canada tiendront une discussion en ligne le 12 décembre 2023, de 9 h à 10 h 30 (HE), au sujet de l’évolution des lois sur la protection des lanceurs d’alerte. Le webinaire se veut un forum où experts, décideurs, professionnels de la comptabilité et juristes pourront échanger sur le rôle des lanceurs d’alerte et sur les solutions possibles à certains grands problèmes sociaux. Inscrivez-vous dès aujourd’hui pour rester au fait de l’évolution de la question.

À propos de l’IFAC
L’IFAC est l’organisation mondiale de la profession comptable; elle est vouée à servir l’intérêt public en renforçant la profession et en contribuant au développement d’économies solides à l’échelle internationale. Elle compte 180 organismes membres et associés qui sont présents dans plus de 135 pays, et qui représentent des millions de comptables professionnels travaillant en cabinet, dans l’enseignement, dans la fonction publique, en entreprise ainsi que dans le secteur commercial.

À propos de CPA Canada
Comptables professionnels agréés du Canada (CPA Canada) est l’une des organisations comptables nationales les plus importantes au monde, représentant la profession comptable canadienne sur la scène nationale et internationale. Forte de plus de 220 000 membres, CPA Canada soutient la profession et agit dans l’intérêt public en faisant la promotion de la transparence des marchés des capitaux, en préparant ses membres aux défis posés par l’évolution constante du monde des affaires et en contribuant à l’élaboration de normes et de politiques publiques. Au pays, elle collabore avec les ordres de CPA des provinces et des territoires qui réglementent la profession en vertu du pouvoir que leur confère la loi. À l’étranger, elle travaille avec des organisations internationales pour renforcer la profession comptable partout dans le monde. cpacanada.ca/fr