This month, the Accounting Standard Board updated rules to bring small companies reporting in line with the reporting for larger companies. The rules include reporting on pensions, accounting policies, tax and deferred tax.

Mary Keegan, ASB chairman, said: 'We've had really good feedback on this. I hope the IASB takes note of it. We've had no end of compliments from all over the world.'

The International Accounting Standard Board has forged ahead with its agenda for publicly listed companies this year but worries are growing that the global board is irreverent of small non-listed companies.

To critics, the IASB has said it wants to concentrate on larger companies before it deals with those companies at the other end of the spectrum.

Before 2005, the IASB must revise some of its standards, which, even its chairman, Sir David Tweedie, considers to be of poor quality. All of Europe's 7,000 publicly listed companies must start reporting under the single set of global accounting rules, known as IASs, by 2005 at the latest, according to an EU ruling.

Links

Where next on company reporting?