عرض العناصر حسب علامة : AICPA

التسجيل مفتوح الآن لدورة إدارة تنفيذية مدعومة من خبراء متخصصين من كلية أوكسفورد للأعمال، و AICPA و CIMA.

سيطلق المعهد الأمريكي للمحاسبين القانونيين (AICPA) والرابطة الوطنية لمجالس المحاسبة الحكومية (NASBA) برنامجًا مبتكرًا للدراسات العليا بالتعاون مع جامعة تولين للتقدم المهني (SoPA).

أصدر المعهد الأمريكي للمحاسبين القانونيين (AICPA) الذي يمثل AICPA و CIMA مجموعة أدوات التخطيط الاستراتيجي PCPS، وهو مورد مصمم لمساعدة شركات المحاسبة في تحويل نموذج الأعمال.

وفقاً لتقرير AICPA و CIMA و IFAC يتزايد الزخم من أجل الإفصاح عن الحوكمة البيئية والاجتماعية وحوكمة الشركات وضمانها، ومع ذلك، لا يزال الإبلاغ عن التناقضات باقٍ

معلومات إضافية

  • المحتوى بالإنجليزية The largest global companies continue to show momentum on corporate reporting and related assurance involving environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues, according to a new report from the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) and AICPA & CIMA, the latter two of which form the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants. Significant hurdles remain, however, when it comes to providing consistent, comparable and high-quality sustainability information for investors and lenders,

    Some 95% of large companies reported on ESG matters in 2021, the latest year available, the IFAC-AICPA & CIMA study found. That’s up from 91% in 2019. Sixty-four percent of companies obtained assurance over at least some ESG information in 2021, up from 51% in 2019. The inability so far to coalesce around agreed upon global standards continues to create challenges, however.

    “Even as we see companies increasingly report on ESG and sustainability, the data we’re tracking reveals continuing fragmentation around the world in terms of which standards and frameworks are used,” noted IFAC CEO Kevin Dancey. “Eighty-six percent of companies use multiple standards and frameworks. This patchwork system does not support consistent, comparable, and reliable reporting. Importantly, it also does not provide the necessary foundation for globally consistent, high-quality sustainability assurance.”

    The report also examines the extent to which companies provide forward-looking information on emissions reduction targets and plans. While two-thirds of companies disclosed targets, they lag the rate at which companies report their historic greenhouse gas emissions (97%).

    “Steady increases in reporting and assurance are significant, yet more companies need to take the additional step to obtain assurance to build trust and confidence in what they report,” said Susan Coffey, AICPA & CIMA’s CEO of public accounting. “Our profession’s role in providing that assurance is crucial. CPAs have unquestioned competence, professional judgment and operate within a robust system built with public protection in mind. We should be the clear choice for instilling trust and value in ESG data around the world.”

    Additional Key Findings

    Use of Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) standards and the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) framework have increased significantly between 2019 and 2021: there was a 29% increase for SASB standards usage and 30% for the TCFD framework.
    While accounting firms conduct more engagements, their market share—57% of sustainability/ESG assurance engagements—has declined from 63% in 2019.
    When companies obtained assurance from a professional accountant, they chose their statutory auditor 70% of the time.
    Globally, the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board’s International Assurance Engagement Standard 3000 (Revised) remains the most popular standard when providing assurance:
    95% of firms providing assurance use ISAE 3000, up from 88% in 2019.
    38% of non-accountant service providers use ISAE 3000, up from 34% in 2019.
    About the Study
    IFAC and AICPA &CIMA partnered to understand the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) reporting and assurance practices on a global basis by capturing reports containing ESG information in 21 jurisdictions. Some 1,350 companies were reviewed—100 from each of the largest six economies, with 50 companies reviewed in the remaining 15 jurisdictions. The current report includes data from 2019-2021. Full methodology is available in the study.

تتعاون AICPA و CIMA اللتان تشكلان معًا رابطة المحاسبين المهنيين المعتمدين الدوليين، وكلية Saïd للأعمال بجامعة أكسفورد لتقديم برنامج شهادة الإدارة التنفيذية في الاستدامة لمحترفي المحاسبة والمالية.

