The International Federation of Accountants’ (IFAC’s) series of resources examine the role of accountants in a global, strategic, and sustainability-focused change. IFAC looks at how professional accountants can prepare to lead and guide their organisations through an uncertain future.
IFAC’s new toolkit aims to equip professional accountancy organisations (PAOs) with a “clear, practical, and outcome-driven framework to develop, implement, and monitor an effective strategy”, a news release said. It also offers guidance for updating and refining existing strategic plans.
“A strategic plan can guide and drive a PAO’s activities and priorities, determining where the organisation is going, how it will get there, and how it will know if it gets there,” the release said.
Before the toolkit’s official release, several PAOs, including IFAC member associate Emirates Association for Accountants & Auditors, trialled the toolkit to shape its development, the release said, and have seen improvement in their strategic planning.
In another news release, IFAC announced the release of a new report, Sustainability Assurance: What to Expect, in its ongoing initiative to “convene, inform, and mobilise sustainability reporting” and assurance stakeholders.
“Policymakers and regulators around the world are moving with pace to introduce essential requirements for sustainability reporting and assurance,” the release said. “We invite organisations to reach out to us with opportunities for further collaboration.”
IFAC encourages accountants to embrace their pivotal role in this transformation, the release said, and calls for sustainability assurance engagements to be conducted in accordance with global standards.
Accountants will also be key to enabling transformative economic development in Africa, another release from IFAC said, discussing its new report written in collaboration with the Pan African Federation of Accountants (PAFA).
The report, The Accountancy Profession Enabling Africa’s Transformation, outlines how accountants, CFOs, and trusted business advisers are best positioned to drive sustainable economic growth in Africa.
“Africa’s development is vital in a regional and global context,” the release said.
Achieving the continent’s growth and sustainable development ambitions requires the active contribution of accountancy and finance professionals.
“We believe the accountancy profession has a critical role in achieving transformation in Africa and empowering change,” said IFAC CEO Lee White. “We value our partnership with PAFA to support regional efforts towards addressing Africa’s priorities to enable sustainable growth and build capital market efficiency and transparency.”
ISSB details initiatives and priorities for the next two years
To support the application of sustainability-related disclosure requirements, the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) seeks to “streamline and consolidate frameworks and standards for disclosures about transition plans”, a news release said.
Following discussions at the IFRS Foundation Conference during London Climate Action Week, the board also relayed plans to develop more strategic partnerships with the Transition Plan Taskforce, the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, the Carbon Disclosure Project, the Taskforce on Nature-Related Financial Disclosures, and the Global Reporting Initiative to harmonise the reporting landscape.
“During the next two years, the ISSB will deliver further harmonisation and consolidation of the disclosure landscape in response to market demand,” the release said.
Over time, the ISSB will also consider whether to enhance the application guidance within IFRS S2.
“The idea is not to come to a monopoly. It’s to come to a well-organised ecosystem, and that organised ecosystem will create the global baseline,” ISSB Chair Emmanuel Faber said at the IFRS conference this week. “We are the core of the global baseline, creating an infrastructure, but it will only work if it is made with partners at different places around the value chain of that ecosystem of the global baseline.”
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