LOCAL ACCOUNTING STANDARDS /
INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS: WHICH
TRANSITIONAL PROCESS
Mr. Salah ESSAYEL
CONSEIL DU MARCHE FINANCIER OF TUNISIA
2013 TAFCM- September 20th, 2013- Istanbul
KEY TOPICS
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
-
-
SUMMARY OF THE CORPORATE ACCOUNTING SYSTEM
-
SUMMARY OF THE INTERNATIONAL BENCHMARK (IFRS)
POSITIONING
THE
TUNISIAN
ACCOUNTING
SIMILARITIES & DIFFERENCES BETWEEN IFRS
TUNISIAN ACCOUNTING SYSTEM
-
-
SMEs ACCOUNTING STANDARDS
-
ADOPTION PROCESS OF IFRS IN TUNISIA
SYSTEM:
AND THE
IMPACT OF THE ADOPTION OF IFRS IN TUNISIA
-
REPORTING
MARKET
-
REQUIREMENTS
ON
THE
TUNISIAN
CAPITAL
WHY IMPLEMENTING IAS- IFRS ?
•
•
•
THE LOGIC & RELEVANCE OF THE BENCHMARK
FOR INVESTORS AND THE MARKET.
AN INCREASINGLY DEMANDING INTERNATIONAL
ENVIRONMENT: the implementation of the IAS –
IFRS benchmark is an entry ticket to the
international markets and the global economy.
THE WORLWIDE IMPLEMENTATION OF IAS- IFRS
WHICH WILL DEVELOP THE INTERNATIONAL
EXCHANGES
REALATING
TO
ACCOUNTING
SERVICES.
OVERVIEW OF THE
TUNISIAN ACCOUNTING
BENCHMARK
THE CORPORTAE ACCOUNTING SYSTEM
CONSISTS OF:
THE ACCOUNTING LAW: enacted on December 30th, 1996
and consisting of 5 chapters relating to accounting legal
and organizational issues.
-
-
THE CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
THE ACCOUNTING STANDARDS SUB-DIVIDED AS
FOLLOWS:
* THE GENERAL PRESENTATION STANDRAD
* THE TECHNICAL STANDARDS
* THE SECTORAL STANDARDS
-
ACCOUNTING STANDARD N°1 :
GENERAL STANDARD
DEFINES THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS PRESENTATION
TEMPLATE
-
DEFINES THE RULES & PRINCIPLES GOVERNING THE
ACCOUNTING ORGANIZATION
-
-
DEFINES THE ACCOUNTING TERMINOLOGY
APPLIES TO COMPANIES’ FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND
ACCOUNTING ORGANIZATION
-
APPLIES TO COMPANIES SUBJECT TO THE SECTORAL
STANDARADS WHERE THERE IS NO EXCEPTIONS
-
SECTORAL STANDARDS
-
DEDICATE A PART SEPCIFIC TO INTERNAL CONTROL
SYSTEMS AND ACCOUNTING ORGANIZATION
IN
ADDITION TO ACCOUNTS’ TERMINOLOGY.
- THE TUNISIAN SYSTEM ALSO PROVIDES FOR
PRACTICAL
RECOMMENDATIONS
(for
instance:
concerning factoring companies / for REPO treatment
OVERVIEW OF THE
INTERNATIONAL
ACCOUNTING
BENCHMARK
INTERNATIONAL ACCOUNTING
BENCHMARK
A- DEFINITION OF IAS / IFRS BENCHMARK
IFRS BENCHMARK COVERS THE STANDARDS AND
INTERPRETATIONS ISSUED BY THE IASB:
INTERNATIONAL ACCOUNTING STANDARDS: IAS
•INTERNATIONAL
STANDARDS
OF
FINANCIAL
REPORTING: IFRS
• RELATED INTERPRETATIONS BY THE RELEVANT BODIES
• SUBSEQUENT
AMENDMENTS TO THESE STANDARDS
AND THEIR RELATED INTERPRETATIONS
•STANDARDS AND INTERPRETATIONS TO BE ISSUED /
PUBLISHED BY THE IASB
•
INTERNATIONAL ACCOUNTING
BENCHMARK
B- STANDARD-SETTING APPROACH OF IASB & OF IAS /
IFRS STANDARDS:
-
IASB APPROACH BASED ON 6 POINTS:
Inspired by the anglo-saxon system and dedicated to investors
• based on an approach reflecting the economic activity reality
taking into account the market
• a benchmark disconnected from any leagl or tax context
• the treatment of the accounting operations is based on identical
accounting principles
• a global benchmark dealing with the accounting rules as well as
the financial reporting
• a compulsory implementation of all the standards and the
interpretations
•
INTERNATIONAL ACCOUNTING
BENCHMARK
STANDARD-SETTING
STANDARDS:
-
APPROACH
Main objective: providing
decisions
with
better
instantaneous value of the
involved taking into account
OF
IAS
/
IFRS
investors for their investment
information
regarding
the
economic entity and the risks
its market value.
Approach: based mainly on the following:
-Prevalence of the income over the profit/loss statement
- Introduction of « fair value » concept
- Prevalence of the substance over the form
- measurement of losses and assets’impairment…
INTERNATIONAL ACCOUNTING
BENCHMARK
C- CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK & BASIC ACCOUNTING
PRINCIPLES
IT REPRESENTS THE GENERAL FRAMEWORK APPLICABLE TO
ALL COMPANIES MAKING ACCOUNTS IN ACCORDANCE WITH
IFRS BENCHMARK AND ALLOWS THEM TO REFER TO BASIC
CONCEPTS REGARDING THE PARTS INCLUDED IN THE
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS.
