
05 October 2023: Guidance – Expand Your Sustainability Know-how
IFAC has a catalogue of publicly available sustainability courses and certifications offered by PAOs on demand, either for a fee or free, to help their members gain sustainability knowledge.
16 August 2023: Guidance – Expand Your Sustainability Know-how
IFAC has a catalogue of publicly available sustainability courses and certifications offered by PAOs on demand, either for a fee or free, to help their members gain sustainability knowledge.
16 August 2023: Guidance – How SMPs Can Build Capacity to do Sustainability Reporting and Assurance
Since December 2022 EFAA has published two guides – Sustainability Reporting: How SMPs Can Build the Capacity to Support SMEs and Sustainability Reporting Assurance: How SMPs Can Build the Capacity to Support SMEs – to help SMPs get ready to provide sustainability reporting and assurance services for their clients, in particular SMEs.
17 July 2023: Guidance – Expand Your Sustainability Know-how
IFAC has a catalogue of publicly available sustainability courses and certifications offered by PAOs on demand, either for a fee or free, to help their members gain sustainability knowledge.
17 July 2023: Guidance – Short Videos on ISSB Standards S1 and S2
ACCA in partnership with the ISSB have issued these short videos to guide users through the new ISSB S1 and S2 Standards..
17 July 2023: Evolving Role of Finance
This podcast argues that as the components of a company’s value change, the role of finance must adapt to what it reports and how it manages tangible and intangible assets. That shift was underscored with the release of the ISSB’s global sustainability standards.
12 July 2023: Guidance – Expand Your Sustainability Know-how
ACCA in partnership with the ISSB have issued these short videos to guide users through the new ISSB S1 and S2 Standards..
12 July 2023: Guidance – Short Videos on ISSB Standards S1 and S2
ACCA in partnership with the ISSB have issued these short videos to guide users through the new ISSB S1 and S2 Standards..
12 July 2023: Evolving Role of Finance
This podcast argues that as the components of a company’s value change, the role of finance must adapt to what it reports and how it manages tangible and intangible assets. That shift was underscored with the release of the ISSB’s global sustainability standards.
15 June 2023: Guidance – Expand Your Sustainability Know-how
IFAC has a catalogue of publicly available sustainability courses and certifications offered by PAOs on demand either for a fee or at no cost, to help their members gain sustainability knowledge.
15 June 2023: European PAOs Preparing Members for CSRD
This article looks at how various PAOs in Europe are preparing their members for the CSRD.
15 June 2023: Why Choose an Accounting Firm for ESG Assurance
As organizations increasingly report ESG or sustainability information, many stakeholders are placing emphasis on the information’s reliability. This Center for Audit Quality (CAQ) publication explains the benefits of engaging an accounting firm for third party assurance of ESG information.
15 June 2023: ESG Potential for SMPs
According to this Accountancy Age article ESG an “immense” market for mid-tier accounting firms to tap into, starting with them offering advice on sustainability risks and opportunities.
15 June 2023: Why SMPs Should Offer Net Zero Advisory Services
This Accounting WEB article and this AIA article examines how forward-thinking accountancy practices are introducing greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting and net zero advisory services, recognising their crucial role in supporting businesses’ transition to a sustainable economy.
15 June 2023: SMPs Must Rise to the Challenge
In this article the IFAC Chief Executive expresses concerns that SME accountants are falling behind. This article explains that to remain competitive as the sustainability agenda rises SMPs must adapt and demonstrate that they are taking sustainability seriously.
15 June 2023: Guidance – The Role of the Auditor in Climate-Related Information
The US Center for Audit Quality has recently published “The Role of the Auditor in Climate-Related Information”. Read more here.
15 June 2023: Guidance – Green Finance Skills
Read the highlights from the ACCA’s latest research in Green Finance Skills: The Guide.
3 March 2023: Guidance on ESRS
27 February 2023: ESG Opportunity for US Accounting Firms
The IFAC global survey on sustainability reporting and assurance is prompting many US audit firms to explore how to best position themselves for a bigger role. Read more here.
27 February 2023: ESG / Sustainability and Impact on Talent
This Corporate Disclosures article examines how the job hunting in the field of ESG/sustainability is exciting yet challenging.
27 February 2023: Carbon Reporting by SMEs
Project Perseus is a new coalition of private and public sector organisations helping to make carbon reporting easier for all UK SMEs. To learn more visit here
31 January 2023: ESG Opportunity for SMPs
In this article (subscription required) read about the opportunities that ESG presents SMPs.
25 January 2023: Guidance – Implementing a Double Materiality Assessment
In this Corporate Disclosures article an expert on sustainability reporting and strategy says that “companies need to understand their value chains, identify material topics and then assess the impact and financial materiality of each topic to determine what to report under the CSRD.”
