An Executive Guide to IFRS: Content, Costs and Benefits to Business

Conclusion

That the IASB should have produced a separate comprehensive basis of accounting for SMEs is quite surprising given its overt objective of writing high quality standards for capital markets, and the lack of evident experience in the SME world on the part of most Board members. However, there was political pressure to do this and sympathy on the part of the chairman and deputy chairman of the IASB. In effect they brought in a staff team from outside, which succeeded in producing a clear and credible document with some real concessions for SMEs even if the process took six years.

The IFRS for SMEs is now supported by extensive outreach activities to help countries adopt the standard and help individuals apply it, as well as to help teachers to train people. It has a support group, the SMEIG, which helps with application issues and with the regular update.