Hot on the heels of last month’s article – where we discussed the IFRS resources available from the accounting bodies – is this month’s article where we will review resources provided by the Big 4 accounting firms. Who is leading the charge in becoming the authority on IFRS? Who is producing a number of quality articles and publications? Who is doing an average job and who needs to try harder?

DELOITTE

A wise old sage once told me that there is no objectivity only subjectivity rendered conscious of itself. Therefore, in the interest of full disclosure I should point out that I am an ex-Andersen guy (RIP) and so I have a soft spot for Deloitte. Since here in Canada, and back in my native England where I started with Andersen, Deloitte took over the Andersen employees and clients. But that hasn’t biased my opinion of Deloitte’s IFRS sites. Their IFRS sites are probably the best of the Big 4 and here are a few reasons why.

Like everyone else, Deloitte has a number of different portals for IFRS information.

Deloitte’s Global IFRS Site (IAS Plus)

IAS Plus is Deloitte’s global home for everything IFRS related. There’s so much content here that it would be difficult to cover everything in this article so here are a few highlights:

It might have limited practical value but one area of IAS Plus that I find interesting is the “Use of IFRS by Jurisdiction” which essentially lists every country and shows where they are at with respect to IFRS – whether they are under IFRS or working towards IFRS or whether IFRS is not permitted at all. It also indicates how each country treats Non-Publicly Accountable Entities with regards to IFRS.

Perhaps the jewel in Deloitte’s IFRS crown is the IFRS e-Learning section of its website. Deloitte has developed a series of free, high quality, downloadable self study courses on IAS and IFRS. Launching them can be a little tricky if you don’t know how to control your popup blocker software, but persevere because the content is great. As a word of caution; however, ensure that the specific content you are downloading is current. As you are probably aware, the IASB is continually changing and updating standards and these courses are not necessarily kept as up to date as the standards themselves. That said, as long as you are aware of what changes have been made to the specific standard you have downloaded, there’s still some useful information contained within the courses.

If you want to keep up to date with changes and announcements, subscribe to their RSS feed.

Deloitte’s Canadian IFRS Site

Unlike IAS Plus, this site is unsurprisingly targeted just at Canadian accounting professionals. In addition to a small number of links to IFRS resources is access to Countdown, Deloitte’s monthly (or more frequently) IFRS newsletter covering timely and relevant transition topics. Included in each edition is a section entitled “The Real Deal” where a specific conversion issue is addressed through the eyes of the IFRS implementation team of “Lightyear,” a made up company created for this purpose. Recent topics have included “Management Discussion and Analysis,” “Property, Plant and Equipment” and “Financial Instruments,” and back issues are archived on the site.

ERNST & YOUNG

Like Deloitte, Ernst & Young (EY) has both a global and a Canadian site for IFRS information and, also like Deloitte, the global site has a lot more resources than the local site. At first glance, the EY sites are more aesthetically pleasing. The layout is more structured and thus allows the user to find what they are looking for more quickly. Having said that, the EY site appears to be lacking in some of the content that Deloitte has, which probably explains why it’s easier to organize! Ernst & Young’s Global IFRS SiteOne of the benefits of having an organized site is easy access to content. If you’re interested in viewing a selection of archived webcasts on IFRS topics then, unlike Deloitte’s site where finding such content appears to require searching through the mountains of archived news postings, EY has them all in one spot so you can quickly find content that might be of interest.

EY also has a section called Industry 360o IFRS which houses pdf files and webcasts categorized by industry. Find IFRS information tailored to your industry efficiently so you can start digging into the material now as opposed to spending all of your time searching for it.

Similar to Deloitte, web-based learning tools are also available for free download on EY’s site. The number of modules available is about half that of Deloitte’s but the content that is presented is fairly comparable. Both EY and Deloitte conclude each of their learning segments with an assessment to ensure you have understood the material presented.

Taking a look at the archived newsletters and publications area of the site you will notice that it is also much better laid out. Outlook is EY’s newsletter and the archive gives a brief description of what is in each edition so you can decide whether it’s worth downloading, or you can quickly go back and find an article you read previously.

Ernst & Young's Canadian IFRS Site

EY’s attempt at a Canadian content site is a little better than Deloitte’s. Once again the content of this site again is easier to locate (click on the Industry Guidance, Library and FAQs links) and there is slightly more of it. You will find the typical news and views on issues specific to Canada but linking back to the Global website will get you everything else you need. There are a couple of brief overview articles that make for an interesting read including:

• Why IFRS?
• IFRS vs. GAAP – Key Differences
• Lessons Learned

What I do like about this site is that of the articles showing on the homepage; a number of them discuss often overlooked issues relating to IFRS conversions such as the readiness of IT departments, internal control groups, human resources and internal audit (although I’m not sure why they would split up internal control and internal audit except that one comes before the other).

I’m not sure whether this is an oversight or not but the last “media release” dates back to September 2008. I would like to think that with everything that has happened recently there would have been some articles published since then. Let’s hope this is updated soon.

PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS

Like the other Big 4 firms, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has IFRS content at both a global and a national level.

PricewaterhouseCoopers Global IFRS Site

The global site tends to have an “IFRS and UK GAAP” feel to many of its articles and publications. Navigating to industry specific content lands you in the quagmire of general industry information and not simply IFRS so it can be challenging to find exactly what you’re looking for.

P2P IFRS is PwC’s interactive electronic learning solution, unfortunately it’s not launched yet but the comment about having someone from the P2P IFRS team contact you for pricing suggests to me that unlike Deloitte and EY, this section of resources is not going to be free.

There is similar content to that of the other sites such as publications discussing various IAS and IFRS, PwC’s comment letters responding to the IASB’s proposed changes, option to subscribe to the newsletter and a diary covering the developments in IFRS (and UK GAAP) but for me the one section of this site that stands out is the “Topic Summaries.” By clicking on the link on the homepage, you are brought to an alphabetical list of all the key accounting areas from “Accounting Policies” through to “Share Capital and Reserves.” Selecting one of the areas at random such as “Inventories” gives you quick access to all you need to know about that subject including:

• Overview
• Latest Reminders and Developments
• Resources
• Authoritative Pronouncements
• PwC’s Interpretations and Guidance
• Tools, Practice Aids and Publications

There is also a section, where applicable, for UK specific guidance but if you are reading this, that’s probably not going to be of much use for you but if you are reading this and are having trouble sleeping at night, check it out!

PwC also runs a global blog to discuss and debate hot topics in IFRS.

PricewaterhouseCoopers Canadian IFRS Site

Of all the Big 4 Canadian IFRS sites, PwC’s is probably the most comprehensive. This site has great industry specific content tailored for Canadian entities, even if a few obvious industries such as manufacturing are missing. In fact in general, I find the volume of Canadian content on this site quite impressive.

Of all the articles on this site, I particularly like the “TransitionIFRS Methodology” which lays out the steps for a successful IFRS conversion project. This is well worth a look if you haven’t yet started your planning; but you have started your planning, haven’t you?

I was fortunate enough to attend the FEI Breakfast Seminar Series “IFRS Opportunities for Driving Value in Your Conversion” that was presented by PwC at select cities across Canada. The content from those presentations is also on their website and has some interesting comparisons about different adoption strategies from doing the bare minimum to getting by through to incorporating goals and objectives at a more strategic level to bring value to the organization. You can check that out on their website too.

KPMG

KPMG’s Global IFRS Site

KPMG created the IFRS Institute as its repository for all things IFRS. Unfortunately, in my opinion, it fails to deliver. Yes there are useful articles, including some technical and some industry specific, but the quantity of both is somewhat limited. And, unlike Deloitte and EY (and to a lesser extent PwC), KPMG does not have any downloadable e-learning content.

Under its Technical Publications section (under Insights) there are a handful of KPMG original publications available for download. However, some of the more meaty publications are abridged or not available online for free, and therefore if you want the full publication, it must be purchased. Luckily, KPMG has included an order form that you can download, complete and mail, along with your cheque payment, so that you can have these exclusive gems in print. Come on KPMG, at least if you’re going to do this, make your order form electronic and add online purchasing, I can’t imagine you will have too many people willing to spend time to purchase through this archaic system when there’s so much similar information out there that is either free or more readily accessible. If you want to make a few dollars, get with the times and simplify the order process. If that’s not your primary objective, make it available as a free pdf and if people want a hard copy, they can print it.

KPMG’s Canadian IFRS Site

Like Deloitte and EY, KPMG’s Canadian site is similarly lacking in substantial content but the information that they do present is not really that technical or in depth. But, more disappointing to me is that the site seems to be aimed at people who have never heard of IFRS and have no clue as to what it is about, surely we’ve got to be past that phase now. That said, I’ve personally noticed a rather large gap between where I expected people to be at with their transitions and where in fact they are at, so I guess it’s good that the firms are still carrying this type of information but having “What is IFRS?” being the primary focus of KPMG’s front page is sending the wrong message. It is certainly not doing anything to help impress upon companies the urgency of the conversion process and that if they haven’t started yet, they’d better get cracking. It’s almost as if in some way they are suggesting that it’s okay that companies haven’t started yet! Really?

SUMMARY

While there is a lot of information out there, all sites are not created equal. Deloitte has great content and e-learning tools on its global site with EY being a close second despite having a better laid out site. If you want to get your IFRS information a little closer to home then take a look at PwC’s Canadian site. If you still can’t find what you’re looking for you can try KPMG.

One tip though, bookmark the e-learning pages otherwise every time you visit you’re going to have to register again (and again) unless Deloitte and EY can figure out some way of adding cookies or a logon to their site.

I trust that some of this information will help you find the information you might need more quickly so that you can soldier through your IFRS conversion project and move on into an IFRS utopia. Remember, if you need some assistance along the way, PTC should be your first stop for temporary, contract and project accounting and finance professionals either to be part of your IFRS team or to backfill the role of someone else on your IFRS team.

Until next time...