2020 has been an incredibly busy year in terms of making representations and lobbying on behalf of members. We thank you our members for your valued feedback on the many issues that have arisen to date this year and we ask that you continue to do so.
Members have responded in great numbers to the various surveys that have issued which resulted in CPA Ireland’s call for an “Action Plan for SME’s” earlier this year and more recently to engagement with Revenue and CRO on deadline extensions. CPA Ireland’s technical committees have been an invaluable source of member feedback. The SMP/SME Committee have been very active in debating and discussing points of concern and interest to practitioners. They have engaged with their fellow Tax Committee on alerting tax issues that impact members. They have and continue to provide an important representative voice to the Institute on SMP/SME matters.
Taxation
CPA Ireland via CCAB-I and member representation on TALC (Tax Administration Liaison Committee) have engaged with Revenue since the beginning of the pandemic on the many COVID-19 support measures for business.
The CCAB-I submissions made on the various COVID-19 support measures, including the TWSS and EWSS, Budget 2021, Income Tax and Corporation Tax deadlines and the schemes to warehouse debts can be viewed here.
CRO
CPA Ireland have engaged with CRO on the various impacts of COVID-19 on CRO filing through membership of the stakeholder forum.
Audit Submissions
CPA Ireland’s submissions on audit matters to date this year have focused on the “Think Small First” approach to the development of standards, calling for the achievement of scalability throughout the auditing and ethical standards. In particular this year, we have consulted on the following matters;
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IAASB’s consultation paper proposing changes to ISA 600: Special Considerations – Audits of Group Financial Statements (including the work of component auditors), in particular highlighting the important role of the SMP auditor.
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IAASA’s Consultation Paper – Proposal to revise ISA 315, Identifying and Assessing the Risks of Material Misstatement through Understanding of the Entity and its Environment, welcoming the approach to adopt the IAASB’s revisions with minimal changes.
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IAASA’s Consultation Paper – Proposals to Revise Ethical Standards for Auditors (Ireland), highlighting the need to ensure that the Irish Ethical Standards do not go beyond the requirement of the IESBA Ethical Standard and that scalability is achieved for the audits of SMEs.
Financial Reporting
CPA’s Ireland’s Financial Reporting Sub-Committee continued to represent members in developments in the area of financial reporting. In particular this year we have responded to Financial Reporting Exposure Draft (FRED) 76 in relation to proposed amendments to both FRS 102 and FRS 105.
CPA Ireland has also made representations on other diverse topics such as the solicitors accounts regulations, the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, AML and IAASA matters.
Engagements on all of these important issues continues and we will keep you updated through the usual channels of Practice Plus, the E-Bulletin and CPA Ireland’s website.