U.S. SEC clarifies its position around IFRS adoption

Yesterday, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) provided their much anticipated announcement on the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in the US.

You may remember that back in 2008, the then SEC chairman Christopher Cox published an outline roadmap for US transition to IFRS with likely adoption in 2014. However since then much water has passed under the bridge – much of feedback on the roadmap both good and bad, leadership changes at the SEC with Mary Schapiro taking over from Christopher Cox and, of course, a global economic crisis! So it’s perhaps understandable that it’s taken the SEC some time to follow up on their plans for IFRS... well until yesterday that is when they announced the work plan with 2015 as the earliest likely date for public companies to report in IFRS with a final decision to be taken in 2011. The workplan also introduces a checklist which includes steps to ensure that the global standards themselves will be suitable for U.S. use. – effectively “convergence” between IFRS and US GAAP. You can read the full press release here.



So what should we take away from this announcement?

For me it can be interpreted as SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro clearly setting a stake in the ground to confirm that adoption of a single set of independent global accounting standards remains firmly on the SEC’s agenda. Clearly there is pressure on the respective standards setters (IASB for IFRS and FASB for US GAAP) to ensure that IFRS is fit and ready for adoption in the U.S before the transition finally takes place. However the move to a single set of global standards unequivocal. The train is at the station, so to speak, it’s simply a question of ensuring it’s properly provisioned and scheduling an appropriate departure time.

It’s tempting to focus on the fact the SEC have effectively introduced a delay. We won’t now know whether IFRS will finally be adopted until at least 2011 and even then adoption won’t be before 2015. This seems far into the future – so why not relax and take our foot off the pedal? This would be a mistake, 2011 is less than 12 months away and any adoption of the new standards is likely to involve dual reporting for a couple of years during a transition period as was outlined in the original roadmap. So actually there isn’t that much time at all!

So what single piece of advice or guidance can I offer to folks impacted by the transition to IFRS? Quite simply, get your house in order! IFRS is coming – this has now been confirmed. Ensure that the systems and processes you have in place will be ready to easily adapt when the time to transition comes. Your first steps should be to carefully assess your situation, do some advanced planning, and assemble cross-functional teams from accounting, IT, and your auditing partner. You will need to understand the impact that IFRS reporting will likely have on your organization, your financial reporting procedures, and your staff. With the right planning and the right people, you will be able to choose a path that fits your needs — and the process will be straightforward.

If you’re interesting in discovering more about IFRS and in particular the associated technology challenges please do take a moment to read my White Paper. I’d also love to hear your feedback on the SEC announcement… feel free to add your comments to this blog entry or drop me an email.

SAP and Microsoft Join Forces in Enterprise Performance Management

You may recall that in January 2009, Microsoft announced it would be discontinuing PerformancePoint Server, its standalone BI/EPM offering. Many of the elements of PerformancePoint will be bundled with Microsoft SharePoint Server; however, the planning module/capabilities within PerformancePoint will no longer be developed. This announcement surprised many, and industry analysts like Forrester’s Paul Hamerman, who wrote about the news, suggested that companies evaluating Microsoft’s planning, budgeting and forecasting capabilities should now look elsewhere. But where exactly should they look? While there are a number of vendors that provide planning capabilities based on Microsoft technology, they are smaller, niche vendors. What’s been missing is a Microsoft strategic partner with global reach, delivering a suitable offering to support many of Microsoft’s enterprise customers.

Until now that is, as SAP today announced that is has joined forces with Microsoft on the EPM front; more specifically, Microsoft supports SAP BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidation, version for the Microsoft platform (formerly known as OutlookSoft and Business Planning and Consolidation, and often referred to as simply, “BPC”) as a preferred planning, budgeting, and forecasting application for its customers. As part of a strategic partnership the two organizations plan to engage in joint go to market initiatives and collaboration on the product front – in fact some of the collaboration has already begun . This is a very exciting announcement at a time when according to research recently conducted by AMR Research and SAP, many organizations see investments in planning, budgeting, and forecasting solutions as their most strategic priorities in 2010. You can read the announcement here: http://www.sap.com/solutions/sapbusinessobjects/large/enterprise-performance-management/newsevents/index.epx

So what was the genesis of this partnership? This announcement is the culmination of discussions that began soon after Microsoft ‘s announcement. As already mentioned the move surprised many and left Microsoft customers wondering what they should do when it came to selecting a planning application or in the case of services partners/value added resellers, an application to align (re-align) their practice around. The only leading (as recognized by industry analysts such as Gartner and Forrester) unified planning and consolidation application built on a Microsoft platform is SAP’s BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidation, version for the Microsoft platform (built on Microsoft Office i.e. Excel, .Net and Sql Server). Over 1400 customers are already using the application (the installed base has more than doubled since SAP acquired OutlookSoft in 2007) or the recently launched SAP BusinessObjects Edge Planning and Consolidation, designed for small to midsized enterprises and also built on the Microsoft platform.

This announcement should also help answer a question that has been lingering in many people’s minds ever since OutlookSoft was acquired by SAP, and the application was ported to the SAP NetWeaver platform (in case you weren’t aware, there are now two versions of the product – the successor to the OutlookSoft product built on the Microsoft platform and a new version built on SAP’s NetWeaver technology platform): Is the Microsoft version of SAP BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidation going away and/or not being invested in? The answer is no. SAP’s roadmaps have clearly stated this - much of the confusion surrounding this has been fueled by competitors trying to spread fear, uncertainty and doubt in the minds of existing customers and prospects. So let’s set the record straight - the reality is that SAP is continuing to optimize its EPM solutions for SAP and non-SAP environments and SAP BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidation, version for the Microsoft platform is a key part of the roadmap moving forward. The SAP and Microsoft partnership around SAP BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidation is testament to this.

Industry analyst and media comments on the announcement have been positive (http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2009/11/17/microsoft-and-sap-again-team-up-against-oracle/ , http://seekingalpha.com/article/173987-microsoft-and-sap-vs-oracle-a-very-big-deal, http://www.amrresearch.com/content/view.aspx?compURI=tcm:7-49246&title=SAP+Partners+With+Microsoft+for+Planning+and+Consolidations) but what does this partnership mean to you if you are an organization looking to invest in a planning solution? To begin with you can rest assured that your investment is safe – as mentioned above, SAP is continuing to invest in the SAP BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidation, version for the Microsoft platform. Secondly, SAP and Microsoft product teams plan to collaborate focusing on continuing to optimize the application for the Microsoft platform and leverage key Microsoft technology components. Thirdly, you have an option to consider that is backed by two of the leading global software organizations.