25 January 2023: Guidance – Embracing Sustainability: Actions for SMEs
This guidance is designed to help SMEs and the SMPs that advise them embed sustainability in the business and understand its benefits.
13-15 December 2022: A4S Conference Session Recordings on Sustainability
All sessions from the A4S Summit are available for you to watch on demand until 15 January 2023. Sessions include ‘Mapping reporting developments in Europe’ and ‘Getting to net zero: a global review of corporate disclosures hosted by IFAC’.
6 January 2023: Progress on ESG
In this article US CPAs advise patience as well as action in pursuit of ESG.
22 September 2022: Guidance – Expand Your Sustainability Know-how
IFAC has a catalogue of publicly available sustainability courses and certifications offered by PAOs on demand either for a fee or at no cost, to help their members gain sustainability knowledge.
19 November 2022: Corporate Disclosures
24 October 2022: SMPs and the Sustainability Agenda
The article ’SMPs and The Sustainability Agenda’ (published on pages 16-18 of the latest issue of the Association of International Accountants’ (AIA) magazine) stresses the urgent need for building the capacity of SMEs and SMPs to prepare sustainability reports
19 October 2022: Accuracy of Sustainability Reporting
This article examines the reliability of the information contained in sustainability reports and the role of accounting firms in verifying the disclosures
13 October: Corporate Disclosures
Recent articles on Touching the Void of Sustainability Reporting (27 September), Single vs Double Materiality: An Academic Debate (28 September), and Double Materiality will not Lead to Hyperinflation of ESG Data
1 October 2022: Guidance – GHG Protocol
Read this report to learn more about the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol, how its standards are used to measure GHG emissions, and implications for standard setters and regulators.
1 October 2022: Guidance – SMPs Embracing Sustainability Assurance
This publication has been released to help SMPs embrace sustainability assurance.
1 October 2022: Guidance – How SMPs Can Seize the ESG Opportunity
In this article read about how US SMPs are seizing the ESG opportunity. Staffing and training remain a challenge
22 September 2022: Guidance – Expand Your Sustainability Know-how
IFAC has a catalogue of publicly available sustainability courses and certifications offered by PAOs on demand either for a fee or at no cost, to help their members gain sustainability knowledge
22 September 2022: Guidance – Expand Your Sustainability Know-how
Several professional accountancy organizations have already developed or are in the process of developing courses and certifications to help their membership and the profession acquire sustainability knowledge. IFAC has a catalogue of courses and certifications here that will help accelerate the collective pace of acquiring sustainability knowledge. These resources are publicly available; most are on demand, either for a fee or at no cost
7 September 2022: Guidance – Climate Transition and Closing Net Zero Information Gap
View IFAC’s global webinar ‘Finance Leaders Plugging the Net-Zero Information Gap: Exploring the critical role of CFOs and finance teams in the climate transition’ here. Related articles include:
– Net Zero Guidance, A4S
– Professional Accountants as Business Leaders and Value Partners, IFAC
– Sustainability Standards, IFAC
– Corporate Reporting: Climate Change Information and the 2021 Reporting Cycle, IFAC
2 September 2022: Guidance on ESG Data Production
The UK FRC Lab has published a report on ESG data production, designed to help companies consider how to collect and use ESG data more effectively to support better decision-making. The full report is available here
25 August 2022: Guidance – How SMPs Can Get Started with ESG
This article highlights five essential steps all firms should take to be ESG ready
25 August 2022: SMPs Should Explore ESG
This AICPA article urges accounting firms to seriously consider providing ESG advisory and assurance. It argues that our profession is built to provide these services and instil trust and integrity into the process, but we need a collective sense of urgency to step forward and meet this opportunity
22 August 2022: Country Case Study: Romania
This article looks at how the Romanian accountancy profession is embracing sustainability reporting and how the professional accountancy organizations are helping prepare their members
22 August 2022: Guidance on ESG Reporting for Finance Teams
The article 5 steps for finance teams to upskill on ESG reporting explains that the move towards mandatory ESG reporting will require finance to assess the knowledge already in the team and new expertise needed — at the outset
11 July 2022: Connectivity of Financial and Non-Financial Reporting
In this article Mervyn King looks at how Integrated Reporting can help connect financial and non-financial reporting
27 June 2022: Net Zero Impossible Without SMEs
This article argues that net zero is not possible without SMEs and so policy makers will need to focus more on SMEs and SME greening will demand collective action
26 June 2022: Practical Sustainability Toolkits for SMEs and SMPs
ACCA and Profit Impact published a series of practical sustainability toolkits for accountants in SMEs and SMPs supporting sustainable transition of small businesses. The toolkits offer hands-on guidance on mapping UN SDGs to business goals, understanding environmental management systems and supply chain code of conduct
16 June 2022: ESG Exchange
Professor Mervyn King has established, within the Good Governance Academy, the ESG Exchange. The ESG Exchange is a global community collaborating to help firms publish sustainability reports
15 June 2022: 2021 IFAC Integrated Annual Review
Read the 2021 IFAC Integrated Annual Review here. This report draws on integrated reporting principles and concepts as set out in the International Integrated Reporting <IR> Framework
11 June 2022: Comparative Analysis of Sustainability Reporting Proposals
This Forbes article provides a comparative analysis of the three proposals from the ISSB, EFRAG and US Securities and Exchange Commission for climate-related disclosures
11 June 2022: Corporate Disclosures – New Website Focuses on Sustainability Reporting
Vincent Huck, a financial correspondent with a long track history focused on developments in accountancy, has launched a new website as a platform for debate on sustainability reporting called Corporate Disclosures. In this opinion piece Kevin Dancey, IFAC CEO, and David Madon, IFAC Director of Public Policy & Regulation, discuss the rise of sustainability accounting and the opportunities for the profession. In this article EFRAG SR TEG member Patrick de Cambourg, who chaired the PTF-ESRS that developed the draft ESRS EDs, discusses the politics in sustainability standard setting. And on 11 July 2022 the website published Salvador Marin’s opening remarks from the EFRAG-EFAA-SMEunited Joint Outreach event on draft ESRS EDs.
