Implementation of International Accounting Standards on target
published: Friday | December 20, 2002
THE INSTITUTE of Chartered Accountants of Jamaica (ICAJ) is pressing ahead with the implementation of International Accounting Standards (IAS). IAS was adopted on July 1, 2002 concurrently with International Standards on Auditing (ISA) as Jamaica's national accounting and auditing standards.
Companies will, therefore, be expected to prepare their financial statements for reporting purposes in accordance with IAS for financial periods beginning on or after July 1, 2002. The Institute, however, recognises that some listed companies that had not advanced their conversion to IAS may experience difficulty in meeting their reporting deadlines for interim financial reports. Accordingly, the ICAJ Council has agreed that those companies, electing so to do, may continue to apply the local interim Financial Reporting Standard (Statement of Standard Accounting Practice C-3: 34) until 30 June 2003. However, interim financial reports issued after June 30, 2003 must be IAS compliant.
Council had previously made this concession applicable only for listed companies with year-ends June 30 and September 30 up to February 15, 2003. The Institute is firmly committed to assisting its members and other stakeholders during this period of transition to IAS. Workshops intended to benefit ICAJ members and other stakeholders will also be held. One such workshop on IAS Implementation is scheduled for January 17 and 18, 2003 at the Jamaica Conference Centre. A specific objective of this seminar is to guide participants in how to apply the new standards.
Lead presenter will be Professor Christopher Nobes from the University of Reading and author or co-author of fourteen books including, The Economics of Taxation (7th edition, 2001), An International Introduction to Financial Accounting (2001), Comparative International Accounting (6th Edition, 2000), Pocket Accounting (4th edition, 2001), International Guide to Interpreting Company Accounts (2nd edition, 1999), and The Convergence Handbook (2000). Professor Nobes was a member of the Accounting Standards Committee of the United Kingdom and Ireland and one of the two UK representatives on the Board of the International Accounting Standards Committee. He is now a member of the International Chartered Accountants of England and Wales' Financial Reporting Committee and is vice-chairman of the accounting working group of the Federation des Experts Comptables Europeans, a body that advises the European Community Commission. Alok Jain, a member of the ICAJ and IAS Partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers, Jamaica will co-present with Professor Nobes. The seminar will also feature other local presenters with experience in International Accounting Standards.
