are you missing next big boom in accounting and finance?

ifrs represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity for accountants and the profession. some firms won’t be ready.

by rick telberg

many finance and accounting professionals, their firms and companies may be wasting a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity if they allow their capabilities to stagnate or their skills to go stale. take, for example, ifrs, short for international financial reporting standards.

in the latest stop-and-go story of the globalized rules, it’s, well, if not “stop,” then at least “maybe later than last we thought.” as a result, some firms and corporations are putting their ifrs hiring and training programs on hold.

but that’s a big mistake. for one thing, the worldwide demand for ifrs technicians will be “huge,” according to craig walker, accounting and finance practice director for the mergis recruiting agency. “bigger than sox,” he says, referring to the sarbanes-oxley act, which remapped the accounting and auditing landscape in 2002.