Salvador Marin and Paul Thompson consider the emergence of the sustainability agenda and its implications for SMEs and SMPs.
The article is available on the September/ October 2022 issue of International Accountant
SMPs and the sustainability agenda
Sara
Position regarding EU-Initiative SAFE (Securing the Activity Framework of enablers) to tackle the role of enablers that facilitate tax evasion and aggressive tax planning in the EU
The European Federation of Accountants and Auditors for SMEs, EFAA for SMEs, welcomes the efforts of the European Commission initiatives aiming to step up the fight against tax evasion and aggressive tax planning.
Here is our position focusing on the following points of interests for small- and medium-sized accountancy practices:
- Relation of SAFE to existing national regulation
- Need for a clear definition of aggressive tax planning
- Scope of the initiative: Complex structures in Non-EU-Countries
- Notification obligations of EU taxpayers
Survey on digital transition, open banking: please respond by 16 October (New deadline)
The European Commission is currently evaluating the Payment Services Directive II (PSD2), which became applicable in January 2018. The PSD2, implemented in all EU Member States, enabled innovations in payment services, e.g. it opened up customers’ payment data (typically held by financial institutions such as banks, insurance or investment companies) for reuse by other financial service providers. The EC is considering revising and modernizing the EU PSD2. The EC is looking for information on developments in the payment market, payment user needs and the need for possible amendments.
Intuit, ACCA, SMEunited and the EFAA for SMEs would like to invite you to complete this survey, managed by Opinion Research, to gather information on your experiences with digital transition in the context of financial management and in order to better understand the obstacles SMPs and their SME clients face in the path to digitalization and so enable us address the issue at the EU level.
The survey is available in all EU languages. All collected data will remain anonymous. Please fill in the survey available by 5 September: https://url.quenchtec.net/rkxjna7b
EFAA Response to the EFRAG Public Consultation on the First Set of Draft ESRS
EFAA being the champion and unique voice of small- and medium-sized accountancy practices, we responded to the public consultation by focusing on the impact and implications for SMEs and SMPs. Therefore, EFAA responded to most of Section 1, all of Section 2 and none of Section 3. The accompanying letter sent to Commissioner McGuinness highlights our key arguments on:
– Sustainability;
– Due process;
– Capacity of SMEs and SMPs;
– Proportionality;
– Materiality;
– Reporting Boundary and Value Chain;
– Prioritization and Phasing-In
– Interoperability with Global Standards;
– Sustainability Standards for SMEs
Our replies to the consultation are available here
How SMPs Can Support the Sustainable Transition of SMEs: Insight From Experts
The article summarizes insights from a focus group survey of accounting experts – most serving on EFAA’s expert groups – undertaken in last couple of month of 2021 about how SMPs might fulfil this role in the future.
Read the full article here
EFAA Response to EFRAG Public Consultation: Due Process Procedures On Eu Sustainability Reporting Standard-Setting
EFAA Publishes Summary of Key Policy Positions and Recommendations 2021
This short publication presents the work achieved by EFAA over the last few years. The publication stresses the vital role which small- and medium-sized accounting practices (SMPs) play in supporting SMEs as well as EFAA’s relations and continuous work with relevant stakeholders, mainly in the UE. It also outlines our key positions and recommendations.
EFAA works incessantly to speak for and defend SMPs and to promote their essential role in supporting SMEs by providing high-quality professional accountancy and advisory services. Through this, SMPs contribute to the stability and future economic and social prosperity of SMEs and therefore also, by extension, to the welfare of Europe and Europeans in general. SMPs are also a key component in the shaping of the economic recovery and in fostering the further development of the Single Market.
At all times, and especially in these difficult times, it is essential that relevant stakeholders be reminded to “think small first”, aim for “smart regulation” and support the welfare and prosperity of small entities.
Click here to read EFAA’s Key Policy Positions and Recommendations 2021
Salvador Marin Re-elected EFAA President
At its 2021 Annual General Meeting of 25 June, the European Federation of Accountants for SMEs (EFAA) re-elected Salvador Marín as EFAA President for a two-year term. Johan De Coster (ITAA, Belgium) was confirmed as EFAA Board member. Gerard van IJzendoorn (NBA – the Netherlands) was unanimously elected Board member. Gerard succeeds Maurice Buijs, who has served as EFAA Board member and Treasurer since 2016.
Marin was nominated by Consejo General de Economistas (CGE) and gained the unanimous support of EFAA’s member organisations. Marin’s has been EFAA President since June 2019.
Marin said: “EFAA for SMEs has a major role to play to make sure that the voice of SMPs is heard loud and clear on major topics including sustainability reporting. EFAA for SMEs also keeps doing its utmost to assist our SMPs in growing, in gaining visibility and in being heard. I look forward to working tirelessly with members, staff and the EFAA Board so that EFAA can continue to be of great service and support to its members, SMPs and our profession.” Marín warmly thanked Maurice Buijs for his invaluable support over the last five years.
Salvador Marin’s professional background spans academia, business and practice. As a practicing economist and adviser he has gained considerable experience in financial economics, financial information and non-financial reporting and extensive national and international experience in strategic consulting, economics, internationalisation, financial and non-financial reporting and the management of SMEs and financial institutions. Presently he is the managing partner of a boutique practice of national and international advisers, member of the Board of Directors of a Spanish company with responsibility for international affairs, senior advisor in a venture capital Company, and General Coordinator for International Professional Regulation at the General Council of Economists of Spain (CGE). Marin boasts substantial international experience gained through his tenure as CEO of COFIDES, the Spanish Development Finance Institution and member of the Boards of Directors of EDFI, and has held positions in the field of Public Management, having served as a regional government minister in Spain. Author of over one hundred books, articles and papers on financial information and non-financial reporting, Marin has experience as a lecturer at university and at several national and international business schools. Marin holds a Doctorate in Economics and Business Administration, specialising in Financial Information. Marin is a Certified Accounting Expert at the Spanish Register of Accounting Experts.
The partially renewed EFAA Board will keep working to strengthen the role EFAA plays as the voice of accountants working in SMEs and SMPs in Europe.
