Paul Pacter: Profile and Interview

 

Accountancy Age online published an April 2010 article called “Profile: Paul Pacter, international standard setter.” The article states that, although some people may not recognise his name, Paul Pacter is one of the most influential men in the history of international accounting standards."  Since 2000, he has played a variety of roles including director of standards for small and medium-sized entities at the International Accounting Standards Board and director at the global IFRS office for Deloitte in Hong Kong. During the 1990s, he served as staff member at the International Accounting Standards Committee working on projects including financial instruments, interim financial reporting, segment reporting, discontinuing operations, extractive industries, agriculture, and electronic financial reporting. From 1984-1989, he was vice chairman of the advisory council to the US Governmental Accounting Standards Board.

 

On July 12, 2011, an Interview with Paul Pacter was conducted in New York City by James Stocker for the Securities and Exchange Commission Historical Society’s virtual museum and archive on the history of financial regulation. A 53-page transcript of that interview notes that, during the 2000s, he also set up a very popular website (www.iasplus.com) for accountants involved in international accounting standards. Pacter comments that: “This was done for Deloitte. We just had an idea that there ought to be someplace out on the Internet where all sorts of information about international accounting standards was available. The old IASC didn’t have much of a website, although I did that too, I taught myself the HTML and the graphics and how to do FTP. Deloitte said, “Why don’t you set something up for IASs?” We opened shop as a free site. We opened the door in December 2000. Visitor numbers grew dramatically. When I left Deloitte in June 2010, we were getting 60,000 to 70,000 visitors a week – unique visitors. We had about 1,000 webpages. We had 4,000 downloadable PDF files. It was, and still is, the biggest website in a very narrow area of interest, international accounting standards.”

 

Looking back at a long career, Pacter comments: “...I must just say out of respect for the U.S. SEC, they’ve been a great contributor to accounting standards. They have stayed out of the development of the standards. They’ve encouraged and prodded and commented. They’ve insisted on high quality implementation. For that, I say I have the greatest respect for the commission and for their counterparts around the world. We don’t want politics setting accounting standards. We don’t want politicians setting accounting standards any more than I want them telling my surgeon how to do my surgery. Set the broad principles and let the private sector do the job. The commission has done that, and I thank them for that.”

Achieving International Harmonization of Accounting Standards (1975)

In July 1975, the Accounting Research Committee of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA) issued an exposure draft on International Accounting Standards for inclusion in the CICA Handbook. The exposure draft notes that the CICA is a member of the International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC) whose objectives are “to formulate and publish in the public interest, basic standards to be observed in the presentation of audited accounts and financial statements,and to promote their worldwide acceptance and observance.”

The exposure draft sets out the procedures that the Accounting Research Committee will follow when an International Accounting Standard is issued. In addition, it notes that: “For companies that report in an international environment, it is desirable to disclose that accounting principles generally accepted in Canada have been followed in preparing the financial statements. It is also desirable to disclose conformity with or identify deviations from International Accounting Standards (but not necessarily the effect on the financial statements). Appropriate disclosure would be in the Summary of Accounting Policies.”

A Brief History of the Evolution of Accounting and Auditing Standards in Canada

Prior to 1951, the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA) was known as the Dominion Association of Chartered Accountants (DACA). It established an Accounting and Auditing Research Committee in 1946, which began issuing a series of bulletins setting out recommended standards of practice on accounting and auditing.


In 1968, it replaced the series of bulletins with a loose-leaf, subject-indexed Handbook that was periodically updated with inserts as the CICA’s committee issued new recommendations. Although the bulletins set out what the committee “considers to be the best accepted practice or its suggested treatment of new elements in accounting statements arising as a result of changes in social or economic conditions,” the recommendations contained in the Handbook were intended to possess greater force. Section 1500.06 in the Handbook, issued in November 1969, stated that any departures from the Handbook recommendations “should be explained in notes to the financial statements with an indication of the reason why the recommendation concerned was not followed.”

In 1975, the Canada Business Corporations Act added a degree of quasi-legislative authority to the Handbook, when Regulations 44 and 45 of the Act proclaimed:

44) The financial statements referred to in paragraph 149(1) of the Act shall, except as otherwise provided by this Part, be prepared in accordance with the standards, as they exist from time to time, of the CICA set out in the Handbook.

45) The auditor’s report referred to in Section 163 of the Act shall, except as otherwise provided by this Part, be prepared in accordance with the standards of the CICA set out in the Handbook.

In 1963, the CICA began publishing research studies on contemporary accounting and auditing topics. Since 1980, it has published a number of research studies on accounting and financial reporting, on auditing and assurance, and on environmental and performance reporting. Most are available as PDF downloads free-of-charge.

In 1991, the CICA replaced the Accounting Standards Committee and the Auditing Standards Committee with the Accounting Standards Board (AcSB) and the Auditing Standards Board. Later in that decade, the CICA Task Force on Standard Setting released its final report in May 1998, and among its recommendations was the establishment of an “independent standard setting organization for Canada.”

In addition, the CICA established the Accounting Standards Oversight Council (AcSOC) to support the setting of accounting standards domestically and to contribute to the development of internationally accepted standards. AcSOC’s mandate also includes providing opportunities for the public to comment on all aspects of accounting standard setting, and reporting to the public annually.

In 2005, a firm commitment was made to adopt International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), effective January 1, 2011. IFRS have now been incorporated into the CICA Handbook, along with International Auditing Standards (IAS).

