CPAnet - Accounting Zone

AICPA Launches IFRS Certificate Program

photo via www.cpalinks.com

"The AICPA has long taken a leadership role in promoting the goal of one set of high-quality globally accepted accounting standards among public companies worldwide and readying U.S. CPAs for use of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). To help CPAs understand and apply IFRS, meet marketplace demands and enjoy enhanced career opportunities, the AICPA has launched the IFRS Certificate Program. Through the program, the AICPA’s most ambitious educational resource on IFRS to date, a Certificate of Educational Achievement will be given for completion of a comprehensive and rigorous curriculum of online self-study courses that offer a broad foundation in IFRS. This marker of competence in implementing IFRS enables CPAs to demonstrate their knowledge of IFRS to current and potential employers and clients in the expanding and increasingly open global marketplace..."
For more information, visit IFRS.com and read this FAQ document

Source: AICPA

Preparing for IFRS: An Opportunity for Finance Transformation

via www.cpalinks.com

"Companies in the United States and around the world face the challenge of complying with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) standards. But how are major companies across all industries coping with the new requirements?

In Accenture’s view, IFRS should be about more than just accounting standard compliance. This is an opportunity for companies to strengthen their distinctive capabilities. Companies that adopt IFRS to make improvements in key areas such as finance and supporting IT applications—in essence, investing in vital areas of the business during the current economic downturn—will be better positioned for competitive advantage and high performance than those that approach IFRS conversion simply as a compliance initiative..."
download report (pdf)

In a recent survey of US companies commissioned by Accenture, four main findings were uncovered:

1. IFRS’s impact will be much larger and broader than anticipated.

2. IFRS provides companies with a significant opportunity to achieve broader transformational change and drive business benefits beyond compliance.

3. CFOs perceive the impacts and opportunities of IFRS differently from other constituents in finance and outside of finance.

4. IFRS’s impact on enterprise performance management capabilities will be significant.

Source: accenture.com