DOHA: The new International Financial Reporting Standard for Small and Medium-sized Entities (IFRS for SMEs) is ideal for Qatar, said an international expert. Rustom Shadid, the managing partner of global accounting organisation Grant Thornton, said that in Qatar the new standard will be beneficial to a range of several enterprises which are most likely to consider adaptation of the standard in their 2009 annual reports.
IFRS for SMEs provides a substantially simplified set of internationally recognised accounting principles for PHBs. Based on the full IFRSs, which were developed primarily for listed companies, the new standard will particularly benefit businesses that operate internationally. Individual countries will now consider the new standard, consult with local stakeholders and decide whether and when it should be used in their jurisdiction. Individual countries will also have discretion over which entities the new standard will apply to - unlisted subsidiaries of listed multinationals, for example, could be included in the scope.
"Unlisted businesses around the world who currently have to comply with full IFRS will be pleased to find that the new standard is about one tenth of the length of full IFRS and that the number of potential disclosure items will be nearer to 300 than the current 3,000.", he said.
"The adaptation of the new standard (IFRS for SMEs ) will be a milestone in solving the challenges faced by SMEs in applying the International Financial Reporting Standards", said Samir Salem, the head of assurance services. "PHBs first action should be to participate in consultative forums and work closely with their financial advisers to determine how best to transit from existing standards to IFRS for SMEs".
Alex MacBeath, global leader of privately held business services for Grant Thornton International added: "We believe the IFRS for SMEs will be particularly welcome in those countries (around 30 worldwide) that currently use full IFRS for all entities, listed and unlisted. In these countries, the pressure to reduce the administrative burden on SMEs will surely persuade governments to adopt the new standard. South Africa, for example, took the unusual step of adopting the simplified standard in its draft form so is effectively already using it,"
© The Peninsula 2009
