International Federation of Accountants — Accounting glossary

IFAC supports professional accountancy organisations, international standards and their adoption and implementation. It develops International Education Standards and supports independent standard-setting bodies for audit and assurance, ethics and public-sector accounting. The IASB, within the IFRS Foundation, issues IFRS Accounting Standards; IFAC is not the IASB. Governance and responsibility for individual standards must be identified rather than attributed indiscriminately to IFAC.

Worked example

A professional body uses IFAC educational resources when supporting its members. For the IFRS accounting treatment of a lease, it refers to the IASB’s IFRS 16 and relevant interpretations rather than treating IFAC as the issuer of that standard.

Common mistake

Claiming IFAC directly issues all IFRS Accounting Standards or all independent ethics and audit standards.

Where it appears in your exams

Qualification	Exam	Relationship	Period
ACCA	FR	Supporting	September 2026–June 2027
ACCA	SBR	Supporting	September 2026–June 2027