Nominations sought for membership of the SME Implementation Group

 14 January 2014


The Trustees of the IFRS Foundation invite nominations of suitable candidates for membership of the SME Implementation Group (SMEIG).

In October 2012 the Trustees approved an expansion of the membership of the SMEIG from 22 to a maximum of approximately 30 as of 1 July 2014, together with proposals to stagger the terms of membership from that date.  The result of this is the terms of 15 members will expire on 30 June 2017 and those of the others on 30 June 2016. It is expected that approximately half of the 22 current members would be reappointed. Therefore, up to 20 new members are being sought by 1 July 2014.

The mission of the SMEIG is to support the international adoption of the International Financial Reporting Standard for Small and Medium-sized Entities (IFRS for SMEs) and to monitor its implementation. 

The SMEIG currently has two principal responsibilities:

  1. to develop non-mandatory guidance for implementing the IFRS for SMEs in the form of questions and answers (Q&As) that will be made publicly available to interested parties on a timely basis; and
  2. to make recommendations to the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) if and when needed regarding the need to amend the IFRS for SMEs.

In April 2013 the IASB tentatively decided that the current SMEIG Q&A programme would continue as a two-tier system as follows:

  1. Tier 1: issues would be those requiring authoritative guidance and would require full due process. These issues are expected to be rare.
  2. Tier 2: issues would be dealt with by non-mandatory education material subject to the normal due process for educational material.

The Terms of Reference and Operating Procedures for the SMEIG are currently being updated for the changes to the Q&A procedure and a revised document is expected to be issued in early February 2014.

The first role of the newly structured SMEIG in July 2014 will be to discuss the public comments received on the IASB´s October 2013 Exposure Draft ED/2013/9 Proposed amendments to the IFRS for SMEs and develop a set of recommendations for the IASB on amendments to the IFRS for SMEs.

The SMEIG is chaired by Darrel Scott, IASB member and Director of Standards for SMEs.  All members of the SMEIG will serve on a voluntary basis.  The SMEIG also includes appointed observers who have the right to participate in SMEIG deliberations, but not to vote. 

Nominations and applications are invited by 28 February 2014.  For further information see the SMEIG page.