More than 120 finance professionals from Qatar’s public and private sectors have attended the annual International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) organised by Earnst & Young at Four Seasons Hotel in Doha.

The two-day event updated participants on the latest IFRS developments and new pronouncements, and their impact on financial reporting.

The newly-issued IFRS 15 “Revenue from Contracts with Customers” and IFRS 9 “Financial Instruments” were extensively discussed and explained with practical examples, including the recently-issued hedging component of IFRS 9. The status of all FASB-IASB projects was also reviewed as well as the latest updates in IFRS and IFRIC.

Imtiaz Ibrahim, Partner, Financial Accounting Advisory Services, EY Qatar, said, “The volume of changes to IFRS has been significant and is likely to continue in the foreseeable
future.”

Ibrahim said the challenge for makers of financial statements will be to assess the implications of the changes, some of which will go beyond matters of accounting, potentially impacting business decisions and information systems.

He noted that banks in particular need to gear up to adopt IFRS 9 credit losses requirement and this will warrant significant changes in their current systems and processes.

“Early impact assessment and planning will be the key to managing successful implementation. EY is committed to supporting business communities and will continue to provide high-quality training to enable organisations to enhance the skills and performance of their employees,” Ibrahim said. The sessions were led by Dr László Péter, a member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and the Hungarian Accounting Standards Board.

 Péter is one of the leading presenters on IFRS and has more than 12 years of experience delivering high-level financial reporting programmes to international audiences and has been a regular presenter for EY Qatar over the last few years.

 

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