Resources
News
Why nature matters to accountants
March 3, 2025
A guide to building resilience and value through nature-positive action. Aimed at accountants working in business and practice, in any global region or jurisdiction.
GAA’s letter to IESBA
April 3, 2025
During its meeting in Edinburgh on March 27-28, 2025, the GAA Board had the opportunity to meet with the Chair of the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants. Given the time constraints of that meeting, the GAA CEO wrote to the IESBA to provide more clarity on the GAA’s position.
Bruce Cartwright elected as Chair of the Global Accounting Alliance
December 11, 2024
Bruce Cartwright, CEO of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland will succeed Barry Melancon as the next Chair of the GAA. Mr. Cartwright will begin his term on January 1, 2025, upon Mr. Melancon’s retirement.
Read the full announcement.
Global Accounting Alliance comments on IFAC’s Exposure Draft of IES 6 – Assessment of Professional Competence
August 5, 2024
The GAA responds to the International Federation of Accountants’ (IFAC) Exposure Draft (ED) of Proposed Revisions to International Education Standard (IES) 6 – Initial Professional Development – Assessment of Professional Competence.
Read the full comment letter.
Global Accounting Alliance comments on IFAC’s Exposure Draft of IES 2,3, and 4 – Sustainability
August 5, 2024
The GAA responds to the International Federation of Accountants’ (IFAC) Exposure Draft (ED) of Proposed Revisions to International Education Standards (IES) 2, 3 and 4 – Sustainability.
Read the full comment letter.
The GAA has responded to the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants’ (IESBA) exposure draft – Proposed International Ethics Standards for Sustainability Assurance (including International Independence Standards) (IESSA)
May 14, 2024
The GAA submission highlights some key issues which the GAA member bodies agree should be considered by the IESBA. These include clarification of the treatment of fees for sustainability assurance engagements, the practical challenges associated with assurance engagements involving value chains, in particular independence within the value chain and ensuring equivalence between requirements for professional accountants and non-professional accountants.
If the Code is to evolve towards becoming framework-neutral and profession-agnostic in application, the GAA believes it essential the IESBA engage broadly across both transnational and national regulatory environments to ensure the equivalent public protections are in place so that public trust in the profession is not eroded.
The GAA’s members have also each provided separate constructive and detailed input to the IESBA’s request for comments.
Read the full comment letter.
The GAA has responded to the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants’ (IESBA) exposure draft – Using the Work of an External Expert
April 30, 2024
The GAA is broadly supportive of the IESBA’s endeavors, but highlights the importance of its standards meeting the Public Interest Framework. All the GAA member institutes have cited concerns about implementation of the standard, particularly with those sustainability assurance practitioners who are not professional accountants. The GAA also highlights the importance of alignment with the IAASB’s standards, particularly the proposed ISSA 5000.
The GAA’s members have also each provided separate constructive and detailed input to the IESBA’s request for comments.
Read the full comment letter.
Attraction and Retention in the Global Accounting Profession: February 2024
March 26, 2024
The Global Accounting Alliance, the AICPA&CIMA, and the Confederation of Asian and Pacific Accountants, conducted a survey to gather basic, high-level data about what representatives of constituent accounting organizations are seeing in terms of employment levels within the accounting profession in their home country or globally. The survey was sent to 35 CAPA and GAA member bodies. Representatives from 33 bodies representing over 2.5 million accountants, globally, provided responses.
Read the full survey report.
The GAA commissioned a report on Corporate Natural Capital Accounting (CNCA)
March 20, 2024
A recent report by the Global Accounting Alliance (GAA) highlights the importance of corporate natural capital accounting (CNCA) in helping businesses build resilience and value through nature-positive action and how accountants are well-placed to help drive uptake of CNCA across the market. The GAA-commissioned report, led by ERM and supported by the Biodiversity Footprint Company, IDEEA Group, and eftec, builds on a previous working paper, ‘Time to Take Stock‘, which set out proposals for what a standardized CNCA approach might look like in practice and identified gaps to be addressed. CNCA can improve nature-related data processing, making it more widely applied to business decisions (e.g., in risk analysis, strategy, investment planning and reporting).
The research behind the report involved a series of workshops with accounting and finance professionals from across the Atlantic and Asia Pacific (APAC) regions to explore the CNCA’s relevance to the accountants’ toolkit, trends in the barriers to market uptake, and how the professions can engage in and advance its use.
Read the full report.
Past Events
On April 15, 2024, the Global Accounting Alliance and the Japanese Institute of Certified Public Accountants (JICPA) co-sponsored, and Nikkei organized an exclusive by-invitation-only forum, The Value of Audit & Assurance: Facing Up to the Challenges, in Osaka. The two panel discussions focused on the value of audit and assurance in a changing world and the challenges of attracting young talent to audit and assurance. Check out the insights from the forum.
Economist Impact and GAA Ethics Event
On May 11, 2023, the GAA sponsored a panel discussion: championing ethical leadership amid competing pressures.
Moderated by Economist Impact, the event explored how business leaders, regulators, and professional bodies can work together to promote ethical behavior. Global leaders from various sectors shared how their organizations encourage accountability, balance competing pressures, and manage shifts in generational expectations. To learn more about the profession’s commitment to advancing ethics, explore our resources. Check out the insights from the event.
Recent articles and letters developed by the GAA
The Global Accounting Alliance’s letter of support for the IAASB’s development of the proposed International Standard on Sustainability Assurance (ISSA) 5000.
The Global Accounting Alliance’s response to the request for information on the ISSB agenda priorities.
In a statement to the accountancy profession, the Global Accounting Alliance chief executives encouraged professional accountants to continue demonstrating a strong commitment to business ethics.
The Global Accounting Alliance’s statement on the release of the ISSB’s inaugural IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards (Standards) – IFRS S1 General Requirements for Disclosure of Sustainability-related Financial Information and IFRS S2 Climate-related Disclosures.
The Global Accounting Alliance has partnered with the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), We Mean Business Coalition (WMBC), Accounting for Sustainability (A4S) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) on guidance to help professional accountants and finance professionals deliver robust greenhouse gas (GHG) reporting.
The Global Accounting Alliance’s comments on two exposure drafts issued by the International Sustainability Standards Board: IFRS S1 General Requirements for Disclosure of Sustainability-related Financial Information and IFRS S2 Climate-related Disclosures.
July 29, 2022
The Global Accounting Alliance’s input on the IESBA Strategy and Work Plan for 2024-2027 and its reasoning of why expanding the Code to cover assurance providers who are not professional accountants in public practice is against the public interest.
July 8, 2022
In advance of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity COP15 in April/May 2022, the Chief Executives of the Global Accounting Alliance released a Call to Action to the accountancy profession.
March 1, 2022
The Global Accounting Alliance’s comments on the IFRS Foundation’s Consultation Paper on Sustainability Reporting.
December 10, 2020
Our Head Office
The Global Accounting Alliance
1345 Avenue of the Americas, 27th Floor
New York, NY 10105
USA