About the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA)

The Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA) will celebrate its 110^th anniversary in 2012. Established in 1902 as the Dominion Association of Chartered Accountants, its goal was to develop the highest professional standards for the young country that was Canada. Now, the CICA is recognized as one of the most influential standard-setters in the world and is a leader in the global effort to create and implement international standards that will allow investors to compare reliable financial information from companies everywhere. The CICA serves the interests of society and the CA profession by providing leadership to uphold the professional integrity, standards and pre-eminence of Canada's Chartered Accountants, nationally and internationally. For an overview of the first 100 years of the CICA’s history, read the article “Setting the standard” in the May 2002 CAmagazine.

CICA Task Force on Standard Setting - Final Report 1998

The Final Report of the CICA Task Force on Standard Setting (TFOSS) was issued in May 1998. It represented the culmination of almost two years of deliberations involving extensive communication and consultation with stakeholders in the standard-setting community, both in Canada and abroad. TFOSS expressed a belief in four-long-term goals articulated in its Report. These include the ultimate achievement of one set of internationally-accepted accounting and auditing standards, with Canada playing a significant role in their development.

According to TFOSS, Canada's ability to fulfil that role in the future, as well as to maintain its leadership in setting national private and public sector standards and developing emerging and innovative areas of service to the public, will depend on the commitment of adequate human and financial resources. This commitment has traditionally come from the CICA. But, in the future, TFOSS believes that it must also come from others who benefit from standards, particularly in accounting, but possibly in other areas as well. Their participation and support will serve to enhance the CICA's position as it continues to lead the profession in the years ahead.

Remembering Professor Edward Stamp (1928-1986)

As a scholar and professional of truly international renown, Professor Edward Stamp was a British subject by birth and a Canadian citizen by naturalization. He took his degree from Cambridge in Natural Sciences and in 1950 was a Fulbright Scholar. In 1951, he came to Canada joining the public accounting firm of Clarkson Gordon & Co., where he qualified as a Chartered Accountant. He was admitted to partnership in the firm in 1959 and practiced in both Toronto and Montreal. In 1976, he was given the rare honour of Fellowship by the Ontario Institute of Chartered Accountants.

His academic teaching interests began in 1957 when he was a Special Lecturer at the Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto. His first full-time academic appointment was in 1962 at Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand where he was later appointed Professor of Accountancy. In 1967, he was appointed Professor and Head of the Department of Accounting and Business Method in the University of Edinburgh, Scotland - positions which he held until his appointment as Professor of Accounting Theory and Head of the Department of Accounting and Finance at the University of Lancaster in 1971. In 1975 he was named the Endowed Research Professor at the University of Lancaster. He founded the International Centre for Research in Accounting at that University in 1971 and was appointed as the Director of the Centre.

Professor Stamp's research interests are particularly broad, covering financial accounting and reporting, accounting theory, international accounting and auditing, and public accounting and auditing. He is the co-author of the basic document of the British conceptual accounting framework (The Corporate Report, 1975) and the author of the counterpart document for Canada (Corporate Reporting - Its Future Evolution, 1980).

One of the particular achievements of Professor Stamp is bridging the gap between academe and practice. His continual and articulate urging of the profession to respond to the new findings and direction emanating from the universities prompted much professional progress. His professional experience as a partner in an international public accounting firm and his senior academic appointments provide a uniquely rich background for these endeavours.

Among many of Professor Stamp's achievements and honours are: Advisor to Her Majesty's Treasury; Distinguished International Visiting Lecturer of the American Accounting Association; and Visiting professorships in Europe, Africa, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Japan He was an executive member of the European Accounting Association and a Founding Member of the International Association for Accounting Education and Research in Japan. Professor Stamp was awarded the degree of Doctor of Laws at the University of Saskatchewan in 1984. He continued as the Endowed Research Professor and Director of the International Centre for Research in Accounting at the University of Lancaster, England, until he passed away on January 10, 1986 in Toronto.

Welcome to the AAA Digital Library!

The mission of the American Accounting Association (AAA) is to promote worldwide excellence in accounting education, research and practice. Founded in 1916 as the American Association of University Instructors in Accounting, its present name was adopted in 1936. The Association is a voluntary organization of persons interested in accounting education and research. The AAA Digital Library includes the following publications: The Accounting Review; Issues in Accounting Education; Accounting Horizons; Accounting and the Public Interest; The ATA Journal of Legal Tax Research; AUDITING: A Journal of Practice & Theory; Behavioral Research in Accounting; Current Issues in Auditing; Journal of Emerging Technologies in Accounting; Journal of Information Systems; Journal of International Accounting Research; Journal of Management Accounting Research; and Journal of the American Taxation Association. All full-text papers are provided in PDF format and are searchable using the Find utility in Adobe Acrobat Reader. All full-text papers provide links to references, as available. The AAA Newsletter, Accounting Education News, as well as the AAA Section Newsletters are also available online, some dating back to 1995.

A digital review of the history of the International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC)

The website of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) provides an overview of its predecessor, the International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC) which operated from 1973 until 2001. It states that the IASC was founded in June 1973 as a result of an agreement by accountancy bodies in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Ireland, and the United States. The overview information has been supplemented for events between June 1998 and December 2005.

Other digital sources include Deloitte IAS Plus which presents the International Accounting Standards Committee History – 1973 to March 2001. It also presents a Chronology setting out the pre-1973 Events Leading to Formation of IASC and continuing to 2010. Additional background information on the IASC is available at Wikipedia and in the 2007 publication Financial Reporting and Global Capital Markets. A History of the IASC 1973-2000 by Camfferman and Zeff. Excerpts from this publication can be read online at Google Books.