The Awareness and Impact of International Accounting Education Standards

This paper aims to: (i) understand the context within which IFAC member bodies endeavour to meet their IFAC membership obligations; (ii) the extent to which the IES knowledge, skills and values of IES 2, 3 and 4 have been incorporated into accounting programmes that are delivered and assessed by organisations responsible for delivering professional accounting education and training in different countries; (iii) the teaching methods used in the training of accountants; and (iv) who has responsibility for teaching IES 2, 3 and 4. The research employs two methods to gather evidence: (1) a review of IFAC’s Compliance Programme documentation and professional body websites to understand the context of accounting education and to evaluate the disclosed extent of IES compliance; and (2) a questionnaire survey to gather evidence about the extent to which accounting education incorporates IES 2, 3 and 4 requirements. The main findings from the two strands of research should be useful for IFAC and the IAESB in developing and monitoring compliance with IESs in the future.