An Accounting Educator’s Summary on
IFRS Adoption in Taiwan
Ling-Tai Lynette Chou
Director, Academic Exchange, TAA
Professor, National Chengchi University
2009 TAA Annual Meeting, Tainan, Taiwan
Outline (1)
Ⅰ) Adoption Status Report
1. Major Driving Forces
2. Recommendations of IOSCO in 2000
3, Time Table
4, Standards Setting
2
Outline (2)
II) Impact of IFRS Adoption on Accounting Educators
1. Adaption of Teaching
2. Teaching Materials
3. What Else Can Accounting Educators Do?
3
I) Adoption Status
Report
4
1. Major driving forces
Improve global
competitiveness
Make TW
accounting
standards
consistent
with the
world
Develop an
information
disclosure
mechanism
consistent
with the
world
5
Recommendations of IOSCO
•Member countries allow cross-border companies
to compile financial reports in compliance
with IFRS when they apply for public issuance
and listing of their stocks.
•To increase comparability of financial
statements of international companies and to
lower the cost of raising capital from
worldwide markets, member countries should
make their local standards consistent with
international accounting standards.
6
A Special Task Force Formed
•Special Task Force on IFRS Adoption
•Members including representatives of
FSC, MOE, MOF, accounting academe,
TSE,TGTC, public accounting
profession, ARDF and industrial
organizations.
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Task Assignment
Planning Group
Promulgate
a blueprint
Group 3:
Legislative support
Regulation
change
•Financial reporting
•Corporate governance
•Franchised industry
•Financial/tax
difference
Group 1: Preliminary tasks
Translation
of IAS
Group 2: Implementing IFRS
Gather reported
problems
Solve
problems
Seamless
transition
Group 4:
Popularization
Active
propagation
•Publicizing exposition
•Offering courses
•Consultation channels
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2. Time Table (1)
2008
•Financial Supervisory Commission announced that Taiwan
would fully adopt IFRS
2009
•Financial Supervisory Commission promulgated the IFRS
roadmap
2012
2013
2015
•First-phase companies can voluntarily adopt IFRS
•First-phase companies will compulsorily adopt IFRS
•Second-phase companies can voluntarily adopt IFRS
•Second-phase companies will compulsorily adopt IFRS
9
2. Time Table (2)
• Adoption of IFRS in two phases：
 First-phase companies：public companies and
financial firms under supervision of Financial
Supervisory Commission (Credit card issuers,
credit corporations, insurance brokers and agents
are not included.)
 Second-phase companies：private companies, credit
corporations and credit card issuers
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2. Time Table (3)
Year
2012
•First-phase companies can
voluntarily adopt IFRS
2013
•First-phase companies will
compulsorily adopt IFRS
•Second-phase companies can
voluntarily adopt IFRS
Financial reports
complied with IFRS
•2010 annual reports
•2011 annual reports
and interim reports
•2011 annual reports
•2012 annual reports
and interim reports
2015
•2013 annual reports
•Second-phase companies will •2014 annual reports
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compulsorily adopt IFRS
and interim reports
3. Standards Setting
(Financial Accounting Standards)
•Starting 1999, forty ROC Statements
of Accounting Standards were revised
and updated to converge to IAS.
•In 2009, the IFRS Translation Review
Committee issued requests for
comments for IAS #18(Revenue),
#40(Investment property), #21(Foreign
Exchange Rates), #8(Operating
Segments) and #17(Leases).
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3. Standards Setting (Statements of
Auditing Standards)
No. Title
Pronouncement
Date
41
Reporting on Comparative Financial Statements
Nov 2004
42
Auditing Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures
Jul 2005
43
The Auditor's Responsibility to Consider Fraud in
an Audit of Financial Statements
Sep 2006
44
Quality Control for Audits of Historical Financial
Information
Sep 2007
45
Audit Documentation
Feb 2008
46
Quality Control For Accounting Firms
Dec 2008
47
Planning an Audit of Financial Statements
Oct 2009
48
Internal Control
In process
13
3. Standards Setting (Statements of
Valuation Standards)
No. Title
Pronouncement
Date
1
Summary of Valuation Standards
Dec 2007
2
Ethical Guidelines for Valuation
Aug 2008
3
Valuation Report
Aug 2009
4
Valuation Process
To be pronounced
5
Valuation Documentation
In process
6
Valuation Standards for Financial Reporting
In process
14
II) Impact of IFRS
Adoption on
Accounting Educators
15
1. Adaptation of Teaching:
Education Timeframe
Sep.09
Sept.’11
Sep.10
Jan.’11
Sept.’12
Jan.’12
Sept.’13
Jan.13
2009 new students must learn IFRS.
Teaching materials for sophomores
(e.g. intermediate accounting)
Disclosure also
of the plan of
IFRS and the
need to be adjusted forimplementing
them.
First-phase companies
will compulsorily adopt
IFRS
influence of IFRS
ROC
GAAP
Freshman
IFRS
Sophomore
Junior
Senior
Graduation
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1. Adaptation of Teaching:
Teaching Methods
• Rule-Based -> Principle-Based
• Teaching Method:
 Training how to make judgments and choices
 Training how to find answers; not just memorizing
answers
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1. Adaptation of Teaching:
OSU Courses
Undergraduate
Graduate
Accounting
Financial
Principles
Accounting Research
Intermediate
Accounting Theory
Accounting
Advanced Accounting
Financial
Statements Analysis
Development of
International
Accounting
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1. Adaptation of Teaching:
Exam/Grading
•Assigning questions relying on reasoning
(not just memorizing)
•Encouraging critical thinking and reward
answers based on reasoning (not just
memorizing)
•Identifying learning levels: knowledge,
comprehension, application, analysis,
synthesis, and evaluation (Bloom 1956)
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2. Teaching Materials
• Knowledge to support judgment-making may come
from: economics, finance, industry, research
methods, information technology, behavioral
sciences, etc.
• Students also need trainings in ethics to hold up
their judgments.
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2. Teaching materials
•Text books
•Teaching cases
–Acer: Core management principles
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Acer: Core Management
Principles
•Background
–Background of Taiwan
–Global PC industry
–History of Acer
•Company philosophy
•Business model
•Management of foreign exchanges
•Influence of fair value standards
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3. What Else Can Accounting
Educators Do?
•We seem to know more about foreign situations
than about our own?
-Institutions/people matter?
-Incentives: Research to know? Research to
cure? Research to publish?
•Knowledge consumers vs. knowledge producers
-Knowledge-based judgments
-Literature review
-Meta-analysis
-Editorial policy of journals
•Scattered research vs. systematic research
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Appreciation
•Thanks to the following individuals
for sharing their thoughts with us:
-Rong-Ruey Duh, Professor of NTU
–Mei-Yen Jiang, Partner of DT, Taiwan
–Hsien-Yin Lu, Manager of FSC
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Thank you !