معلومات إضافية

  • المحتوى بالإنجليزية AICPA & CIMA, which together form the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, and the University of Oxford's Saïd Business School are partnering to offer an executive management certificate programme in sustainability for accounting and finance professionals.

    "Simply put, this exciting collaboration will help to improve the world we live in," Soumitra Dutta, Dean of the Saïd Business School, said in a news release announcing the programme. "With our school's world-class teaching, we will equip accounting and finance professionals across the globe with the skills and knowledge they need to better focus businesses on their social and environmental impact. I cannot imagine a more important time for such a programme, as we all face the very real dangers of the growing climate crisis."

    The programme, scheduled to launch later this year, is designed for mid- to senior-level accounting professionals, such as CFOs, chief accounting officers, and board members. It will be taught online through live classes, giving participants access to Oxford faculty members with expertise in sustainability issues, and will provide an unparalleled opportunity to develop a global network of contacts, the release said.

    "As we move closer to global sustainability standards, there is high demand for accounting and finance leaders who can successfully navigate this dramatic shift to greater organisational transparency beyond traditional financial metrics," said Andrew Harding, FCMA, CGMA, AICPA & CIMA's CEO–Management Accounting. "Our new programme will give key players in this transformation the skills they need to build trust with stakeholders and provide consistent, comparable information to develop strategies and shape decisions related to sustainability."

    Graduates of the programme will earn a certificate jointly signed by Oxford Saïd and AICPA & CIMA, and they also will benefit from a dynamic and impactful global alumni network — the Oxford Saïd Elumni Network.

    The programme is intended to:

    Equip aspiring professionals with subject matter expertise, insight, and practical knowledge to support and lead their organisation's response to sustainability issues;
    Alert employers and prospective employers that certificate holders possess a deep understanding of how sustainability issues affect their organisation's ability to create long-term value, with relevant implications for decision-making and resource allocation; and
    Deepen a professional accountant's ability to apply business skills to sustainability issues, which will have a profound effect on organisational business models.
    According to the release, AICPA & CIMA and Oxford Saïd plan to explore other joint executive management programmes relating to management accounting and the future of finance.

أصدر المعهد الأمريكي للمحاسبين القانونيين (AICPA) أحدث مخططات CPA Examination® Blueprints، الوثيقة الرسمية للمحتوى المؤهل للتقييم في الامتحان. تستند المخططات إلى المعرفة والمهارات المطلوبة من CPA المرخص حديثًا لتلبية متطلبات الشركات وأصحاب العمل والعملاء.

بقلم الدكتور حسام الدين أحمد خليل

عضو المجمع الدولي العربي للمحاسبين القانونيين

 

معلومات إضافية

  • المحتوى بالإنجليزية More Companies Obtaining Independent Assurance on Sustainability Data, According to Global Study by IFAC, AICPA & CIMA
    58% of global companies obtained ESG assurance in 2020
    Assurance engagements were mostly limited in scope
    61% of ESG assurance services were performed by professional accounting firms, with substantial variation in practice within different jurisdictions
    The number of global companies obtaining independent assurance on their environmental, social and governance (ESG) information increased from 51% to 58% in 2020, compared to the previous year, according to new data from the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) and Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), the latter two of which represent the unified voice of the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants.

    The 2020 information released today is an update to the accounting bodies’ inaugural study last year that examined global trends in both sustainability-related reporting and its assurance. This latest update offers the first benchmark of progress relative to the original data. A follow-up study that incorporates 2021 information is expected to be released at a later date.

    When it comes to ESG assurance, 82% of engagements were limited in scope in 2020, essentially the same as in 2019 (83%). Some 61% of assurance engagements were performed by audit firms on a global basis, a slight decline from the previous year (63%). Jurisdictions with some of the highest rates of assurance performed by professional accountants include Australia, France, Italy, Germany and Spain. In other countries, including South Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States, most assurance engagements are conducted by service providers outside of the accountancy profession. Professional accountants have high professional standards, including independence, and are subject to regulatory oversight, which is critical in this space.

