The Council of the European Union has formally approved the Omnibus I package, which revises and simplifies both the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CS3D). This decision marks the final major political step before the legislative act is published in the EU Official Journal. Once published, the act will enter into force 20 days later.

The overarching goal of these reforms is to boost European Union competitiveness by significantly reducing administrative burdens on companies while maintaining core sustainability objectives.

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EFRAG launches the ESRS Knowledge Hub, an interactive online platform designed to support companies, practitioners and stakeholders in navigating the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) and broader sustainability reporting materials developed by EFRAG.

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The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) issued amendments to IAS 21 The Effects of Changes in Foreign Exchange Rates that will require companies to provide more useful information in their financial statements when a currency cannot be exchanged into another currency.

The amendments will be consolidated into IAS 21 and IFRS 1 in March 2024 and will become effective for annual reporting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2025.

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William Spiteri Bailey, former president of the Malta Institute of Accountants is part of the IFAC Small- and Medium-Sized Practices (SMP) Advisory Group (AG). As part of the work carried out within the group, they have issued the following document.

Sole practitioners make up a significant part of the accounting profession, both locally and globally. This document outlines how professional accountancy organisations can help sole practitioners be future ready. This deals with the challenges and opportunities that sole practitioners face and provides links to the documents that have been issued by IFAC SMP AG to support sole practitioners. It goes on to explain how PAOs can help sole practitioners, giving practical examples of what can be done and also detailing specific guidance and advice for sole practitioners to be future ready.

IFAC's Professional Accountants in Business Advisory Group has worked on the following document. This shows that through the pandemic accountants can, if willing come out of such a difficult situation stronger and with a plan to make a difference in terms of sustainable recovery.

"A crisis offers us a unique chance for transformative change. As we hit refresh, the accountancy profession must be responsive to opportunities emerging from this current crisis to create positive impact and help support stronger organizations and a stronger profession." PAIB Advisory Group Chair, Sanjay Rughani.

Among the topics explored are:

• Value creation and integrated reporting

• Building trust in business through effective corporate governance

• Future CFO and finance function - navigating the COVID-19 era

• Revenue management

How can non-financial information (NFI) reporting work for SMEs?

SMEs are increasingly required to provide NFI reports, which is a heavy administrative burden, even though these are not yet demanded by legislation. Read more...

This November, IFAC will be hosting its virtual global summit, The Anticipatory Accountant: Global Trends Transforming Learning & Development. Coinciding with International Education Week, this four-day, multi-disciplinary panel series will run from 12pm-2pm Central European time each day on November 16-19, 2020. Read More...

We often tend to think of change as gradual. And sometimes it is. But think for a moment about tectonic plates…those slow-moving plates under the earth’s surface. Most of the time, they move slowly. At other times, they press up against each other and the pressure builds and builds until there’s a dramatic tectonic shift…an earthquake. That’s what we’ve all experienced. On the Richter scale, it was off the charts. And the aftershocks will continue to reverberate.

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The Euopean Commission issued an action plan for fair and simple taxation supporting the recovery strategy.

In order to view such an action plan, click here.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) is to launch an assessment of the supervisory response in the financial reporting area by BaFin and the Financial Reporting Enforcement Panel (FREP) to the events leading to the collapse of Wirecard AG. It will be completed by 30 October 2020.

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