Detroit chapter joins forces with IFA for all-day IFRS seminar.

• Author: Leaman, Lawrence F.
• Position: Chapter News

On March 25, 2009, the Detroit Chapter of Tax Executives Institute teamed up with the International Fiscal Association (IFA) Eastern Great Lakes Region to hosted: "IFRS Conversion: A Collaborative Presentation." The seminar, which was held at the Dearborn Inn, drew more than 120 participants and 12 speakers. The theme of the seminar emphasized the importance of establishing collaborative ties between various organizations and disciplines in order to ensure effective conversion to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The speakers represented a broad spectrum of professions and their topics, though distinctive, blended well and complemented the theme of the day.

The genesis of the seminar arose was ongoing discussions between colleagues Larry Leaman, Masco Corporation (TEI- Detroit Chapter Officer) and Dave Deschamps, Masco Corporation (IFA--Regional Vice President) regarding the challenges companies will face in dealing with conversion to IFRS. They quickly realized "no stone will be unturned" and every aspect of accounting, tax, information systems, education, and government will be affected. With the green light from their respective Boards of TEI and IFA, the challenge was to assemble a diverse group of specialists who were leaders in their fields of expertise and who correspondingly could address IFRS in a knowledgeable way. The results exceeded expectations.

Kathie Bugg, a partner with Deloitte & Touche and a member of Deloitte's National IFRS group, opened the seminar sharing her experience and insights from her years as a Practice Fellow at the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). Kathie provided a brief history of the global movement to IFRS as well as the status of the IASB and FASB convergence project on Accounting for Income Taxes, IAS 12 and FAS 109.

Often overlooked in the nitty-gritty details of IFRS conversion is the importance of re-education of the existing work force. Patty Lobingier, Assistant Professor of Accounting at the University of Michigan (Dearborn), discussed numerous issues facing universities, industry, public accounting, and government regulatory bodies in training and preparing their employees for the IFRS conversion. One salient point Professor Lobingier shared is the importance of industry and public accounting to encourage and invite college faculty to participate in the IFRS conversion process, thereby augmenting the educators' technical understanding of IFRS with the practical...