The globalization of business and finance has led to the successful mass adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) by over 12,000 companies in over 100 countries. It is possible that the option for select US companies to apply IFRS will come sooner rather than later and for some international clients it is already a reality in the US.
To meet this demand, the development of IFRS knowledge has started inside the firm through extensive professional education efforts. PwC believes it is also important for our new hires to have sufficient knowledge and skills about IFRS to transition easily into our practice. Because IFRS is new content for students, professors and business schools, PwC is providing learning opportunities for use by students and faculty. Through PwC's
IFRS Ready program
- Students have direct access to IFRS learning opportunities including video content and interactive financial statements [see www.pwc.tv, then click on See What's On, Channel 3--Learning and IFRS Ready],
- Faculty have access to instructional and assignment materials that may be embedded in existing courses [available now on the AAA Commons for AAA members at www.aaacommons.org], and
- Faculty will have on-going access to educational and technical resources as they implement our IFRS materials [please send any requests through the contact listed on the right].
These learning materials have been designed to be interesting, easy to use and efficient. They are flexible enough to support independent study and a variety of curricular strategies.
The PricewaterhouseCoopers Charitable Foundation, Inc. has committed $1 million to the
IFRS Ready grant program. Over two years, these resources will provide competitive funding to support faculty as they build IFRS into their courses. This year, we will be providing over $790,000 to fund 24 proposals.
Click here for a list of our 2008 grant recipients.
Each year, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP employs over 3,000 new campus hires and over 1,500 interns. Candidates for these positions are evaluated, in part, on behavioral interviews that focus on specific competencies that are essential to success in the Firm. One of these is acquiring and applying technical and professional skills and knowledge.
Recognizing the growing importance of IFRS, PwC will include it in the basis for making decisions about an applicant's level of technical and professional skills and knowledge starting in Fall, 2009. We will expect that applicants will have used our learning opportunities or other means so that
- Sophomores interviewing for summer programs and internships and who have had at least one term of accounting should have a pre-awareness of IFRS. This is the ability to
- Define what IFRS stands for
- Articulate the general uses of US GAAP and IFRS
- Recognize that IFRS will be important in the future
- Juniors and above interviewing for internships or full time positions should have a full awareness of IFRS. This is the ability to
- Do all pre-awareness tasks
- Articulate the sources of US GAAP and IFRS
- Describe an example of IFRS financial statements
- Identify an example of a difference between US GAAP and IFRS
- Explain the current status and likely timetable for adoption of IFRS
By providing opportunities for candidates to learn independently; materials for faculty to use in their classes; and $1 million of funding for curricular change, PwC hopes to stimulate learning about IFRS.
