The Institute of Chartered Accountants of the Caribbean (ICAC) in collaboration with the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) hosted successful consultative meeting with Presidents, Chief Executives and other leaders of professional accountancy organisations (PAOs) in the Caribbean on June 26, 2013 at the Hilton Hotel in Barbados.

The meeting of regional PAOs, which is held annually in conjunction with the ICAC’s Annual Caribbean Conference, facilitates the sharing of ideas and experiences among participants as well as meaningful discussions on key issues and challenges facing the regional accountancy profession. The meeting also serves to facilitate the building of relationships between IFAC and its member bodies (professional accountancy organisations) in the region.

“We recognize that building strong regional and international linkages and sharing ideas and experiences can only serve to strengthen the ICAC as an organization as well as the accountancy profession in the region. The ICAC is therefore pleased to jointly host this annual meeting of regional professional accountancy organisations with IFAC,” states ICAC President, Frank Myers.

“In the past, the consultative meetings have been successful in helping to facilitate dialogue among accountancy bodies in the region. The meetings have also been critical to forging collaborating partnerships and the sharing of best practices and resources for the further growth and development of the accountancy profession,” the ICAC President added.

The 2013 Regional PAO meeting featured presentations from:

• Warren Allen, IFAC President, who delivered a presentation on the role of IFAC and its independent standard-setting boards; international standards for the accountancy profession; IFACs support to accountants worldwide and how IFAC collaborates with regional groupings like ICAC as well as professional accountancy organisations;
• Chair of IFAC’s PAO Development Committee, Deborah Williams who provided participants with a detailed overview of IFAC’s PAO Development Committee & how it supports and promotes the development of sustainable professional accountancy organisations through mentoring and other collaborative partnerships;
• Szymon Radziszewicz, IFAC Senior Technical Manager – Member Body Development, who assisted participants in better understanding IFAC’s SMO Framework and the recent revisions to the SMOs Revised SMOs and its implications for the accountancy profession; and
• Senior Financial Management Specialist, World Bank, Mozammal Hoque who deliver a presentation on the Accountancy Profession in the Caribbean, Accounting and Auditing ROSC: Assessing the Quality of the Accounting & Auditing Framework in the region, World Bank Support to PAOs in the Caribbean.

A group discussion was also held which provided participants with an opportunity to share experiences on issues such as:

• Challenges for PAOs in the region & for ICAC as an Acknowledged Accountancy Grouping and the way forward for the ICAC
• Feedback/input on the role of professional accountancy bodies, IFAC and the World Bank in supporting the development of ICAC and the regional accountancy profession
• IFAC SMOs and Regional Implementation Issues

The regional consultative meeting was attended by representatives of Professional Accountancy Organisations (PAOs) in the Caribbean, as well as ICAC’s affiliate member bodies in Canada,the United States and United Kingdom.