    On the reporting side, the study found 92% of global companies provided some ESG data to investors, either through integrated, annual or standalone reports. The use of, or reference to, Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) standards more than doubled in 2020. This is important because new disclosure proposals from the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) include and build upon SASB standards. (SASB’s parent organization, The Value Reporting Foundation, will consolidate into the IFRS Foundation on Aug. 1, 2022, to support the work of the ISSB.)

    “It’s encouraging to see continued high levels of reporting on sustainability information and an overall increase in assurance globally,” said IFAC CEO Kevin Dancey. “But our research tells us that 80% of companies are using multiple frameworks or standards, which results in data that is not consistent, comparable or decision-useful for investors, stakeholders or society at large. Sustainability reporting and assurance will only reach its full potential when it is based on a harmonized global system led by the International Sustainability Standards Board’s comprehensive baseline of disclosure.”

    The 2020 study data also shows 89% of companies presented at least some information in each of four categories: greenhouse gasses, other environmental factors, social and governance. Yet only 43% provided assurance for all four categories. The most common area for independent assurance was greenhouse gases (95%).

    Seventy percent of global companies that engaged a professional accounting firm to perform the ESG assurance engagement chose the firm that audits their financial statements.

    “High-quality reporting requires high-quality assurance,” said Susan S. Coffey, CPA, CGMA, AICPA & CIMA’s CEO of public accounting. “Auditors already have a holistic view of a company’s risk profile, structure and processes, so it makes sense for that firm to also engage in ESG assurance. Professionally qualified and licensed accountants have the requisite expertise, objectivity, integrity and commitment to professional standards that are essential for instilling trust in ESG reporting.”

ألقى أندرياس باركو، رئيس مجلس معايير المحاسبة الدولية (IASB)، كلمة أمام المندوبين في مؤتمر AICPA وCIMA حول التطورات الحالية لـ SEC وPCAOB في 7 ديسمبر في واشنطن. في خطابه، أوجز أولويات IASB الفورية والمستقبلية، وتحدث عن الأهمية المتزايدة لقضايا الاستدامة في التقارير المالية وتبادل وجهات نظره حول التقارب مع FASB.

معلومات إضافية

  • المحتوى بالإنجليزية Connectivity, core work and convergence—what next for IFRS Accounting Standards?
    Barckow Andreas
    Andreas Barckow, Chair of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), addressed delegates at the AICPA and CIMA Conference on Current SEC and PCAOB Developments on 7 December in Washington. In his speech, he outlined the IASB’s immediate and future priorities, talked about the growing importance of sustainability issues in financial reporting and shared his views on convergence with the FASB.

    Good afternoon, it is a pleasure to be with you today. My name is Andreas Barckow, and since July this year I have served as Chair of the International Accounting Standards Board, or IASB. The IASB is the independent standard-setting board of the IFRS Foundation, which is responsible for IFRS Accounting Standards required for use by more than 140 countries.
    Although US companies are required to use US GAAP, many have international subsidiaries that report using IFRS Accounting Standards. Moreover, US investors investing internationally are prolific users of financial statements that comply with IFRS Accounting Standards. Your views matter to us, so please continue getting involved in our work.

    Given the role IFRS Accounting Standards play in United States, I’ll focus my comments on three strategic topics: sustainability, our current and future work programme and convergence.

    Sustainability-related financial disclosures
    First off is sustainability. It might seem odd for the Chair of the IASB to begin by talking about sustainability. However, the principle-based nature of IFRS Accounting Standards means that sustainability issues such as climate change and other emerging risks are already covered by our existing requirements, even though such risks are not explicitly referenced—companies are required to consider sustainability-related matters in their financial statements when their effect is material to users of the financial statements.

