Focus on IFRS

Susan Campbell,
vice-president
of finance at
Cineplex, says
there is ‘no
rocket science’
involved in
coping with the
IFRS deadline.
should have given thought to their open-
ing balance sheets for 2011.”
While companies do need to get going,
they shouldn’t panic, advises Beal, who
has been involved in the IFRS transition
process since 2007.
“When you find yourself behind the
eight-ball…there’s always that inclina-
tion to panic, but I would strongly urge
against that. However, having said that,
we certainly are communicating that
now is definitely the time for an aggres-
sive strategy.”
usan Campbell, vice-president
of finance at Cineplex Enter-
tainment Limited Partnership
in Toronto, said companies
must act quickly if they haven’t
yet started conversion work.
At first, the task might appear daunt-
ing — perhaps even insurmountable — but
there’s no use putting it off, she said.
“There’s no rocket science here really.
If you haven’t started, then start now.
At this point, you’ve got to look at the
process and condense it. You don’t do a
s
full phase one scoping, you do more of
an overview and then you dive into it
and tackle your hot areas. Obviously you
have to shrink that timeline.”
Campbell oversaw the IFRS conver-
sion at Cineplex and hired a project
leader from an auditing accounting firm
to handle the transition. She said execu-
tives who are playing catch-up must sit
down and come up with a project plan,
which should include getting their com-
pany balance sheet audited.
“It doesn’t have to be detailed; it