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CA-CMA consultation update

It has been more than three months since the CA and CMA organizations entered into exploratory merger discussions and launched their inclusive consultation process about the future of the Canadian accounting profession.

Many CAs and CMAs have taken time out of their busy summer schedules to join the conversation about this important initiative and share their points of view, either online at www.cpaCanada.ca, at town halls hosted by CA and CMA organizations in almost every province or at conferences and other face-to-face meetings. Participants clearly have been interested and engaged in the discussion and have presented thoughtful questions and comments.

In addition to talking with members, candidates and students, the CA and CMA provincial and national bodies are reaching out to other stakeholders such as governments, regulators and the business community to talk about the concepts being explored and why they are important to the future of Canada and the accounting profession.

The cooperation and support of the national and provincial bodies has been crucial to ensuring that the profession-wide consultation is nationally aligned, and also representative of the regional differences in accounting regulations, legislation and practice areas.

Recently, members of the three accounting bodies in Quebec were informed that progress has been made in those discussions under the leadership of their organizations and with input from the Office des professions. As a result, they are now working on a concrete proposal to unify the profession in Quebec through a merger of the provincial CA, CMA and CGA bodies that is based on the full recognition of all the fields of expertise of professional accountants. The boards of directors of those three bodies have presented the proposal to their respective members in Quebec and are seeking member input through a province-wide consultation tour from August 15 to September 16. Feedback from the memberships will guide the three organizations, leading to the recommended formal proposal being submitted to the government this fall to assist the Office des professions in determining the future direction of the profession in Quebec.

The developments in Quebec underscore the need for both the national and provincial bodies representing the accounting profession in Canada to proactively consider what the future of the profession should be. Without question, the Quebec consultations will inform the ongoing discussions between the CA and CMA organizations in the rest of Canada.

The strong member participation in the consultation process has generated valuable insights that will help both organizations determine their future course. For example, we know from feedback that members want more information on three main subjects:

• why we are considering a merger when similar talks failed in 2004;
• the choice of chartered professional accountant (CPA) as the unifying designation;
• how the new CPA designation and supporting qualifying program will be structured to maintain the value of their current designation.

A number of fact-based communications called Topics Of Interest that address these and other elements of the business case have been added to the CPA Canada website to help members better understand these issues.

After the conclusion of the consultation period, the leadership of both organizations will carefully review all the input received from their members. If it is decided that the two bodies should proceed with a merger, a concrete proposal would be developed for the members’ further consideration and support.

Stay tuned for information about further developments as they occur.

FRAC conference explores post-transition issues Now that IFRS has become Canadian GAAP for most publicly accountable enterprises, organizations with December 31 year-ends have already filed their first interim reports under IFRS. We now have early experiences to learn from, both in terms of the practical application of IFRS and the impact of embedding a new financial reporting framework into our organizations. IFRS and the new world of global accounting standards will be a continuous journey of learning. Issues such as how far we can go with Canadian guidance while still being true to our commitment to adopt IFRS without country- specific interpretations will constantly challenge us. And there will always be the need to keep up to date technically on new and proposed standards as they emerge. Many of these important issues will be the subjects of discussion and debate at CICA’s first post-transition Financial Reporting and Accounting Conference (FRAC), which runs September 26 to 28, 2011, at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre in Toronto. The robust agenda of this year’s conference includes a CFO panel discussion on lessons learned from their organizations’ transition, another panel discussion entitled IFRS — Walking the Tightrope between Canadian Guidance and Interpretation — How Far Can We Go? and a third on the application and implications of the New World of Fair Value Measurement. The conference also includes several technical IFRS updates, including revenue recognition, leases, joint arrangements and consolidations, and post-employment benefits. For the detailed agenda and to register visit www.cpd.cica.ca/FRAC.

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