Forum Of Firms

Hybrid meetings: the fof has meetings at different jurisdictional levels. For 2024 all six fof meetings (3 x global, 2 x regional and 1 x country) were hybrid. Having hybrid supports our public interest commitment to make the audit quality learning opportunities from fof events as widely available across the diverse fof membership. A fully virtual 'tac only' meeting dealing with tac (the tac is the fof board) nominations to the international auditing & assurance standards board (iaasb) and international ethics standards board for accountants (iesba) occurred in january. As alluded to, in 2024, the fof held 3 hybrid global meetings involving the entire fof membership as follows: april 22 to 24 - singapore (3 days) june 25 to 27 new york (3 days) november 4 to 6 and 8 paris (4 days) country/regional audit quality meetings/events: in addition to our global meetings, for 2024, we increased the amount of 'regional or 'country' meeting activity with, in may, a full day audit quality event in bogota, colombia, with further full day audit quality events in both dubai, uae (october) and delhi, india (november). Both bogota and dubai were complimented by separate related events hosted by the international federation of accountants (ifac see more below). The fof supports continued 'regional or 'country' activity with a view to further collaborating with ifac where mutually beneficial offering opportunity for a powerful package of professional development for professional accountants in support of the fof's public interest objective. Collaboration with ifac in support of audit quality: the fof actively collaborated with ifac where possible when organizing its 6 meeting and events described above. Having meeting events which are adjacent to related ifac meetings/event offered an improved opportunity for professional development for fof members this collaboration included: fof q1 2024 global meeting held adjacent to the ifac asia-pacific sustainability exchange singapore fof regional audit quality event in bogota (may 7) held adjacent to the ifac latam forum (may 8-9) fof regional audit quality event in dubai (october 23) held adjacent to the ifac- eaaa sustainability conference in the middle east and north africa accounting and financial reporting fof q4 2024 global meeting in paris to be adjacent to ifac council meeting fof community: a key strength of the fof is the sense of 'community' we continually endeavor to foster. We support this by creating inclusive agendas for the meetings/events described above guided in development by 'planning committees' whose composition reflects the nature of the audience to which the event is aiming to support. Further, we offer meeting environments which encourage open and honest engagement a 'safe space' where both fof members and stakeholders can have honest and frank dialogue on the topics of key importance to the profession in supporting audit quality. The ability to offer virtual attendance at fof meetings has vastly increased the extent of registered attendance and ability to further support aduit quality agenda planning: a priority was continuing to ensure all fof meeting agendas were 'relevant' underpinned by comprehensive engagement with stakeholders from across the audit quality eco-system in support of the public interest. In the development of all agendas and resources/tools, significant consideration is given to ensuring the issues and challenges being experienced by both large and smaller member fof members firms are taken into consideration. Stakeholder we engaged with in 2024 included: o engagement across the international standard setting community european financial reporting advisory group efrag global reporting initiative gri international accounting standards board iasb international auditing & assurance standards board iaasb international ethics standards board for accountants iesba international financial reporting for non-profit organisations ifr4npo international public sector accounting standards board ipsasb international sustainability standards board issb o engagement across the regulatory community canadian public accountability board cpab committee of european auditing oversight bodies ceaob european securities and markets authority esma le haut conseil du commissariat aux comptes (france) h3c national financial reporting authority (india) nfra financial reporting council (uk) frc public company accounting oversight board (usa) pcaob o engagement with other important stakeholders from across the audit quality eco-system ifac ifac ceo a standing agenda items for all fof meetings multiple engagements on the ifac 'state of play' series (relating to global trends on assurance on sustainability reporting) ifac communication dept: integrated strategies to advocate for the profession ifac communication dept: global platform for fof member resources in support of audit quality ifac international panel on accountancy education (panelist) supporting ifac whenever asked in providing panelists, speakers, etc national/regional accounting bodies/organizations chartered professional accountants of canada cpa canada instituto mexicano de contadores publicos imcp instituto nacional de contadores pblicos de colombia incp institute of chartered accountants in england and wales icaew (panelist) accountancy europe centers for audit quality canadian centre for audit quality ccaq us center for audit quality caq organisation for economic co-operation and development oecd group of latin american accounting standard setters - glass regional and country regulatory updates covering political developments in the eu insights for the profession us political developments implications for consideration for the profession the global june fof meeting gave considerable focus to further understanding the latin american region and how the fof can provide regional support to further advance audit quality in latin america. Panel sessions focusing on topical issues in support of audit quality attractiveness of the profession latin america: challenges and opportunities facing the profession in attracting and retaining talent with practical insights on addressing trends global: challenges facing the profession in attracting and retaining talent with practical insights on addressing trends global: attractiveness of the profession how can the firms contribute supporting further improving public financial management global public sector reporting environment regional update on accrual adoption quality management (international standard on quality management isqm) monitoring and remediation, and evaluation requirements of isqm 1 practical insights supporting quality management on sustainability reporting and assurance preliminary insights applying isqm (mini panel) latin america: global developments with the profession challenges and opportunities supporting audit quality in latin america

The public interest objective of the forum is to assist the users of financial statements by promoting consistent and high-quality standards of financial reporting and auditing practices world-wide. The forum brings together firms which perform transnational audits and involves them closely with ifac's activities thereby supporting ifac's mission which states that: "ifac serves the public interest by: contributing to and supporting high-quality international standards, helping to build and encouraging strong professional accountancy organizations, accounting firms, and high-quality practices by professional accountants; and speaking on public interest issues".