The International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) released a Small Business Sustainability Checklist (the Checklist) today to help small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) maximize the benefits of incorporating sustainability into their strategy and business operations.

The Checklist is a diagnostic tool designed to be tailored by each business according to its own unique circumstances, including its industry sector, lifecycle, and products and services provided. It lists a comprehensive range of initiatives and actions to be considered in terms of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors. Not all actions in the Checklist will be relevant to every SME, but the Checklist aims to help all organizations to take small steps on what could be a long but highly fulfilling journey.

As outlined in previous IFAC thought leadership, including Sustainability Information for Small Businesses: The Opportunity for Practitioners, small and medium-sized practices (SMPs) are ideally placed to help SMEs on this journey because of their deep business knowledge and expertise. As trusted advisers, they can recognize the risks and opportunities and advise SMEs on how best to act on them.

Monica Foerster, IFAC SMP Advisory Group Chair, said: “SMEs are critical to the global economy through their vital contributions to GDP and employment levels. Thus, they need to be an active part of the conversation on sustainability issues. Moreover, the expectations for SMEs to report on sustainability information, often due to requests from supply chain partners or finance providers, are likely to grow, resulting in new challenges to these businesses. SMPs are ideally placed to help SMEs tackle sustainability-related risks and to help unlock opportunities, enhance resilience, and illuminate the path to becoming future fit.”

The Checklist was developed under the umbrella of IFAC’s work on Practice Transformation, which highlights the need for SMPs to adapt to remain relevant and serve a rapidly changing world. SMPs are also strongly encouraged to use the Checklist to begin their own journey and consider their strategy, policies, and procedures on sustainability. This is also critical to both attracting and retaining the next generation of talent.

The Small Business Sustainability Checklist has been launched together with an expanded range of external resources to help practitioners upskill and build knowledge in this emerging area. IFAC has prepared a dedicated web page that provides material on sustainability reporting, advisory, assurance, and education and training. Professional Accountancy Organizations are encouraged to share the Checklist with their members and highlight the range of additional resources available.

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 Checklist.

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.

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.

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.

Artificial intelligence (AI) and intelligent automation (IA) are creating significant opportunities for organizations and individuals and are shaping the future of professional accountants as leaders and business partners.

Digital transformation based on intelligent automation can drive business growth and customer and employee satisfaction.

To provide in-depth insights about AI and IA and consider their impact on the work of accounting and finance professionals, IFAC’s Professional Accountants in Business (PAIB) Advisory Group received a presentation from Pascal Bornet, IA pioneer and CPA, and have shared a recording and takeaways from the discussion.

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Explore takeaways from the presentation and watch the recording to learn some of the opportunities opening to accounting and finance professionals who embrace AI and IA.

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.

Across the globe momentum is building for sustainability reporting and assurance in the public sector. The IPSASB decided to move forward with the development of public sector specific sustainability reporting standards beginning with a Climate-Related Disclosures standard. Finance and audit professionals working in government, public sector bodies and supreme audit institutions – Auditors-General’s offices, Courts of Accounts and similar (SAIs) –  can demonstrate leadership on this agenda, driving action to progress transparent reporting and assurance of expenditure and actions to address sustainability challenges.

At the World Investment Forum in Abu Dhabi on 16^th October three global bodies, ACCA, IFAC and IDI launched a summary of their forthcoming introduction to sustainability and assurance in the public sector.

Based on their ongoing work and recent global roundtables with public sector reporting and auditing experts, the report makes the case for a focus on the principle of sustainable development: "meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own need." It outlines what sustainability reporting and assurance mean for the public sector, why they are important, and key principles for governments, SAIs and other public sector bodies to consider in this journey.

Speaking at the ACCA/UN symposium on developing public sector sustainability reporting, Maggie McGhee, Executive director for Strategy and Governance at ACCA said, "A sustainable future for all is a primary concern across government activity. At the same time governments play a critical role in establishing good governance: the institutional, policy and regulatory frameworks in which society operates. So governments and other public sector bodies need to be able to measure and report on how their policies and expenditure are addressing sustainability challenges."

Laura Leka, Principal and public sector lead at IFAC said, "Policymakers and other stakeholders, including the public, need information to understand the sector’s impact on sustainable development. It’s important that sustainability reporting provides disclosures that are high-quality, decision-useful, and prepared in accordance with internationally recognized reporting and disclosure standards."

As sustainability reporting develops, independent external assurance will become increasingly necessary to build trust in the information being disclosed. Roundtable participants saw SAIs taking the lead, building on their experience auditing progress towards sustainable development.

