The IESBA recently proposed changes to its Code of Ethics to promote the role and mindset expected of all professional accountants. To learn more about the key proposed changes, we invite you to our 60-minute webinar on Tuesday, September 10, 2019 at 8 am EST.

• Register Now

During the webinar, IESBA Deputy Chair Richard Fleck will provide an overview of the proposed revisions, which include:

• Highlighting professional accountants’ wide-ranging role in society and the relationship between compliance with the Code and a professional accountant’s responsibility to act in the public interest;

• Enhancing the robustness of the fundamental principles of integrity, objectivity and professional behavior;

• Requiring professional accountants to have an inquiring mind when applying the conceptual framework; and

• Highlighting the importance of being aware of bias and having the right organizational culture.

Comments to the Exposure Draft, Proposed Revisions to Promote the Role and Mindset Expected of Professional Accountants, are requested by October 31, 2019.

If you have any questions about this webinar, please email IESBA.

In Japan on his first overseas trip as IAASB Chair, Tom Seidenstein sat down with the president of the Japanese Institute of CPAs, Aiko Sekine, to discuss Japan’s importance to international audit and assurance standard setting. Check out the interview!

Phenomenal disruptions and challenges surround us as we forge ahead into the uncharted territory of the digital economy. Yet as accountancy professionals sworn to uphold the public interest, we must hold steadfast to our intrinsic values of uncompromising integrity and accountability, regardless of the situation. Despite taking on multiple new roles as influencers, decision makers, and business advisors, we have a fundamental duty as financial stewards to innovate, reform and comply with standards and processes for the sake of good governance and sustainability.

With the advent of digital, we have an added responsibility to assess and integrate technology as an enabler for ethical business that benefits profit, people and planet.

Join the global profession at the MIA International Accountants Conference 2019 and explore how to resolve the trust deficit that afflicts the profession by embracing technology, good governance and sustainability in private and public sectors, and establishing ourselves irrevocably as stewards of the public interest and long-term sustainability.

The MIA Conference features top notch local, regional and global speakers. In 2018, the conference drew more than 3,000 delegates from commerce and industry, public sector, public practice and academia.

For more information and to register, visit the MIA Conference website.

00:10 - Introduction: Diane Jules, IESBA Deputy Technical Director
00:59 - Highlights & Key Developments: Stavros Thomadakis, IESBA Chairman
04:03 - Role & Mindset: Richard Fleck, IESBA Deputy Chair
04:42 - Non-Assurance Services: Richard Fleck, IESBA Deputy Chair
06:25 - Fees: Ian McPhee, IESBA Member
07:57 - eCode: Brian Friedrich, eCode Working Group Chair
10:39 - Final thoughts: Stavros Thomadakis, IESBA Chairman
12:06 - Closing Remarks: Diane Jules, IESBA Deputy Technical Director

Dear Stakeholder,

We write to share a brief update on our latest initiative to support global standard setting and to better leverage the coordination opportunities between our two boards.

With global regulatory fragmentation risk on the rise, and greater international collaboration on the forthcoming G20 agenda, it is a pleasure to advise that last month we convened a meeting in Paris with national audit and ethics standard-setting organizations representing 17 jurisdictions.

We spontaneously dubbed this four-way dialogue (IAASB + IESBA + national audit & assurance + ethics standards setters) a “quadrilogue”. The name has stuck—along with the goodwill the event created!

The discussions marked the beginning of an exploratory and evolutionary process for the IAASB and IESBA to work with national standard setters, and for national standard setters to work with each other, to consider new ideas in pursuit of mutually shared objectives.

The meeting advanced already-significant IAASB and IESBA coordination efforts, which acknowledge the importance of audit and ethics standards to audit quality. The meeting facilitated further collaboration between a number of national audit & assurance standard setters and the IAASB, as well as identifying ways national standard setters can work more effectively together in the interests of international standard setting.

Some important themes emerged from the “quadrilogue”:

• The value of continued IAASB and IESBA coordination, the significant advances made to-date, and how it serves as a catalyst for national coordination;
• The importance of early coordination between our two boards, and increased stakeholder communications about it;
• Recognition that it is important to identify the areas where four-way engagement makes most sense; and
• Quality management within accountancy firms, implications of technology developments, stakeholder engagement, and enhanced implementations activities are possible topics for further exploration.

Yours sincerely,

Arnold Schilder and Stavros Thomadakis
IAASB and IESBA Chairs

On June 26^th 2019, the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants^® (IESBA^®) will launch its eCode—an innovative digital product that offers professional accountants a new way to engage with the International Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants (including International Independence Standards).

We invite you to join us for a 30-minute webinar on Wednesday, June 12, 2019 at 10am EST. To join, click the link below to register:

Wednesday June 12^th 2019 at 10 a.m. EST

During the webinar, IESBA Member Brian Friedrich will explain IESBA’s vision for the eCode and provide a quick walkthrough to demonstrate the eCode’s structure, key features and functionalities.

Don’t miss out on this wonderful opportunity to learn about this product. Click here to view a short walkthrough video about the eCode and its key features.

More information about the Code is available at the IESBA’s website.   

If you have questions about this webinar, please email Carla Vijian.

The Staff of the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA) has released an updated Q&A publication to support the adoption and implementation of the revised long association provisions Changes to the Code Addressing Long Association of Personnel with an Audit or Assurance Client.  This publication is a revised version of the Staff Q&A publication published in May 2017. It contains additional frequently asked questions and is aligned to the revised and restructured International Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants (including International Independence Standards) (the Code), issued by the IESBA in April 2018.

The Q&A publication is designed to highlight, illustrate, or explain aspects of the revised partner rotation regime in the Code and thereby assist in their proper application. It is intended to assist national standards setters, firms, IFAC member bodies and others as they adopt and/or implement the revised and restructured long association provisions in Part 4A of the Code.

In late June 2019, the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants^® (IESBA^®) will launch its eCode—an innovative digital product that offers professional accountants a new way to engage with the International Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants (including International Independence Standards).

To introduce the eCode, the IESBA invites you to join a 30-minute webinar on Wednesday, June 12, 2019 at 10am EST.

During the webinar, IESBA Member Brian Friedrich will explain IESBA’s vision for the eCode and provide a quick walkthrough to demonstrate the eCode’s structure, key features and functionalities. Don’t miss out on this wonderful opportunity to learn about this product.

To join, click the link below to register:

• Wednesday June 12^th 2019 at 10 a.m. EST

More information about the Code is available at the IESBA’s website.   

If you have questions about this webinar, please email Carla Vijian.

00:10 - Introduction: Diane Jules, IESBA Deputy Technical Director
00:54 - Highlights & Key Developments: Stavros Thomadakis, IESBA Chairman
03:24 - Role & Mindset: Richard Fleck, IESBA Deputy Chair
05:17 - Non-Assurance Services: Richard Fleck, IESBA Deputy Chair
08:06 - Fees: Ian McPhee, IESBA Member
10:35 - Alignment of Part 4B with ISAE 3000: Liesbet Haustermans, IESBA Member
14:05 - Technology: Patricia Mulvaney, IESBA Member
18:06 - eCode: Brian Friedrich, eCode Working Group Chair
19:44 - Final thoughts: Stavros Thomadakis, IESBA Chairman
21:16 - Closing Remarks: Diane Jules, IESBA Deputy Technical Director

The IAASB recently published a professional skepticism communiqué, part of a series highlighting the IAASB’s efforts to appropriately reflect professional skepticism in its standards, together with other relevant news and information.