•
D- FINANCIAL REPORTING STANDARDS
1. STANDARDS OF FINANCIAL REPORTING (financial
statements / additional information) PRESENTATION ( IAS 1/
IAS7 / IAS 8 / IAS 10/ IFRS 8/ IAS 24 / IAS 33 / IAS 34).
2. Reporting perimeter (IAS 27 / IAS 28 / IAS 31/ IFRS 3/
IFRS 5)
INTERNATIONAL ACCOUNTING
BENCHMARK
3. SECTORAL STANDARDS
-
FINANCIAL SECTOR (IAS 26/ IFRS4)
NON FINANCIAL SECTOR (IAS 41 / IFRS 6)
4. ASSESSMENT & REGISTRATION STANDARDS
- NON- FINANCIAL ASSETS AND LIABILITIES ASSESSMENT
(IAS 2 / IAS 16/ IAS 36 / IAS 38/ IAS 40/ IAS 17/ IAS
19/IAS 23…)
FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS ASSESSMENT (IAS 32/ IAS 39/
IFRS 2/ IFRS 7…)
- Assessment of income and prices’fluctuation (IAS 11/ IAS
12/ IAS 18/ IAS 15/ IAS 21…)
-
-
POSITIONING OF THE TUNISIAN
ACCOUNTING SYSTEM :
SIMILARITIES & DIFFERENCES
BETWEEN IFRS AND THE
TUNISIAN ACCOUNTING SYSTEM
IFRS AND SMEs
MAIN ISSUE
-IFRS FOR SMEs: are they an option or a need with
respect to the Tunisia context and taking into
account the costs/ advantages analysis as well as
the available accounting expertise?
- What is the organizational and informational
impact involved?
-
2 STANDARD-SETTING APPROACHES
US-GAAP
IFRS
Concept
More
Underlying
principles
Rules
Choice
Details level
More
2 STANDARD-SETTING APPROACHES
AMERICAN APPROACH BASED ON DETAILED RULES:
Giving rise to an increasing complexity resulting from the
quantity & level of details
-
-
risk of structuring of accounting operations and data.
INTERNATIONAL APPROACH BASED ON PRINCIPLES:
-Giving an important place to interpretation and professional
judgement
-Less numeric thresholds
- less available options.
NEED FOR CONVERGENCE: Only one benchmark in order to
make easier the comparaison of
companies’ financial
performances and the listing process on a foreign capital
market.
IN THE TUNISIAN CASE
A.
-
-
-
-
-
THE PREREQUISITES TO TRANSITION
The system general consistency with the basics of the
international benchmark
The availability of a conceptual framework
Adoption of the memorandum on the prevalence of
substance over form
Similarities with respect to communication tools and
particularly regarding the financial statements’components
(balance sheet / profits-loss statement / cash-flow
statement and the notes)
Adoption of the classification of expenses by destination
and setting indicators to be used as measurement and
assessment tools of companies’ performances
Staff training …
IN THE TUNISIAN CASE
B. IMPEDIMENTS TO THE ADOPTION OF IAS/ IFRS
The difficult process of upgrading the tax system in
accordance with the requirements of IAS / IFRS
adoption
- IFRS
are
designed
in
the
developped
countries’environment and based on the anglosaxon culture
- IFRS
adoption entails a number of reforms:
accounting law, tax system, corporate law,
commercial law…
- costs of introduction of the benchmark
-
IN THE TUNISIAN CASE
C- OBSTACLES
-
THE TAX REGULATION INTO FORCE
INCONSISTENCY OF THE PRACTICES WITH THE
KEY CONCEPTS OF IFRS:
* « fair value » concept
* complexity of some accounting treatments
-
-
LOGISTIC SUPPORT & COSTS OF TRANSITION
IMPACT ON FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
•Concerning equities: (the re-estimation
of the useful lifetime of assets)
• Concerning the results (review of
depreciation allowances)
• The net debt level (capitalization of
leasing agreements).
A LARGER IMPACT
Building the accounting & financial capacity and
improvement of the monitoring bodies
-
Decompartamentalising
and
structuring
accounting and financial functions
-
the
Enhancing the internal control as well as the
internal and external audit functions
-
Involvment
information
-
-
of
quality
control
in
financial
involvment of the legal department in the project.
REPORTING REQUIREMENTS ON THE
TUNISIAN CAPITAL MARKET
A- PERIODIC INFORMATION
REPORTING IS REQUIRED ON A REGULAR BASIS:
Quarterly : (activity indicators)
- Half-yearly: interim financial statements, auditor
report
- Yearly:
yearly financial statements, auditor
companies’management report…
-
report,
B- ON-GOING INFORMATION
ANY SIGNIFICANT INFORMATION LIKELY TO HAVE AN
IMAPCT ON THE MARKET HAS TO BE DISCLOSED TO THE
PUBLIC
REPORTING REQUIREMENTS ON THE
TUNISIAN CAPITAL MARKET
C- OCCASIONAL INFORMATION:
disclosed on the occasion of financial operations on the
market (capital increase / listing on the stock exchange /
bonds’issuance / a takeover bid…)
DCMF
MONITORING
OF
DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS
COMPLIANCE
WITH
Monitoring aspects: the deadline for submitting information
/ The information details as specified in the Law / The
consistency of the information…
-
Enforcement actions likely to be taken by
regulator:
- soft actions (reminders: public and nominative ones)
- sanctions (financial penalties, issuing orders…)
-
the
THANK YOU