EU standard setters say ‘no thanks’ to IFRS for SMEs

EUROPEAN standard setters seem unconvinced by international financial reporting standards for SMEs.

Liesel Knorr, president of the German Accounting Standards Board, said there is no possibility of so-called FRSME in Germany, pointing to a recent overhaul of the country’s standards and lack of political desire for a second upheaval.

France’s Jérôme Haas, chairman of accounting standard setter the ANC, suggested FRSME is just “jargon”, questioning whether it is “a language that nobody speaks”.

David Loweth, technical director of the ASB in the UK, was less negative, but highlighted the many and varied concerns of SMEs consulted on adopting a light-weight version of the global accounting standards.

Global standard setter the IASB has itself implied it is not hugely concerned about uptake of FRSME, saying it was developed in response to calls from countries with under-developed national accounting standards and is not the most important part of its work.

FRSME is more popular outside of Europe, with more than 80 countries now signed up in the three years since it was launched.