Archana Shirsat, Deputy Director General at IDI, said, "SAIs have a central role to play in providing independent and objective oversight on sustainability information generated by the public sector. Determining appropriate forms of assurance or confidence, engaging with stakeholders and developing auditor competencies to audit sustainability information is important to build public trust."

Read the Executive Summary here.

About ACCA

We are ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants), a globally recognised professional accountancy body providing qualifications and advancing standards in accountancy worldwide.  

Founded in 1904 to widen access to the accountancy profession, we’ve long championed inclusion and today proudly support a diverse community of over 247,000 members and 526,000 future members in 181 countries.   

Our forward-looking qualifications, continuous learning and insights are respected and valued by employers in every sector. They equip individuals with the business and finance expertise and ethical judgment to create, protect, and report the sustainable value delivered by organisations and economies.  

Guided by our purpose and values, our vision is to develop the accountancy profession the world needs. Partnering with policymakers, standard setters, the donor community, educators and other accountancy bodies, we’re strengthening and building a profession that drives a sustainable future for all. 

Find out more at: www.accaglobal.com  

About IDI

The INTOSAI Development Initiative (IDI) is an autonomous implementing body that is not-for-profit. Its mandate is to provide support to Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) in developing countries to enhance their performance and capacity in a sustainable manner. The work done by IDI is based on the needs and challenges experienced by SAIs. The support provided is focused on a needs-based and sustainable approach. IDI seeks to empower SAIs by promoting gender-responsiveness and peer-to-peer cooperation as essential elements of long-term capacity development.

In each country, there is a Supreme Audit Institution that is tasked with auditing public funds to ensure that it is an effective, accountable, and inclusive institution. IDI is convinced that its contribution to strengthening Supreme Audit Institutions can make a difference in the lives of citizens for several reasons. Firstly, government audits are key components of effective public financial management and good governance. Secondly, SAIs contribute to the quality of government engagement and better state-society relations through their work. Lastly, SAIs are key stakeholders in supporting the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

www.idi.no

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.

www.ifac.org

This executive summary provides an outline of ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants), IDI (INTOSAI Development Initiative) and IFAC’s forthcoming introduction to sustainability reporting and assurance, intended for the public sector globally.

The report draws on two global roundtables, held in August and September 2023, with professionals involved in both reporting and audit in the public sector.

The executive summary launched at a session at the UN World Investment Forum 2023 in Abu Dhabi in October 2023. 

The State of Play Beyond the G20 expands IFAC's sustainability disclosure and assurance data to 20 additional jurisdictions beyond the G20 previously reported on. The State of Play Beyond the G20 focuses on the Global South with data from three jurisdictions from Latin America, six in Africa and Middle East, and four in the Asia-Pacific region, as well as six smaller-sized economies within the European Economic Area and Switzerland.

Fresh research from the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) expands its sustainability disclosure and assurance data to 20 additional jurisdictions beyond the G20 previously reported on. The new report, The State of Play: Beyond the G20, focuses on the Global South with data from three jurisdictions from Latin America, six in Africa and Middle East, and four in the Asia-Pacific region, as well as six smaller-sized economies within the European Economic Area and Switzerland.

IFAC CEO Kevin Dancey said, “When viewed in full, the State of Play series of reports now provide data on the current market practices of nearly 2,000 of the largest stock exchange-listed companies across forty-two jurisdictions over the period 2019 through 2021. This broader lens on disclosure and assurance makes it even more clear that we are still in the early stages of the journey to provide investors and other stakeholders with consistent, comparable, decision-useful, and assured sustainability information that is as reliable as financial information.”

While the data shows an upward trend in the incidence of assurance, the scope of assurance being obtained by companies is narrowing. Additionally, fragmentation in terms of which assurance standard is used is evident. The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board’s recently proposed sustainability assurance standard—International Standard on Sustainability Assurance 5000—addresses both of these issues. The International Ethics Board for Accountants is also working to enhance independence and ethics requirements to support high-quality assurance.

As governments, regulators and policy makers around the world are turning their attention to new sustainability requirements, IFAC is conducting this and other research to help raise awareness about the need for high-quality sustainability information and foster evidence-based policy and regulatory decisions, both of which are aligned with its commitment to the adoption of ISSB standards and the ISSB’s Partnership Framework.

Additional Key Findings

• 89% of companies reviewed reported some ESG information in 2021, with 48% of those companies receiving some level of assurance.
• Sustainability disclosure—in the G20 as well as beyond the G20—is still an “alphabet soup” of standards and frameworks. However this study found more connectivity between sustainability and financial information, with only 19% of companies relying on stand-alone sustainability reports, compared to 50% for the G20 (as reported in The State of Play: Sustainability Disclosure & Assurance 2019-2021, published in partnership with AICPA-CIMA).
• Assurance rates have risen from 37% to 48%, but engagements cover a narrowing set of topics.. Specifically, broader scope assurance has declined from 74% in 2019 to 64% of engagements in 2021.
• Most assurance engagements were conducted by audit firms—62% of assurance engagements in 2021.
• 81% of these assurance engagements applied the IAASB’s International Standard on Assurance Engagement 3000.

