ACCA slams SME standards

Link: Brussels attacks ‘Anglo-Saxon’ standards club

The accounting body has warned that standards do not meet the needs of the very entities they are designed to address.

‘In making its proposals, the IASB seems to have taken a top-down approach, which is likely to result in it adopting many of the same standards used by listed entities,’ said Richard Martin, head of financial reporting at ACCA.

‘Failure to adopt more suitable standards for SMEs may present accountants, auditors, users of financial reports and most importantly, the SME itself, with significant financial and operational difficulties.’

Martin added that standards developed from the proposals had the potential to run into hundreds of pages and delay some countries from participating fully in the convergence of International Financial Reporting Standards.