Focus on IFRS

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protocol in pulling off a merger or an
acquisition, for example.
“Management needs to know the
key details and the board needs to
know the 10,000-foot level—what
are the key issues, the key impacts on
the company and understand why.
They’ll want to know how the proj-
ect has been broken down and what
resources are involved,” he says.
But just because directors want
to ensure their employees are get-
ting up to speed on IFRS doesn’t
necessarily mean they’ll be follow-
ing suit themselves.
Kingshott says company manage-
ment has to be acutely aware that
board members need to be treated
differently. Management can set
out training programs on IFRS
but it can’t force directors to take
them, he says.
“You lack that control over them.
Brian Fiedler,
the finance
vice-president
at Canadian Tire,
expects that IFRS
will be tweaked
over time to
meet evolving
user needs.

You can show them where other
countries, such as in Europe, went
wrong (in their conversions), howev-
er. The correct direction wasn’t taken
and it resulted in a lot of hassle in the
end. A lot of people are trying to get
up to speed very quickly in a short pe-
riod of time. If you get the board in-
volved early, it gives them more time
(to get on top of things),” he says.
Brian Fiedler, the Toronto based
vice-president of finance at Cana-
dian Tire Corp., says the retail giant’s
approach has been to provide educa-
tional sessions to both the board and,
in particular, the audit committee.
“Boards generally will be looking to
the audit committee members to pro-
vide a level of comfort that the com-
pany’s conversion will be completed
on time, handled accurately and flag
any of the business issues that arise
from going to IFRS,” he says. >