Icas calls for standard revision

News Article - 24 May 2012
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The Institute of Chartered Accountants in Scotland (Icas) is calling for the target market for the new international accounting standard for small and medium-sized enterprises to be revised.

During the first Accounting Standards Board (ASB) roadshow event, Icas members debated the proposed standard, finding that while the standard may be useful, it is unlikely to be suitable for small businesses.

Instead, Icas has suggested that the ASB should retain its Financial Reporting Standard for Smaller Entities (FRSSE) in the UK because the new accounting requirements would create too much of a burden for small companies.

The institute's senior vice-president Isobel Sharp said that some legal changes were necessary and recommended a three-tier system as providing the "best solution" to something with which the ASB had been struggling for years.

"The current European accounting directives should focus more on the broad principles, rather than the detail of accounting for small companies," she said, adding that measures to change the situation should be taken by the ASB, allowing it to provide a single piece of guidance as opposed to the present "patchwork".

In January the ASB published an updated version of the FRSSE, including a key simplification regarding financial reporting standard 20, Share-based payment.

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