The institute of chartered accountants, Ghana (ICAG) yesterday launched the international financial reporting standards (IFRS) and the International standards on auditing (ISA) to enhance the credibility of locally prepared financial statements.
A deputy minister of finance and economic planning, Mr Seth Tekpey, who launched the documents, said the two documents would also enhance understanding of the global marketplace.
The council of the ICAG resolved in 2005
To migrate from using the Ghana national accounting standards (GNAS) as the financial reporting framework to the IFRS.
The IFRS is aimed at meeting the needs of private company financial reporting users and easing the financial reporting burden in private companies through a cost benefit approach.
It is intended to be used by small and medium enterprises (SMES) which are entities that publish general purpose financial statements for external users.
It is also designed to meet the needs of equity investors in the capital markets.
Mr Tekpey called on the ICAG, accountancy firms, the Ghana revenue authority (GRA) and taxable entities to ensure that all contentious issues were resolved during the transition period.
“I would want to entreat the ICAG, the Ghana audit service, the internal audit agency and auditing firms to collaborate to build capacity to strengthen audit practice in Ghana, “ he said
He also called for the adoption of international public sector accounting standards (IPSAS) to support the implementation of the Ghana integrated financial management information systems (GIFMIS)
He implored the ICAG, the controller and accountant-general’s department(CAGD), the Ghana audit service, the internal audit agency and accounting firms to collaborate and liaise with the ministry of finance and economic planning to expedite the adoption process.
The president of the association of Ghana industries (AGI), Nana Owusu-Afari, said the adoption and migration onto the IFRS required human resource capacity and training programmed for accountants and auditors.
While urging all stakeholders and the accounting fraternity to facilitate the process, he expressed the hope that the ICAG would provide a help desk to address some of the challenges that were associated with the adoption of new standards.
Nana Owusu-Afari noted that “compliance with the IFRS is key if our SMEs are to remain relevant in today’s business world.”
Source: Daily Graphic
Date: 26th January,2012