Competition to serve Korea’s
quasi-governmental organisations is intensifying as the IFRS
adoption date draws closer.
Seventy-eight quasi-governmental organisations
are due to adopt IFRS in 2013 and accounting firms that provide
IFRS advice are circling their progress.
The IFRS consulting market for
quasi-governmental organisations is estimated to be worth KRW14
billion ($11.7m) with each organisation setting aside KRW100m to
KRW300m for consulting fees, the Korean Institute of Certified
Public Accountants said.
It is understood that quasi-governmental
organisations are now looking for firms to help them in the
transition process. For example, the National Health Insurance
Corporation started a process to select a consulting service
provider to assess the impact of the IFRS adoption and to develop
accounting policies and manuals in order to ensure a smooth
transition to the IFRSs.
Korea’s public corporations and publicly-held
companies must adopt IFRS in 2011 and quasi-governmental
organisations will review issues that arise from this
transition.