Presentation given by Paul Thompson, Deputy Director, SME and SMP Affairs, IFAC, at the Malaysian Institute of Accountants Conference, Auditing Micro-Entities Efficiently and Effectively, March 23, 2012, Kuala Lumpur.

1. The SMP Committee:
Supporting and Vocalizing the
Needs of SMPs
Paul Thompson, Deputy Director, SME
and SMP Affairs, IFAC
MIA Conference: Auditing Micro-entities
Efficiently and Effectively
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
March 23, 2012
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2. IFAC
Mission: “… is to serve the public interest by: contributing
to the development, adoption and implementation of high-
quality international standards and guidance; contributing
to the development of strong professional accountancy
organizations and accounting firms, and to high-quality
practices by professional accountants; promoting the
value of professional accountants worldwide; and
speaking out on public interest issues where the
accountancy profession’s expertise is most relevant.”
• Recognizes that SMEs hold key to economic growth and
SMPs play key role in supporting SMEs
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3. SMP Committee: About
• Represent SMPs globally
• Helping IFAC member bodies support their SMPs
• Building the capacity of SMPs to support business (SMEs)
through high quality professional services
• Members from 18 countries and all regions (4 from Asia)
• MIA member presently Christina Foo (previously Peter Lim)
• MIA contributes much SMP expertise and insights
• MIA is a strong advocate for SMP issues within IFAC
• IFAC supports and complements MIA’s SMP-related efforts
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4. SMP Committee: Objectives
• Participate in policy-making and regulatory dialogue
(relevant, stable and proportionate)
• Input to development of international standards, e.g.
accounting, auditing, ethics (relevant, stable, proportionate)
• Raise awareness of importance of SME sector and role of
SMPs (voice and visibility)
– SMP Quick Poll, member body articles, SMP eNews, Twitter, SMP/SME
Discussion Board, Annual SMP Forum etc.
• Provide practical support to SMPs (free resources & tools)
– Implementation Guidance, Practice Management and Business Advisory
– Guides for use as is and/or member bodies to adapt, translate etc.
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7. SMP Quick Poll: About
• IFAC SMP Quick Poll: 2011 Round-Up
• Quarterly global poll started in Jan/Feb 2011
• 2,500 SMPs responded to Q4 poll
• 7 languages – Chinese, English, French, Italian,
Portuguese, Romanian, & Spanish
• Raw data passed to member bodies to use
• Polling will continue in 2012, possibly semi-annually with
more languages and more national/regional analysis
• Please support us
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8. SMP Quick Poll: Key Findings
• Respondents not necessarily statistically representative since majority
from Europe (62%)
• Some significant regional variations in responses
• Regulatory burden and keeping up with new regulations and standards
top concerns for SMEs and SMPs respectively
• Pace of change is main source/reason for burden
• Economic uncertainty and difficulties accessing finance are also major
concerns for SMEs
• Attracting/retaining clients second most important challenge for SMPs
• SMPs think 2012 will be better than 2011 (except Europe)
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9. SMP Quick Poll: Key Findings (cont..)
• Top drivers of practice growth in 2012 are additional revenue from
existing clients then revenue from new clients
• Main revenue earners: accounting and compilation then audit and
assurance
• Fastest growing revenue sources: accounting and compilation then
advisory/consulting services
• Advisory growth impeded by partner time and marketing services
• New advisory clients driven primarily by existing client relationships
• Tax consulting biggest area of business advisory
• Top policy concerns: micro-entity financial reporting and global
regulatory convergence
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10. Future Challenges for SMPs
• Adapting to change
– Keeping up with regulation and standards
– Competition from unqualified & non-accountants
– Growth of business advisory
– Sustainability agenda
– Internationalization
– IT developments – cloud computing
– Referral networks
• IFAC and its member bodies are collaborating to help
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11. Thankyou
www.ifac.org/smp
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