Collaboration with ACRA on Financial Reporting Surveillance Programme

The Institute is in its ninth year of collaboration with ACRA on its Financial Reporting Surveillance Programme (FRSP). The FRSP guides companies in meeting the requirements of the accounting standards, which provide investors with reliable and meaningful financial statements for decision-making.

Presentation on environmental credits and related accounting implications

Professional Standards 2023, Mr Wong Yew Chung, a member of ISCA’s Financial Reporting Committee (FRC) and Partner, Ernst & Young LLP, provided an introduction to environmental credits, power purchase agreements between green energy buyers and green energy suppliers, as well as some notable accounting implications.

Following his presentation, Ms Genevieve Joan Soh, Head of Platforms and Ecosystems, Climate Impact X, and Mr Justin Turnbull, Director, KPMG Australia, joined Mr Wong to discuss the developments on environmental credits. They discussed salient considerations and risks when purchasing and holding carbon credits, the types and categories of carbon credits, and key accounting implications arising from physical and virtual power purchase agreements.

Financial Reporting Bulletin (FRB) 10

Is the ‘market value’ of a property the same as its ‘fair value’? FRB 10 explains both concepts and provides guidance on what companies should do in assessing the appropriateness of the reported value for financial reporting purposes. This FRB also includes an example to illustrate the application of highest and best use as the valuation premise.

EP 100

ISCA revised its Ethics Pronouncement (EP) 100 Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics on 30 August 2023 to adopt IESBA’s final pronouncement, Revisions to the Code Relating to the Definition of Engagement Team and Group Audits. The revisions address holistically independence considerations which are applicable in an audit of group financial statements. EP 100 is effective from 15 December 2023, with early adoption permitted.

EP 200

ISCA issued EP 200 (Revised on 1 June 2023) Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism – Requirements and Guidelines for Professional Accountants in Singapore to adopt the anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) requirements included in the Accountants (Prevention of Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism) Rules 2023.

These requirements apply to professional accountants in public practice and professional firms preparing for or carrying out transactions which are considered high risk. The AML/CFT requirements remain the same for professional accountants in business, and professional accountants in public practice and professional firms preparing for or carrying out transactions other than those high-risk activities. EP 200 is effective from 1 July 2023.

The roundtable commenced with opening remarks by Ms Gabriela Figueiredo Dias, IESBA Chair, and keynote speakers Ms Kuldip Gill, ACRA Assistant Chief Executive, Accounting Regulatory and Sustainability Group, Ms Eng Chin Chin, ISCA Ethics Committee Chairperson, and Mr Sung-Nam Kim, IESBA member.

Participants shared insights to help shape IESBA’s development of globally applicable, fit-for-purpose ethics and independence standards, to support trustworthy sustainability reporting and assurance and also the related topic of “use of experts”. The roundtable closed with remarks from Ms Laurie Endsley, IESBA Vice Chair and IESBA Experts Task Force Chair.

Ethics awareness series

ISCA Ethics Committee set up a taskforce to produce a series of four bite-sized videos with the aim to raise awareness of pertinent ethics and independence issues that have an impact on the business community.

New and revised standards

During the year, ISCA issued the following new and revised auditing and assurance standards, which included:

• SSA 600 (Revised) Special Considerations – Audits of Group Financial Statements (Including the Work of Component Auditors)
• Updated auditing and assurance pronouncements and guidance arising from SFRS(I) 1-1 and FRS 1 - Presentation of Financial Statements.

Revisions to Audit Guidance Statement (AGS) 1

(AGS) 1 ISCA and the Auditing and Assurance Standards Committee (AASC) AGS 1 Sub-Committee have worked with the Economic Development Board (EDB) to update the illustrative report in Appendix 5A of AGS 1 in connection with an example of an EDB Grant Scheme.