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.

The Public Trust in Tax survey which questioned 7,700 members of the public across the globe shows that accountants have a major role to play in addressing corruption, which negatively impact on attitudes towards tax in economies across the globe.  

Results show that 53.8% consider corruption a major factor, however most people believe the role of professional accountants contributes to improving tax systems by making them more efficient (59%), more effective (57%), and fairer (55%). 

The findings follow ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants), IFAC (the International Federation of Accountants), and CA ANZ (Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand) expanding their biennial G20 Public Trust in Tax survey – which this time omitted Russia and included New Zealand – to address not only corruption but also the issues of sustainable development and corruption, and how these two interconnect with trust in the tax system. The results are clear. 

Corruption has a significant impact on attitudes towards tax in economies across the globe, with over half of G20 respondents citing it as a major factor.  

At the same time, 68% of respondents in G20 countries see at least some connection between tax and sustainable development, and 57% would be prepared to pay more tax to support it.

In this context, the continued high levels of trust in professional accountants are more important than ever. The results shows that they remain the single most trusted stakeholder in tax in every G20 country, as it has been the case in every biennial G20 Public Trust in Tax survey since the initiative began in 2017.  

Kevin Dancey, CEO of IFAC, says: “The impact of corruption on trust in tax has been an emerging theme in our recent surveys, particularly in our 2022 Global Perspectives report, which focuses on jurisdictions outside of the G20. Now, for the first time, we have specific data on that point, and the results are illuminating. Taken together with the continued trust in professional accountants, and additional new data on views about sustainable development, insight into the important interconnections between these issues is starting to come into view.” 

Helen Brand, chief executive of ACCA, says: ‘Throughout the course of these surveys, public unease about how tax moneys are spent has been a constant theme in respondents’ comments. Perceptions of corruption are a clear barrier to engagement with the tax system. Accountants have a central role to play in countering corruption, bringing transparency and accountability to the collection and spending of taxes across both public and private sectors.’ 

Ainslie van Onselen, CEO of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CA ANZ), says: ‘As leaders in the global accountancy profession, we are proud to see the sustained high levels of trust in professional accountants, which is hard won, but easily lost. It is vital that we constantly work to maintain and earn trust through both our individual and collective actions. Now, more than ever, the relationship between taxpayers, businesses and governments must be strengthened to provide security and certainty for our broader societies and economies and we look forward to continuing to engage with key stakeholders to drive trust in tax and trust in our profession.’ 

The survey reveals the attitudes and opinions of the general public towards their tax systems, and the actors involved in them. The key findings indicate that: 

• Trust in key stakeholders has improved in most regions, but there are still significant variations; 
• People see tax systems as a mechanism for positive change, but are concerned about corruption; 
• People generally think that levels of taxes paid are reasonable. 

This year’s survey is launched on 14 September at an online event hosted by IFAC, ACCA and CA ANZ. Register here.  

Editor’s Notes 

The study is based on an online survey, conducted in the second quarter of 2023, of more than 7,700 individuals across all the G20 countries apart from Russia, plus New Zealand. The sample in each country is balanced by demographics based on census data, including age (targeting individuals of taxpaying age), education, gender, ethnicity, household income levels, and geographic location within the country.  

Read the report 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.

About ACCA 

We are ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants), a globally recognised professional accountancy body providing qualifications and advancing standards in accountancy worldwide.

Founded in 1904 to widen access to the accountancy profession, we’ve long championed inclusion and today proudly support a diverse community of over 247,000 members and 526,000 future members in 181 countries.  

Our forward-looking qualifications, continuous learning and insights are respected and valued by employers in every sector. They equip individuals with the business and finance expertise and ethical judgment to create, protect, and report the sustainable value delivered by organisations and economies.   

Guided by our purpose and values, our vision is to develop the accountancy profession the world needs. Partnering with policymakers, standard setters, the donor community, educators and other accountancy bodies, we’re strengthening and building a profession that drives a sustainable future for all. 

Find out more at: www.accaglobal.com   

About Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand 

Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand represents more than 136,000 financial professionals, supporting them to make a difference to the businesses, organisations and communities in which they work and live. Chartered Accountants are known as Difference Makers. The depth and breadth of their expertise helps them to see the big picture and chart the best course of action. Find out more at www.charteredaccountantsanz.com.