    About a year ago we published educational material that highlighted the potential relationship between current requirements in IFRS Accounting Standards and climate-related matters. The bottom line is that even if a Standard does not say ‘this applies to risks and obligations arising from climate-related matters, too’, those requirements need to be considered. Topics covered in the November 2020 educational material include impairment, provisions, and insurance contract liabilities—and some less obvious points like risks arising from financial instruments. I highlight this material as a reminder that climate change risk is an issue for today, not just for tomorrow.

    Sustainability has become a mainstream topic for every company board of directors. The topic is making its way from the investor relations and communications functions straight to the finance department, and for good reason—it is here where robust processes and controls resides. So, for those involved in financial reporting, let me assure you—sustainability is going to become part of your day job—if it isn’t already!

    Earlier today, you may have heard my colleague Lee White talk about a new sister-board to the IASB, known as the International Sustainability Standards Board, or ISSB. The creation of the new board was announced last month at the COP26 climate conference and welcomed by more than 40 jurisdictions around the world, including the United States. Its purpose is to develop a comprehensive global baseline of investor-focused, sustainability-related disclosure standards for the global capital markets. It will be up to each jurisdiction to decide whether and how to incorporate the global baseline into their own requirements, and there will be no requirement for the jurisdiction to be using IFRS Accounting Standards.

    To facilitate a running start of the new Board, the ISSB will benefit from recommendations to create two standards—one on climate-related disclosures and one on general disclosure. These recommendations—or prototypes—have been developed in a joint effort by the IASB and leading investor-focused sustainability organisations. And we are truly delighted that two of these organisations, the Value Reporting Foundation—home of integrated reporting and SASB Standards—and the Climate Disclosure Standards Board will become part of the ISSB.

    While both the ISSB and the IASB will be independent, our Trustees have made clear that the two Boards are expected to work in very close cooperation to drive compatible reporting from the outset. This is a message that we have also heard loud and clear from our stakeholders and advisory bodies—connectivity between accounting requirements and sustainability disclosure requirements is essential. The left hand must work in sync with the right. Hence, we will strive to make our Standards compatible and complementary—to facilitate seamless reporting by companies to provide investors with a comprehensive, decision-useful set of information.

    However, there is also clear delineation between our responsibilities. The IASB is predominantly focused on reporting transactions and events that have taken place up until the reporting date; the ISSB’s focus is on risk and opportunities that could impact the company’s future value and cashflows. We must work to avoid gaps, frictions or unnecessary overlaps in the two boards’ literature. The two types of information should neatly fit together like two pieces in a puzzle.

    As I said at the outset, the topic of sustainability disclosures is very likely to be coming your way if it hasn’t already. If you want to stay up to date with our sustainability work, then create an account on our website and choose to follow sustainability.

    Current work programme and future direction
    Working with the ISSB will be important, but we also have a lot to get on with ourselves. And the arrival of a new Chair does not mean we throw everything done to date overboard and start afresh. So, let me touch on some of the bigger projects on our current agenda, before looking at our future agenda.

    The last 18 months have been intense for everyone given the enduring pandemic. We have asked a lot from our stakeholders, having published several consultation documents for comment, even though we have provided longer comment periods than normal. I want to thank everyone for their invaluable input—writing comment letters, engaging in fieldwork or participating in outreach events. We are now discussing the feedback we have received. Let me highlight three key projects—Primary Financial Statements, post-implementation reviews and Goodwill and Impairment.

    Primary Financial Statements
    Our Primary Financial Statements project consists of three key elements—creating a better structure for the statement of profit or loss by introducing an operating, an investing and a financing category of income and expenses and requiring companies to present two new subtotals; improving the way companies aggregate and disaggregate information; and requiring the disclosure of information of some management-defined performance measures—that is, performance measures not specified by IFRS Accounting Standards. We also have proposed limited changes to the statement of cash flows to improve consistency in classification by removing options.

    Overall, the proposals have been well received. Surely, there have been concerns regarding some of the details and requests for clarification, but nothing so earth-shattering that we would see a need to go back to the drawing board completely. The IASB started its deliberations of the feedback in spring this year, and while we are making good progress, we will certainly spend the next year, too, to get us through all the feedback and make decisions.

