The International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) finalised its revisions to the International Education Standards (IES) to help aspiring professional accountants implement sustainability reporting and assurance standards effectively, a news release said.
“These updates reinforce the accountancy profession’s role in supporting high-quality sustainability reporting and assurance while upholding integrity and professional quality,” the release said. IFAC’s revisions aim to establish a global baseline as sustainability data and information become more integral to corporate decision-making.
According to the release, improvements to the standards include:
- Integrated sustainability approach: Sustainability concepts are embedded throughout the IES learning outcomes addressing initial professional development, ensuring professional accountants are able to connect financial and sustainability data and information.
- New assurance competence area: Introduces learning outcomes that allow accountants to develop a strong foundational understanding of the fundamentals of assurance.
- Strengthened business acumen focus: Enhances accountants’ ability to assess sustainability impacts on business models, value chains, and organisational strategy.
- Enabling behavioural competencies: Reinforces skills such as decision-making, adaptability, and collaboration.
- Expanded explanatory materials: Provides additional guidance to facilitate implementation by professional accountancy organisations, universities, and training programmes.
IFAC encouraged early adoption ahead of the 1 July 2026 effective date.
China’s Qianhai business zone recognises CGMA designation holders
The Shenzhen Qianhai Authority has officially recognised CGMA designation holders as high-level finance and tax professionals. AICPA & CIMA welcomed the recognition, which further promotes the value and influence of management accounting expertise.
“We remain committed to working with Qianhai and the broader finance community to support talent development and industry advancement,” an AICPA & CIMA statement said.
The recognition follows an acknowledgement of the CGMA designation by Shenzhen’s professional title and evaluation system through China’s science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM) education framework.
FRC rolls out first series of SME audit resources
In its campaign to support small- and medium-size entities (SMEs) in accessing audit services, the UK Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has published supporting materials to help SMEs engage with those services, a news release said.
“The summary document provides owners and managers, as well as other stakeholders, with an introduction to audit standards, setting out the role International Standards on Auditing (ISAs) play in delivering transparent and accountable capital markets,” the release said, “and setting out the process for the development of standards in both the UK and international context.”
The FRC will continue to promote the proportionate application of ISAs and support SMEs with further supporting material in the coming months, the release said. The regulator explained in a podcast episode how those standards can be applied.
In another release, the regulator outlined its plans to support firms to build capabilities through the Scalebox initiative, to discern how effectively the audit market is working for SMEs that rely on it, as part of the FRC’s new three-year plan to boost economic growth in the UK.
UK government announces reform of finance systems
Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones has formed plans to transform the UK government’s approach to understanding, tracking, and evaluating spending across departments, according to a news release. Plans to overhaul current finance systems respond to a need to improve the timeliness and accuracy of data shared between departments and HM Treasury.
“Currently, departments track their own spending and performance and share data with the Treasury via manual uploads in online spreadsheets and physical letters,” the release said. “This means the Treasury does not have real-time access to departments’ finance and performance management data and cannot see in real time departmental spending and its impact.”
Under the new plans, ministers will have access to live and real-time performance data to see where programmes and departments are performing against their budgets and objectives, the release said.
The overhauls aim to modernise “the architecture of public spending” and improve decision-making across government.
— To comment on this article or to suggest an idea for another article, contact Steph Brown at Stephanie.Brown@aicpa-cima.com.