THE IMPACT OF THE STATEMENT OF GAAP FOR SME’S IN SOUTH AFRICA
THE IMPACT OF THE STATEMENT OF GAAP FOR SME’S IN SOUTH AFRICA

Summary/Abstract: Even though various support initiatives for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have been introduced in recent times, there are also many limiting characteristics of SMEs, such as a lack of 'formality' in terms of accounting procedures. The introduction of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) made it even more difficult for SMEs to adhere to accounting requirements. In 2007 the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) proposed less stringent reporting requirements for SMEs with the release of the exposure draft on IFRS for SMEs and South Africa became the first country to formally adopt these reporting requirements as a Statement of GAAP. In this study the impact of these reporting requirements on SMEs are explored, based on the current South African SME’s reporting and disclosure practices. It was found that there is a considerable difference between the contents of the Statement of GAAP for SMEs and current reporting for SMEs.

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