This Handbook contains the complete International Public Sector Accounting Standards^TM, published as of January 31, 2024. It also includes The Conceptual Framework for General Purpose Financial Reporting by Public Sector Entities with Chapters 3, 5, and 7 updated in 2023.

The International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) welcomes the International Audit and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) publishing its International Standard on Sustainability Assurance (ISSA) 5000. The International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) has also issued its public statement of support. 

Lee White, IFAC Chief Executive Officer, said “In recent years there has been a significant transformation with the reporting of sustainability-related information. Assurance plays an essential role in ensuring the quality, comparability, and trustworthiness of this information, as it does with financial information. IOSCO has shown proactive leadership in the development of the sustainability transformation journey, and its support for the work of the IAASB on ISSA 5000 is another important step.” 

As a profession-agnostic standard, ISSA 5000 is available for use by practitioners outside of the accountancy profession.  If non-professional accountants assert to using ISSA 5000 for assurance, it is absolutely critical for investor and consumer protection that such providers are held by jurisdictional regulators to the same regulatory oversight and requirements that apply to professional accountants.

Mr. White continued, “IFAC’s professional accountancy member organizations around the globe, which represent millions of individual accountants, are champions of integrity and quality.  Our profession is united by a deep commitment to work with regulators, practitioners, and organizations globally to facilitate smooth and timely implementation of international standards, such as ISSA 5000, in order to serve the public interest need.”

IFAC has developed a high-level overview to help stakeholders – preparers, auditors, and investors – anticipate what to expect from sustainability assurance, especially in its early days.

For more information, and/or to be invited to future IFAC webinars or events on sustainability, please contact Communications@IFAC.org.

About IFAC

IFAC, by connecting and uniting its members, makes the accountancy profession truly global.

IFAC member organizations are champions of integrity and professional quality, and proudly carry their membership as a badge of international recognition.

IFAC and its members work together to shape the future of the profession through learning, innovation, a collective voice, and commitment to the public interest.

The International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA) is pleased to announce the reappointment of Gabriela Figueiredo Dias to serve a second, renewable term as its Chair, beginning January 1, 2025 and ending December 31, 2026.

Ms. Figueiredo Dias has been at the helm of the global ethics board since January 2022. During her first term, she led the IESBA through a strategy shift, including strategic initiatives that strengthened the relevance and widened the impact of the IESBA’s International Code of Ethics on innovative matters.

Her leadership has been pivotal to the development of robust and timely new standards and thought leadership on ethics and independence to respond to the evolving needs of the market. Those new standards include the soon-to-be-released Sustainability-related standards, which will lay the foundation of ethics and independence as part of the global standards infrastructure for sustainability reporting and assurance, and represent a landmark on the IESBA’s journey.

Other innovative standards finalized over Ms. Figueiredo Dias’ first term included standards addressing the ethical dimensions of tax planning and related services, the transformative effects of technology on the accounting, assurance and finance functions, and auditor independence for group audits.

Ms. Figueiredo Dias’ reappointment comes at a critical time for the IESBA, as the Board pursues a bold Strategy and Work Plan for 2024-2027, with a special focus on two strategic areas: culture and governance of accounting firms, and exploring extending the impact of the IESBA Code beyond its traditional scope. Additional priorities include initiatives to address topics such as auditor independence in relation to collective investment vehicles, and the evolving role of CFOs. Ms. Figueiredo Dias’ first term has already seen strong progress on a number of these priorities, underscoring the IESBA’s role as a global leader in providing standards that support ethical, transparent, and globally consistent reporting and decision-making.

“I am honored to continue to lead the important work we are advancing at IESBA in the public interest,” said Ms. Figueiredo Dias. “In times when ethics matters increasingly for sustainable businesses, markets and economies, it is essential that our standards meet the highest public expectations. Ethics is not optional. It is the bedrock of the accountancy profession and of the public trust in the profession’s work. I look forward to progressing the ambitious agenda we have set, with the critical collaboration of our stakeholders, as we address the complex ethical challenges our world faces today.”

Before joining the IESBA, Ms. Figueiredo Dias served as Chair of the Portuguese Securities Market Commission (CMVM) and was a Board member of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) and the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA). She also served as Vice-Chair of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Corporate Governance Committee. Her deep expertise and extensive experience in market regulation, international standard setting, legal and regulatory structure and governance, and audit oversight at the European and international levels have been central to her impactful leadership at the IESBA.

About IESBA

The International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA) is an independent global standard-setting board. The IESBA’s mission is to serve the public interest by setting high-quality, international ethics (including independence) standards as a cornerstone to ethical behavior in business and organizations, and to public trust in financial and non-financial information that is fundamental to the proper functioning and sustainability of organizations, financial markets and economies worldwide.

Along with the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board, the IESBA is part of the International Foundation for Ethics and Audit. The Public Interest Oversight Board (PIOB) oversees IESBA and IAASB activities and the public interest responsiveness of the standards.