By a staff reporter
HARMONISATION of accounting standards internationally would help countries like the UAE which do not have their own standards at present.
Abbas Ali Mirza, director, professional development department (audit), Talal Abu-Ghazaleh & Co (Tagco), told this paper in Dubai that the International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC) had decided to introduce a set of global accounting standards by 1999.

Sir Bryan Carsberg, secretary-general, IASC, will be in Dubai this month, together with Liesel Knorr, its technical director, to brief members of the profession here on the progress towards implementing a common international accounting standard, and discuss other related issues.
The IASC had signed an agreement with the International Organisation of Securities Exchange Commission (IOSCO) in Paris recently, regarding implementation of the international accounting standards.

Of the 32 standards that IOSCO had stipulated, it had accepted 14 existing ones of the IASC. The rest were being improved and the entire set of standards would be ready by 1999, said Mirza. Once these standards are in force, it would be easy for companies adopting them to get listings in different stock markets around the world, especially in the US and the UK.
 
The harmonised standards would also rule out the oddities of the present system, such as the one involving Daimler Benz AG, said Mirza. The company earned profits according to German accounting rules, but showed a loss when the accounts were made under American rules.
 
In the MiLlie East — where Tagco with 30 offices is one of the largest accounting firms — he pointed out, there are ‘national accounting standards’ only in Saudi Arabia and Egypt. In the rest of the region, accounting standards from the UK, the US and other countries are adopted by firms.

In the UAE, where there are no national accounting standards, different companies adopt different standards: British, American, Indian, etc. “Recently, the Economic Department. Dubai, called on audit firms to follow the international accounting standards, when they are implemented.”
Victor Hawken, conference director, Infocenter International — organisers of the International Accounting Standards conference, to be held at the Dubai Inter-Continental from November 27 to 29 — said Sir Bryan and the other speakers would focus on how these changes would impact the profession, especially in the Middle East.

Other speakers at the conference include Dr Kamal Gupta, technical director, Institute of Chartered Accountants of India; Dr Barry Jay Epstein, senior partner, Checkers, Simon and Rosner (USA); Cecil Donovan, senior partner, Deloitte & Touche (UK); and Dr Saleh Salem Hadi Albraiki, assistant professor of accounting, UAE University.