ICA National Conference to provoke thoughts on ‘Business Sense of IFRS – Opportunities to Derive’

Reyaz Mihular Partner of KPMG Ford, Rhodes, Thornton & Co. and head of the Advisory service line of the local member firm in Sri Lanka is scheduled to speak on the transition to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) at the forthcoming National Conference of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka to be held from the 28 to 30  October, 2010.

Mihular will speak on the topic of ‘Business Sense of IFRS – Opportunities to derive’ on the second day of technical sessions - 30 October, which will be held at Waters Edge in Battaramulla. The session will be enriched by a panel discussion which will host   Paul Thompson - Technical Manager of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC);   Manil Jayesinghe – Partner, Ernst & Young; and Ms. Nilanthi Sivapragasam - Chief Financial Officer of Aitken Spence & Co. Ltd.

IFRS is a contemporary and globally accepted series of accounting standards and has become a business imperative which influences processes, systems, perspectives and the way in which companies communicate business performance to a wide variety of stakeholders.

Presently, more than 112 countries require or permit IFRS reporting and the Sri Lanka Accounting Standards (SLAS) are due to converge with IFRS by 2012. IFRS enables simpler cross border transactions while eliminating multiple reporting requirements. This provides for better access to global capital markets and enables more comparability and transparency in the financial process.  

IFRS’s distinct feature is that it is a complete change in process and perception driven by a planned and proactive approach to business accounting.  

It has become important in business decisions with specific areas such as financial instruments, business combinations, impairment, share based payments, operating segments, investment properties and related party transactions among many others.

Decision makers are required to consider financial statement impacts prior to making key business decisions which requires commitment from the highest levels within organizations. It is no longer the sole responsibility of the finance function.  

The transition to IFRS across geographic boundaries has taken varied approaches ranging from pervasive change in many parts of Europe to staged harmonization in countries in Central Asia. Through this transition such countries have achieved global consistency in the financial reporting process and also maintained their own localized approach to meeting the challenges posed by the transition. Some of the common success factors among these countries include determining the scale of change at an early stage, commitment towards the initiative, cross functional awareness and adhering to defined timelines.  

Mihular counts over 25 years of experience in Audit and Advisory areas. He has previously served a term as the Regional Executive Officer of the KPMG Middle East & South Asia (MESA) regional office where he was responsible for coordinating the activities of member firms across 17 countries. He presently continues to function as the Head of IFRS for the KPMG MESA region and is a member of KPMG’s MESA Advisory steering group.  

A Past President and Fellow Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka, Mihular is a Fellow Member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants - UK. He has completed International Executive Education programmes at INSEAD, France and the London Business School.  

Mihular served as a Board Member of the International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC) for a five year term from July 1995 to December 2000. During this tenure, he chaired the steering committee which developed accounting standard IAS 41 – Agriculture, and also served as a member of the Steering Committee which developed IAS 19 - Employee Benefits.

He subsequently served on the IASC’s Standing Interpretations Committee for a year and currently serves as a Member of the Standards Advisory Council of the International Accounting Standards Board. Mihular is a Past President of AAT – Sri Lanka.

In addition to his professional involvements, he has previously served as an independent Non-Executive Director of the Ceylon Electricity Board, the Independent Television Network and the Post Graduate Institute of Management and has been a key the note speaker in several international and local accountancy forums.