I believe that a member of the AASB needs to have a wide range of experience working with different sizes and types of entities in a number of different industries. I bring to the table the knowledge gained from my work life to date.
I am originally from the UK where I worked as an auditor for a Big 4 firm. I worked with a range of clients from schools to bakers to armoured tank manufacturers.
When I arrived in Australia 12 years ago, I lived in Canberra for three years, where I performed the external audit of a number of private and public sector clients (including a radar manufacturer, licensed clubs and government departments) as well as providing technical training to the audit team.
When I moved to Melbourne nine years ago, I continued my external audit role before moving into a technical role at two mid-tier firms where I advised clients and staff on a range of audit, accounting and independence issues as well as providing training courses.
In January 2010, I started my own business, Australian Financial Reporting Solutions, where I perform the accounting and audit technical role for a range of accounting firms through interpretation of accounting standards, hot reviews of financial statements, training, as well as providing financial reporting training for the professional accounting bodies.
I believe I also bring a different perspective to the AASB as I regularly speak to accountants in the field at both accounting firms and in corporate entities to ensure that I am aware of issues faced by all sizes of entities and not just concentrating on the ‘big end of town’.
Are there things you believe need to be considered by the AASB?
I think there are a number of focus areas for the AASB in 2012. First, we need to ensure that we have input into the decisions being made at an international level to allow Australian-specific considerations to be discussed at the standard-setting phase rather than the need for an interpretation at a later date. This is particularly important in 2012 given the fundamental changes proposed by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) in areas that affect all entities, such as revenue and leases.
Second, in the Australian context, there are a number of projects on the AASB workplan which affect different industries but, from my perspective, I believe the two key areas are the AASB’s current differential reporting research on the reporting entity concept – the Board expects to consider the results of some empirical research on financial statements lodged with the ASIC and other regulators – and revenue recognition for not-for-profit entities where grants are received, in order to provide them with a revenue figure that makes more sense for their business.
