Focus on IFRS

Focus on
IFRS
Publisher

Patrick Collins

Managing Editor
Rob Kelly
Associate Editor
Adam Malik
Art Director

Tammy Leung

Contributors
Gord Beal
Peter Bono
Grant Cameron
Gundi Jeffrey
Geoff Kirbyson
Paul Lawrence
Donalee Moulton

CHANGE IS ALMOST always messy. Mov-
ing from one frame of reference to another
is either an anticipated process, which
generally makes it slightly more palatable,
or an unanticipated one, which is almost
always fraught with difficulty.
In the case of international financial
reporting standards, at least the change
has been in the works for some time,
and there has been plenty of advance
notice that it was imminent. However,
circumstances have conspired to add
fresh challenges when it comes to adopt-
ing this new financial reporting method
in Canada. A recession, albeit less grue-
some here than in many other places, has
diverted energies and subverted more
esoteric priorities in favour of sharpen-
ing a simple survival instinct.
For what good it will do those who see
delay as excusable by extenuating circum-
stances—and hopefully they are few in
number—there are, well, extenuating
circumstances. Or, perhaps in this case
more appropriately, exacerbating circum-
stances. Because the fact that the change
challenge is compounded by a recession
does not alter any deadlines. It just makes
meeting them a more daunting exercise.
This issue features, among other things,
stories about what to do regarding the
IFRS changeover if you haven’t done much
yet, how to work with C-suite people and
board members so they relate to the idea,
snapshots of two successful implementa-
tion stories, and speculation about what
the Americans plan on doing, whenever
they actually do something.