ICA/SEC to team up on new financial reporting standards

The Institute of Chartered Accountants (ICA) Ghana says it is initiating a stakeholder consultation with the State Enterprises Commission on how to migrate public sector companies to the new International Financial Reporting standards-IFRS adopted by Ghana.

Effective this year, financial institutions and companies in the country, are expected to start using the IFRS to enhance compatibility with globally accepted formats.

Micro and small scale businesses including public sector companies have been given an additional transition period of two years.

But the Bank of Ghana is of the view that State-owned companies be also made to start using the new standards this year. In an interview with Joy Business Report the Chairman of the Technical Research Committee at ICA Ghana, Bright Obeng-Boampong said the institute and the State Enterprises Commission would determine the switch date for public sector companies.

He said support for the large number of those SOE's to be affected by the new policy was a key problem to be addressed.

Mr. Obeng-Boampong however noted that the new reporting standards are a bit more complex and more demanding than the old Ghana Accounting Standards and in the mean time reports of financial institutions and companies could be prepared with the old format while businesses took steps to be compliant by December 31st, 2007.