WARSAW, March 17, 2016 – A regional workshop focusing on transposing European Union (EU) accounting requirements for various types of entities is taking place in Warsaw on March 17-18. The event is hosted by the World Bank Centre for Financial Reporting Reform (CFRR) as part of its “Strengthening Auditing and Reporting in the Countries of the Eastern Partnership” (STAREP) program.
The program supports an accounting and auditing community of practice that brings together groups of practitioners from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine to share knowledge, experiences and ideas.
Poland can offer valuable support and advice to STAREP countries on transposing the requirements of the EU Accounting Directive (2013/34/EC) and establishing financial reporting requirements for various types of entities.
“EU accounting directive and International Financial Reporting Standards create the common language of the European economy and allow the entities from all around Europe not only to easily communicate with each other but even more importantly to correctly understand each other,” said Joanna Dadacz, Director, Accounting and Auditing Department, Ministry of Finance, Poland.
Financial reporting regulation is one of the mechanisms used to promote the operation of securities markets. An entity with a credible policy of high quality financial information is expected to enjoy higher share prices and a lower cost of capital. This is because high quality disclosures to financial statements reduce investors’ concerns about inside information.
The workshop aims to support STAREP countries in their efforts to put in place the best and the most appropriate accounting and financial reporting regime for SMEs, including appropriate disclosure and transparency requirements for entities which are of public interest.
“Poland is making significant progress in improving its capacity in reporting based on international standards. In the broader context, the work carried out on financial reporting reform has an impact on the broader economic climate. For example, Poland has steadily improved its position in the ‘Doing Business’ report - from being ranked 55 in 2013, it has been ranked 25 in 2016,” said Marina Wes, Country Manager for Poland, the World Bank.
