Canada's CAs encourage review of IFRS Exposure Draft

TORONTO - What lies ahead with the changeover to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) is now much clearer for Canadian businesses, according to the Chartered Accountants of Canada.

The Accounting Standards Board has released an Exposure Draft of the coming standards. The new international standards will apply to Canadian publicly accountable enterprises. In general, these can include publicly-listed companies, certain government corporations and enterprises with fiduciary responsibilities such as banks, insurance companies, credit unions and securities firms. The draft document outlines what will be expected when IFRS is adopted for interim and annual financial statements for fiscal years beginning on January 1, 2011, or thereafter.

"With an excellent look at what is coming, business leaders and financial planners must use this opportunity to determine how their operations will be affected," said Ron Salole, Vice-President, Standards with the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA). "This is a chance to review the Exposure Draft from a fatal-flaw perspective and determine whether the move to IFRS will create any unique issues upon application within Canada."

Businesses increasingly make decisions in a global context and the move to international standards will place Canada on the same reporting playing field as more than 100 other countries, including the U.K. and other EU nationals as well as Australia.

"A common international accounting language will help promote comparability for publicly traded companies world wide," said Salole. "IFRS is principles-based and is similar to the current Canadian approach in terms of conceptual framework and topics covered. Getting an early start in preparing for the transition to IFRSs is essential for an effective and efficient changeover."

The Exposure Draft can be downloaded from a dedicated IFRS web site launched by the CICA (www.cica.ca/IFRS). The site offers a variety of valuable resources to steer individuals and companies through the IFRS transition process.

In addition, a major conference on IFRS is being staged in Toronto April?23-25, 2008. The conference is a joint presentation by the CICA and the International Accounting Standards Committee Foundation. Sir David Tweedie, Chairman of the International Accounting Standards Board, will be speaking at both the conference and during a luncheon at the Empire Club on April 25, when Toronto hosts the IFRS gathering. A series of IFRS courses and other events will also be presented by the CA profession across the country throughout the transition process and beyond.