ISRS 4400 (Revised), Agreed-Upon Procedures Engagements, has been revised to respond to the growing demand for these engagements, particularly in relation to the need for increased accountability around funding and grants. A broad range of stakeholders, such as regulators, funding bodies and creditors, use agreed-upon procedures reports for a variety of reasons.

The COVID-19 pandemic is a global health and humanitarian crisis. Beyond the significant challenges that lay ahead in all facets of life, it also poses unprecedented risks to the world economy. The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) and the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA) are committed to doing our part to support a strong global response.

IAASB and IESBA are committed to continuing our work, albeit virtually, and seizing opportunities to adapt how we work, and what we work on, considering global needs and priorities.

In the short-term, we have transitioned to fully digital platforms to execute day-to-day work, plenary meetings and stakeholder outreach. In addition, we are developing, or will consider commissioning and/or sourcing reference materials, as appropriate for each Board, to help our stakeholders continue their work. To that end, we will be creating web resources on each board’s website with COVID-19 related messages and materials.

We are coordinating with the Public Interest Oversight Board (PIOB), regulatory authorities, and national standard setters on our approach. We are also discussing with the PIOB the best way to balance timeliness and the very real operational constraints many stakeholders face. These discussions will consider our stakeholders’ ability to provide feedback according to existing timelines and whether flexibility is required.

We are adapting rapidly and trying to be sensitive to many difficulties. We will place a priority on remaining closely linked with all our stakeholders during these trying times and will continue to review our response, as we may not get it right the first time, and may need to adjust further as the global situation changes. The IAASB, IESBA, and their staff stand ready to help where and when possible.  

We continue our work for the public interest. We understand the unprecedented crisis will bring unprecedented challenges. And we will meet them with a decisive and timely response.

Investors, stakeholders, and society at large need to understand the value of companies beyond what they can glean from conventional financial reports – and this need is even more pressing during uncertain times such as the present.

IFAC today published its response to Accountancy Europe’s consultation, Interconnected Standard Setting for Corporate Reporting, which addresses the evolution of standard setting to enhance corporate reporting at the global level.

The current corporate reporting system needs to evolve quickly to deal with the challenge posed by a myriad of different jurisdictional requirements and an absence of widely agreed standards in various areas beyond financial reporting. The result is variable quality and lack of comparability, leading to greater cost and inefficient capital allocation for both companies and investors.

As indicated in the IFAC point-of-view on enhancing corporate reporting, a global solution is needed to achieve relevant, reliable, and comparable narrative information and metrics.

“The current reporting ecosystem does not best serve the interests of capital markets, companies or their stakeholders,” said IFAC CEO Kevin Dancey. “The options set out by Accountancy Europe to change the corporate reporting system are useful for furthering the dialogue toward a global and coherent solution. We look forward to continuing this conversation with key stakeholders.”

In its response to the consultation, IFAC endorsed six recommendations to secure an integrated global reporting structure. These include development of a global approach to international standard-setting, a conceptual framework for corporate reporting, and an oversight structure.

A global approach to these three elements— oversight, framework, and standards—is urgently needed in order to enhance corporate reporting.  While this is a challenging time for investors, companies and capital markets, the competition for capital will become more challenging, and the demand for relevant and candid information about organizations will be needed to reliably inform decisions about capital allocation and investor and other stakeholder’s assessments of long-term value creation.

Feedback on the consultation is due by April 30.  IFAC encourages stakeholders to contribute their views to this valuable consultation.