9 June 2022: IAASB Addresses Sustainability Assurance
In this article IAASB Chair Tom Seidenstein explains how the IAASB is taking the next steps for new standards for sustainability assurance
2 June 2022: Research on Sustainability Assurance
This research paper examines assurance of sustainability information by Dutch listed companies and reveals much variation in the content of the assurance engagement, to whom the assurance report is addressed, and the criteria used to perform the assurance engagement.
31 May 2022: IFRS Sustainability Standards: Are You Ready?
Listen to this ACCA webcast about how to prepare for IFRS sustainability standards.
3 March 2022: Financial Accounting as a Catalyst for the Circular Economy
this IFAC Gateway article summarizes a report, authored by the Royal Netherlands Institute of Chartered Accountants (NBA) amongst others, called Financial accounting in the circular economy: Redefining value, impact and risk to accelerate the circular transition, on how accounting and financing are catalysts for circular businesses to thrive and crucial to driving sustainable development. Scaling circular business models is the route to accelerating the circular transition, unlocking the profitability of businesses in a rapidly changing world and reaching key climate goals, such as net-zero. This report provides guidance to overcome the challenges and capture the value of circular business.
15 March 2022: Integrated Thinking Principles
This article introduces the Integrated Thinking Principles
22 February 2022: Future of Framework
In June 2022, the Value Reporting Foundation – home to the Integrated Thinking Principles, Integrated Reporting Framework and the SASB Standards – will consolidate under the IFRS Foundation, which is establishing the new International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB). This information sheet explains what this means for the Framework and the businesses that use it.
In this Reuters article, Huw Jones looks at the intersection of sustainability and audit/assurance – and includes the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) next steps in the space, and how often the ISAE 3000 standard is issued for sustainability reporting.
17 February 2022: The Fast Future with IFAC
IFAC has launched a new podcast series, The Fast Future with IFAC, that highlights innovative SMPs around the world. The first episode, with Australian accountant and Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand member Amela Kmetas, is available here
8 December 2021: AICPA
Audit tips for a pandemic-changed environment explains what firms should focus on.
8 December 2021: Golden opportunity of SMP sustainability services
As part of its Accounting for the Future virtual conference 2021 (AFF2021) ACCA included a webinar on Golden opportunity of SMP sustainability services. This webcast is now on-demand here.
8 December 2021: How PAIBs Create Value
IFAC’s Professional Accountants in Business (PAIB) Advisory Group has compiled insights on how accountants are contributing to value creation and sustainability in their organizations in both the private and public sectors in a new report, The Role of Accountants in Mainstreaming Sustainability.
2 December 2021: How SMEs can Create a More Sustainable World
ACCA and CA ANZ’s joint playbook, How SMEs can create a more sustainable world, details the benefits that sustainable actions have for both business success and the environment. The playbook sets out practical steps for embedding sustainable practices within SMEs, case studies from across the world, and links to a variety of tools and resources. See press release here. ACCA held an online event on “How SMEs can Create a More Sustainable World: A Live Panel Discussion” on 2 December – see here.
23 November 2021: SMEunited Seek Support on Due Diligence
At the webinar organised by ecoDa (the European Confederation of Directors’ Associations) and Mazars on “Sustainability – Action needed on the defining issue for SMEs across Europe” SMEunited Director Luc Hendrickx called for concrete and practical assistance on due diligence for SMEs. Read more here.
23 November 2021: Auditing ESG Information
In this article learn how current auditing standards require environmental, social and governance (ESG) related risks to be considered, and auditors need to know how to audit this information.