The International Federation of Accountants has finalized a set of revisions to the International Education Standards to embed sustainability throughout the training of aspiring accountants, reinforcing the accounting profession’s role in supporting high-quality sustainability reporting and assurance while upholding integrity and professional quality.

The updates come at a time when the Trump administration has been rooting out environmental efforts across the federal government and beyond, pulling the U.S. away from other parts of the world, withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement and stopping sustainability efforts aimed at slowing the rapid pace of climate change.

“IFAC and our members work together to shape the future of the profession through learning, innovation, a collective voice, and a shared commitment to the public interest,” said IFAC CEO Lee White in a statement. “These revisions to the education standards ensure that professional accountants worldwide develop the right competencies to implement sustainability reporting and assurance standards effectively.”

The revisions to these foundational education standards establish a global baseline of sustainability competence to prepare accountants across the globe to implement sustainability-related disclosure and assurance standards. That includes standards issued by the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board, the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants and the International Sustainability Standards Board, as well as those under development by the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board.

IFAC is embedding sustainability concepts throughout the IES learning outcomes addressing initial professional development, so accountants can connect financial and sustainability data and information. A new assurance competence area introduces learning outcomes that enable accountants to develop a strong foundational understanding of assurance fundamentals.

The revisions promise to improve accountants’ ability to assess sustainability impacts on business models, value chain, and organizational strategy. They will reinforce skills such as decision making, adaptability, collaboration and other forms of behavior.

Expanded explanatory materials in the standards offer extra guidance to facilitate implementation by professional accounting organizations, universities and training programs.

In addition, IFAC has modernized IES 6, Initial Professional Development – Formal Assessment of Professional Competence, to introduce two new principles, integrity and authenticity, as well as update the principle of equity, alongside enhanced guidance on hybrid and remote assessments.

IFAC is asking all of its stakeholders to start preparing for implementation of the revised education standards, with early adoption encouraged ahead of the July 1, 2026 effective date.

IFAC is also encouraging its members and other stakeholders to request permission to translate the revised standards into their local languages. They can request permission through the IFAC website here.

To support its members in adopting and using the revised standards, IFAC has developed a package of resources, including two fact sheets, a frequently asked questions document, and two bases for conclusions, which explain the changes to learning outcomes, including the rationale for what was changed and what wasn’t.

Two webinars will be held in April to give global audiences an overview of the revised standards and their application, as well as an opportunity to address specific questions.

Each of the revised standards — IES 2, 3, 4 and 6 — has been published in full ahead of the anticipated release of an updated Handbook of International Education Pronouncements in late 2025.

Accounting practice management solution provider Canopy previewed three new products that are currently in beta testing, as well as announced new hires, including a new vice president of product. 

Speaking in a video update, Heather Hurst, the vice president of marketing at Canopy, said the company is currently testing a questionnaire feature, a document automation feature and an email summary feature. 

The Questionnaire feature will allow users to build custom forms with preconfigured settings, which can be used for things like organizers or client intake. The solution is currently in open beta testing, so it is available to all customers now, but will move to general release later this summer, said Hurst. 

The Document Automation feature being tested will eventually leverage AI to create consistent naming conventions based on a firm’s preferences. When individuals or companies upload documents into Canopy, this feature will ensure uniform naming structures, making document management more efficient. Email Summaries, meanwhile, will let practitioners quickly scan and process emails, which she said will be especially useful during busy periods. 

Davis Bell, CEO of Canopy, said in an email that Document Automation is in a small closed beta right now and the company doesn’t have anticipated release dates yet for the Email Summary feature.

Hurst also announced Hannah Bjornn as its new vice president of product. Prior to joining Canopy, she was managing partner at Remedy, a full-service product management consultancy. Prior to that, she was vice president of product with tax planning and client collaboration solutions provider Corvee, and before that was assistant vice president of product with employee benefits solutions provider PlanSource.

In addition to Bjornn’s appointment, Hurst said Canopy is also expanding its R&D team with multiple new hires across various functional areas. Bell, the CEO, declined to release the total number of new R&D hires but they are bringing on board a variety of product managers, QA, AI engineers, frontend engineers, and mobile engineers. 

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board staff released a new publication Thursday aimed at helping firms complete Form AP.

PCAOB-registered audit firms are required to submit Form AP, Auditor Reporting of Certain Audit Participants, to disclose the names of engagement partners and other accounting firms that participated in their audits of public companies. Form AP disclosures reveal exactly who has participated in the audits of public companies, and omissions on such forms account for a large number of inspection deficiencies from PCAOB inspectors..

The new staff publication, Audit Focus: Form AP, includes reminders for auditors from the PCAOB rules, standards, and staff guidance related to Form AP; the PCAOB staff’s perspectives on common deficiencies; and good practices observed by the staff, such as the use of structured templates, guidance on how to complete the templates, or policies mandating review of Form AP information to ensure accuracy and completeness.

The PCAOB staff is continuing to spot a large number of deficiencies related to auditors’ Form AP filings. Those deficiencies include inaccurately reporting whether another accounting firm contributed 5% or more of total audit hours, omitting or incorrectly reporting the percentage of total audit hours contributed by a firm, or providing the incorrect date of the audit report, as well as other problems.

For each audit report that they issue for a public company, PCAOB-registered audit firms are supposed to file a Form AP. Through this form, audit firms disclose key information specific to the audit, such as the engagement partner responsible for the audit, details about the audit report, and the participation of other accounting firms in the audit. Such disclosures enable investors, audit committees, and other stakeholders to understand exactly who has participated in the audits of public companies and how the audit work is distributed among those participants.

The report comes only days after the PCAOB sanctioned nine firms in KPMG’s network in countries around the world, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, Israel, Italy, Mexico, South Korea, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, and imposed over $3.3 million in fines against them. KPMG is reportedly mulling a reorganization of its global structure in which it will merge several of the member firms in different countries, according to the Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal, reducing the number of units from over 120 to 30 or 40 by the end of 2026.

PCAOB board member Christina Ho criticized the sanctions against the KPMG in a LinkedIn post Tuesday and indicated that she didn’t think the Form AP violations were such a big deal.

“Today, the PCAOB’s hostility toward the public auditing profession has reached new heights,” she wrote, adding a disclaimer that these only represent her views and not the rest of the board. “The chest-thumping news release below stated that PCAOB sanctions 9 foreign affiliates of a Global Network Firm for violations of PCAOB Rules and Standards, including Quality Control. Based on the headline, you would think that these firms committed egregious audit quality violations. NOT SO. These violations were mostly for filing inaccurate form APs, and in many cases, the foreign affiliates filed amended form APs after identifying the inaccuracies themselves. In my view, these violations are akin to parking ticket violations, and the sanctions are punitive and excessive. I also wonder what the opportunity costs are when we spend our resources on this type of violation. Furthermore, it appears that PCAOB is determined to spread an exaggerated narrative suggesting that public company audits and the auditing profession cannot be trusted. This binary, chest-thumping approach of bashing the profession in the name of investor protection will only lead to more polarization and distrust.”