The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) launched today a public consultation to seek broad public input on the strategic direction and overall balance of its future work programme.

Since the creation of the IASB in 2001, International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) have increasingly become the internationally accepted financial reporting language around the world. As the number of jurisdictions applying IFRSs increases, stakeholders have identified new accounting issues for consideration by the IASB.

The consultation document published today asks deliberately open questions to gather views on the IASB’s future work programme from all those involved in or affected by financial reporting. In particular, the IASB is seeking feedback on how it should balance the development of financial reporting with the maintenance of IFRSs and—with consideration of our time and resource constraints—those areas of financial reporting that should be given the highest priority for further improvement.

Introducing the agenda consultation, Hans Hoogervorst, Chairman of the IASB, said: Up until now, the agenda of the IASB has largely been determined by the need to support a first wave of jurisdictions adopting IFRSs and the completion of our programme to improve IFRSs and align them with US GAAP. With this work largely completed, our attention can now turn to new issues that may require our attention. We seek your views to get the balance and the direction of our future work plan right.