Have you heard about IFRS? IFRS stands for International Financial Reporting Standards. IFRS will be implemented in Canada and will replace Canadian GAAP, first for Publicly Accountable Enterprises (PAE’s) beginning in fiscal years on or after January 1, 2011. A publicly accountable enterprise is an entity, other than a not-for-profit organization, or a government or other entity in the public sector that:
i. has issued, or is in the process of issuing, debt or equity instruments that are, or will be, outstanding and traded in a public market (a domestic or foreign stock exchange or an over-the-counter market, including local and regional markets); or
ii. holds assets in a fiduciary capacity for a broad group of outsiders as one of its primary businesses.
Banks, credit unions, insurance companies, securities brokers/dealers, mutual funds and investment banks typically meet the second of these criteria
So if you are an accountant working for a PAE, your company must have already started the process of converting to IFRS.
If you are not working for a PAE, meaning you work for a private enterprise, your company has the option to either adopt the new Accounting standards for private enterprises in Canada or the IFRS also for fiscal years beginning on or after January 1, 2011. The new standards will be issued by the end of 2009 by the Accounting Standards Board (AcSB) of Canada, so stay tuned.

For more information on private enterprises, you can go to the following website:
http://www.cica.ca/privateenterprises//index.aspx


Dean P. de Jesus, CMA
October 20, 2009