Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) 

Building trust in financial information, improving access to credit, and attracting investment

On 26 April 2016, around 100 senior officials leading accounting and auditing reforms in countries taking part in two programs being implemented by the Centre for Financial Reporting Reform (CFRR) converged in Vienna, Austria.

Local community of practice from Azerbaijan benefited from a five-day workshop, delivered by the CFRR on May 23-27, 2022, in Baku on implementation of the International Financial Reporting Standard for Small and Medium-sized Entities (IFRS for SMEs). The event was organized in cooperation with the Ministry of Finance of Azerbaijan.

This regional workshop in Kyiv aimed to increase understanding of European Union (EU) accounting requirements for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Building on previous Accounting and Auditing Standards Communities of Practice (A&ACoP) events, this workshop was organized by the World Bank Centre for Financial Reporting Reform (CFRR), as part of the “Strengthening Auditing and Reporting in the Countries of the Eastern Partnership” (STAREP) program.

A two-day virtual webinar was delivered by the CFRR on March 30 and 31, 2022 under two flagship regional programs: Strengthening Auditing and Reporting in the Eastern Partnership (STAREP) and the Road to Europe Program of Accounting Reform and Strengthening Institutions for Small and Medium Enterprises (REPARIS for SMEs).

Starting 2018, Georgian small and medium enterprises (SMEs) will transition to IFRS for SMEs. This important step is expected to raise financial transparency of Georgian businesses, increasing their opportunities for investment and simplifying access to credit. To support the local business community and assist SMEs in this important change, the Georgian Service for Accounting, Reporting and Auditing Supervision (SARAS) has launched a series of education events to raise awareness about the Standard and collaborate with the wider stakeholder groups in the country.

Serbian Finance Minister and other government and EU representatives discuss reform progress and share experiences

• Serbian Finance Minister Dusan Vujovic joined senior representatives from the World Bank Centre for Financial Reporting Reform (CFRR) program beneficiary countries, CFRR development partners including the European Commission, and the Governments of Austria, Switzerland and Luxembourg, as well as World Bank/CFRR representatives in Brussels on 29 March 2017.
• The meeting was convened to discuss financial reporting reform progress in countries in the Wester

A virtual seminar was organized to support STAREP countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine) to better understand the objective and the structure of the recently announced comprehensive review and request of information by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) on IFRS for SMEs with a final aim to provide IASB a regional consolidated response to the request for information.

Representatives of 20 regional and national Professional Accountancy Organizations (PAOs) met in Vienna on 31 May 2017, with experts from the World Bank’s Centre for Financial Reporting Reform (CFRR) and the International Federation of Accountants®(IFAC®), to discuss ways to address the challenges facing small and medium-sized practices (SMPs) and small and medium-sized entities (SMEs) as well as the opportunities available to them.