With a view to discuss and formulate an opinion on the exposure draft of International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) for SMEs issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants (ACCA) on Wednesday organised a roundtable to discuss "Putting Small Business First."
The Head of ACCA Pakistan Masud Mirza chaired the roundtable, which was also addressed by the Head of Policy Development ACCA, Dr Afra Sajjad, Media Co-ordinator Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dr Ayesha Javed Akram and Zainub Mubarik Admin and Tax Manger of M A Chaudhary and Co.
Federal Secretary Industries, Production and Special Initiatives Shahab Khawaja was scheduled to be chief guest who could not attend due to pre-occupation in Islamabad. The participants of the roundtable were of the opinion that even though the IFRS for SMEs was a commendable step taken by IASB and recognition that full IFRS cannot be adopted by SMEs, yet SMEs of Pakistan do not have the intellectual capacity to fully implement the IFRS for SMEs.
Giving detailed presentation on IFRS, the Robin Jarvis, Head of Small Business ACCA said the new draft would be simplified, self-contained and a set of accounting principles for the SMEs. IFRS for SMEs is appropriate for an entity that has no public responsibilities. It was prepared with a special focus on typical SMEs with about 50 employees. He said the IFRS was published on February 15, 2007 and deadline for seeking comments on it is October 1, 2007.
Richard Martin, Head of Financial Reporting, ACCA in his presentation highlighted the salient features of IFRS draft and said certain topics dealt with in the big book. Besides, share-based payments, agriculture, insurance, finance leasing as lesser, earning per share and segmental reporting were not included in the draft.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr Afra Sajjad said the growth and development of SMEs of Pakistan is integral to the economic development of Pakistan. Reliable and relevant accounting reports facilitate access of finance to SMEs as well as enable SME owners and managers to form an opinion on the financial position and performance of the SMEs.
The roundtable by ACCA Pakistan aims at providing an opportunity to important stakeholders to express an opinion on the exposure draft of IFRS for SMEs which shall be communicated to International Accounting Standards Board.