Special Consideration – Impact on IT Control Environment
IFRS transition will mean an impact on your current internal control over financial reporting and process documentation. Necessarily, control activities and risks of 'what could go wrong', may change, as a result of accounting and systems changes.
Consequently, there are key considerations surrounding choices over information technologies, and quality standards for data accessibility, availability and integrity. Questions to ask yourself:
- Does your current IT infrastructure permit ease of access to IFRS information?
- Can data be obtained by reconfiguring systems appropriately, and at what cost? Over what time frame?
- Can your systems generate, store, and report two sets of financial data, one for IFRS and one for current Canadian GAAP, as required one year prior to cut-over dates?
- How capable are your systems in producing error-free financial statements, under both reporting standards, and what are the implications on your IT environments that support application systems, enabling critical computer operations to satisfy relevant controls in support of significant accounts impacted by IFRS?
Timing and scale of impact as a result of IFRS means reviewing your IT strategy over the near term, identifying constraints in the form of competing strategic initiatives as it relates to existing IT systems projects, consideration given to planning of system changes, and making upgrades in light of the timing proposed by IFRS timelines.