    Post-implementation reviews
    Next are what we call post-implementation reviews, or PIRs. Our due process requires us to conduct a post-implementation review of any new Standard or major amendment two to three years after the pronouncement has become effective. The objective of such reviews is to assess whether the Standard is working as the IASB had intended and not to reopen rounds of known arguments.

    We deliberately allow time for practice to develop before we review the requirements. Concerns raised in the early days after new requirements are introduced are often resolved without the need for us to get involved through standard-setting. This is of course a balancing act—issues may arise that require us to act before we get to the review stage. But as a global standard-setter we must be mindful of the challenges that arise when we do act. Every change affects tens of thousands of companies across 100+ jurisdictions. That is the main reason why the reviews don’t begin until after a reasonable time has passed.

    We are currently working on two such reviews: the first is on our suite of consolidation Standards—IFRS 10, 11 and 12— and the second is on our financial instruments Standard, IFRS 9, which we have just initiated.

    Overall feedback on the consolidation Standards indicates they are working well—somewhat contrary to the heated debates during the development of the Standards. Not everyone agreed with the changes that were brought in at that time, but initial concerns have largely gone away. Suggested improvements are mainly limited to specific areas of application, and we will consider whether and how to best address them. This is a good example of why it is best to let practice develop before considering making changes to new requirements.

    Our financial instruments Standard became effective in 2018, so it would be about time to start the PiR. Yet, given the new impairment approach, we decided to postpone the review of those provisions to gather further evidence of how the Standard responds to the challenges posed by the current pandemic. We are, therefore, focusing on the classification and measurement requirements first and will consider the remaining requirements later. One area of particular interest we are looking at now concerns financial instruments with ESG features. We are aware that these are becoming increasingly popular, so we want to make sure that our existing requirements can be applied to them and produce meaningful results.

    Goodwill and Impairment
    The third project I will touch on from our current work plan is Goodwill and Impairment, which is actually a follow-up from the PIR on IFRS 3, our Standard on business combinations. The IASB published a discussion paper on this topic in March 2020. At that time, the IASB had concluded that the existing impairment provisions could not be significantly improved rather than making changes at the fringes. Having concluded that we couldn’t respond to investors’ concerns about post-acquisition performance by improving the effectiveness of testing goodwill for impairment, we shifted gears and asked whether companies can—at a reasonable cost—provide investors with more useful information about the acquisitions they make to help them assess whether they have been a success.

    I should mention that the IASB also considered whether it should change the subsequent accounting for goodwill and revert back to an amortisation model. However, it was pretty much evenly split between those wanting to retain the existing impairment-only approach, and those wanting to have another look at amortisation, so did not propose any changes in the discussion paper. When looking at the feedback, it is evident that our stakeholders are equally divided over that question, with no clear trend being visible by jurisdiction, industry or professional background. My takeaway from that is that there is no perfect solution; both approaches have their benefits and drawbacks.

    The IASB’s primary objective to bring transparency to the subsequent performance of a business combination was received well by users and less well received by preparers. Their concerns are ranging from an inability to track the performance of the acquired business to having to provide potentially company-sensitive and forward-looking information. Given the robustness and diversity in views, finding a solution is truly challenging. One approach we are considering is to investigate a package of disclosures that could substitute, at least in part, the perceived loss of information that proponents of the impairment-only approach fear when abandoning that model. Over the coming months, we will be testing sample disclosures with preparers, auditors and users and seek their feedback before making any hardwired decisions.

    There is another dimension to this project—our colleagues at the FASB are also reviewing their goodwill literature and have tentatively reached a different conclusion to the IASB. Given that our pronouncements on business combinations are largely converged, an important consideration is to investigate how we can stay aligned. I will come back to this issue at the end of my speech.

    Agenda consultation and future work programme
    We are committed to completing the projects on our current agenda, but we are also looking at our future work programme. Our future work and priorities will be guided by feedback from our latest agenda consultation. This is a process we are required by our due process to undertake every five years—to seek views on whether we’ve got the right balance in our work and views on which issues we should prioritise.

