RIYADH: Saudi Organization for Certified Public Accountants (SOCPA) has approved the convergence of all Saudi companies to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)

The move follows global acceptance of International Financial Reporting Standards.

A road map for convergence has been developed and that transition should be applied ensuring sufficient time to all stakeholders to get themselves professionally and technically ready for smoother transition.

In light of SOCPA’s approval of convergence to IFRS, all Saudi-listed entities are required to adopt IFRS for financial periods commencing on or after Jan. 1 2017 and other entities will follow the convergence in the following year.

KPMG Saudi lends its expertise by holding a special IFRS seminar where representatives from the Capital Market Authority, SOCPA and Department of Zakat and Income Tax will attend.

The seminar is an unrivalled opportunity to get involved with dialogue and ask questions with DZIT and SOCPA.

It also provides an opportunity to learn about the latest accounting topics.

KPMG Saudi will also host a panel discussion with industry’s elites, highlighting their experience and learnings in implementing IFRS.

The conference will be held in Riyadh, Jeddah, and Alkhobar and will run for two consecutive days in each of these locations.

Khalil Al-Sedais, office managing partner and head of audit at KPMG Saudi, has emphasized the importance of this event for anyone who wishes to familiarize himself or herself to IFRS.

As the implementation date for the IFRS in Saudi is getting closer, seminars like these are seen as a corner stone toward converging to IFRS.

Moreover, according to Al-Sedais, these seminars are paving the way toward spreading the awareness among organizations regarding the significant changes in future financial reporting.

This in turn will elevate the level of financial transparency between the analyzers, investors and other stakeholders, by improving the quality of published results and key indicators, which will help in strengthening the trust in the Saudi economy.