    Our consultation ran from March to September and was targeted at our future agenda covering the period from 2022 to 2026. We have received great feedback from all corners of the world. Our staff are still working through feedback received. Some key themes are already becoming clear— ‘be mindful how much change you impose on stakeholders; reserve time for working with the new ISSB as well as on emerging issues; and do something on intangibles.’ Especially the last message is music to my ears, because I have long held the view that we must improve the transparency around intangible items.

    Encouragingly, stakeholders think our strategic direction and balance of activities are about right—that is focusing approximately half of our resources on working on new projects and devoting the remaining time on maintenance and supporting consistent application; on our private company Standard, the IFRS for SMEs Standard; on digital financial reporting; on understandability and accessibility; and on stakeholder engagement. Some stakeholders want us to focus slightly less on developing new requirements and more on maintaining the Standards and supporting consistent application, but overall stakeholders seem to be happy.

    New projects our stakeholders have suggested as high priorities for our future work plan include work on climate-related risks (including pollutant pricing mechanisms), cryptocurrencies and related transactions, going concern, intangible assets and the statement of cash flows. We yet need to determine whether these issues are all for us—some items in this list may be better suited to the ISSB or may be areas to be considered jointly—and whether and how we should approach them. I have already confessed that I am very interested in starting work on intangibles. It’s a thorny issue but one where I think transparency is utterly needed and where I am sure we can make improvements.

    Some of the projects I have mentioned in relation to both our current and future work plan are topics the FASB has also received similar feedback on or are linked to projects the IASB and the FASB have worked on together in the past.

    Convergence
    Let me therefore finish by saying a few words about our work with colleagues at the FASB—and about convergence. When the IASB was formed 20 years ago, it was modelled on the FASB. Our structures and processes are similar, and from the outset we’ve worked together in very close cooperation, and that cooperation continues to this day.

    The label ‘convergence’ can have different meanings. I like to think of it as something that can refer to a process as well as to a product. In the early 2000s, the IASB and the FASB worked hard to bring our respective literature closer by engaging in joint standard-setting and joint decision-making. This aspect of convergence was the focus until 2011, and it led to requirements that were fully or largely identical. Our Standards on business combinations are evidence of such efforts, and so is our literature governing segment reporting, consolidation, revenue recognition and leases. Convergence was then used as a label describing a process.

    Now, it is one thing getting to converged Standards. It is yet another is to keep converged Standards converged. We both realise that keeping converged literature converged is oftentimes easier said than done. We both have an obligation to our stakeholders, and we both want to be responsive when issues arise and are flagged to us. Each board has its processes and due process obligations it needs to follow.

    So, preserving what our predecessors achieved is an ongoing challenge, and it is now up to me as IASB Chair and Rich Jones as FASB Chair to work together so that the gains of the earlier years’ convergence work are preserved for the benefit of investors around the globe.

    Keeping each other informed is obviously vitally important. And as I said, our cooperation continues to this day. The FASB is and has been an active member of our Accounting Standards Advisory Forum since its inception; we have maintained fruitful annual joint education sessions; and we also have frequent engagements at board level and among our staff. And I for one would hope we can continue and deepen our relationship to the mutual benefit of our two boards and our stakeholders.

    Close
    I have focused my remarks on some of the bigger picture topics we see today to give you insight into the IASB’s immediate and future priorities. I have talked to the growing importance of sustainability issues and how they interrelate with financial reporting. I have spoken about the IASB’s current and future agenda. And I have shared my views with you as to how I see convergence with the FASB. I hope to have given you food for thought and wish you all an interesting conference.

    Thank you all for your time and attention.
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في المحاسبين العرب، نتجاوز الأرقام لتقديم آخر الأخبار والتحليلات والمواد العلمية وفرص العمل للمحاسبين في الوطن العربي، وتعزيز مجتمع مستنير ومشارك في قطاع المحاسبة والمراجعة والضرائب.

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